Today we have had a first indication of how much power and influence the Greens will have if the Labor Party is reduced to a minority government after the next election.
The answer is a lot.
On the last day of the year’s parliamentary session, Labour’s agenda initially stalled in the Senate.
The Opposition, Greens and other MPs combined to delay or reject much of what Anthony Albanese claimed were key political achievements of his administration.
However, they cannot be achievements if the ideas are not approved by Parliament, whatever the merits of the policies.
Knowing this, Labor suddenly capitulated to a series of Green demands, including the exclusion of coal, oil and gas projects from Future Made in Australia investments.
Export Finance Australia will be legally prohibited from financing any domestic or foreign fossil fuel projects.
The Treasurer will retain the power to change interest rates despite the Reserve Bank’s recommendations.
Adam Bandt (center) declared on Thursday that “pressure from the Greens works”, and he is right
Jim Chalmers had promised to legislate to remove that (until now) unused power, but decided to break that promise to secure Green support for his other RBA reforms.
Additionally, an additional $500 million in cash will go towards an energy efficiency plan to reduce energy prices for social housing tenants.
All Labor gave in to the Greens’ demands on 21 separate bills.
This gives Greens leader Adam Bandt the chance to claim victory over Labor in the inter-party showdown.
Bandt boldly declared that “Green pressure works,” and he is right.
Albo has shown that he is already happy to compromise on political amendments just to get laws passed, and the Greens don’t even hold the balance of power in the Lower House yet.
Imagine how much bolder they will become in demanding a minority Labor government, when they need the support of the Greens to stay in power and avoid being forced to call an election in a weakened state.
Bandt will be able to use this new knowledge about Albo after the next election if a minority government is produced.
Polls suggest Anthony Albanese will cling to power in the next election with a minority government, depending on support from the Greens. Now we’ve seen what that would look like.
Albo had always claimed that he knew how to stand up to the Greens and not let them dictate the terms because he has fought Green candidates in his own electoral yard for years.
Albo’s internal Sydney electorate has a strong Greens presence, including in state and local government seats that overlap with his federal seat of Grayndler.
But when things came to an end, at the national level Albo capitulated, knowing he had more to lose than the Greens if all those bills stalled over the summer.
If the Greens maintain the balance of power in the House of Representatives after the next election, let alone also secure that power in the Senate, Albo could retain the title of Prime Minister.
But it will be Bandt who wields the real power.
Traditional voters may not like that fact.