SENIOR Liberals are blaming the carbon tax deal on a decision to preference the Greens ahead of Labor in the seat of Melbourne at the last election, and have urged Tony Abbott not to repeat the mistake.
Greens leader Bob Brown and MP for Melbourne Adam Bandt yesterday unveiled a giant billboard overlooking Federation Square victoriously declaring: ''Greens secure billions for renewable energy''.
Mr Bandt said his win - delivering the Greens a crucial balance-of-power lower house position - forced Labor to agree to urgent action to tackle climate change under a deal to form government.
''We know that one of the old parties (Labor) went to the election saying they didn't want any action on climate change until 2013 and after a community assembly, and the other [the Coalition] went saying we want no action at all,'' Mr Bandt said. ''In Melbourne we said we want action urgently. That's the condition we put on the table during the course of negotiations and we have it now.''
Senior Labor and Coalition figures are now openly raising the prospect of exchanging preferences to starve the Greens of votes at the next election.
Federal frontbench Liberal Kevin Andrews said Australia would not have a carbon tax if the Liberal Party had not directed its preferences to Mr Bandt ahead of Labor because of a mistaken belief that the Greens were not the real enemy.
''If they are putting big billboards up, I think that is an act of hubris considering that they only got there with the assistance of the Liberal Party,'' Mr Andrews told The Age. ''My firm view is that we should never preference them again.''
Victorian Liberal powerbroker Michael Kroger said he fully agreed with Mr Andrews. ''Putting the Greens last should be an article of faith,'' he said.
Ted Baillieu's surprise announcement just days before last year's November 27 state election that he would be putting the Greens last is being viewed by both sides as pivotal to his win.
They are also highlighting the example of Melbourne, where Mr Bandt won with just 36 per cent of the primary vote because of Liberal preferences, compared to 38 per cent for Labor.
Another senior Victorian Liberal who did not wish to be named said the Coalition was certain to put the Greens last in future. ''There is no way known in this living world that the Greens will be preferenced by the Liberals again. It doesn't matter how many billboards Adam Bandt puts up, he can't win without the Libs,'' he said.
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