Greens disappointed by leaders’ event snub

GREENS leader Cassy O’Connor said her party’s exclusion from yesterday’s Leaders’ Debate robbed the audience of a broader perspective.

Only Premier Will Hodgman and Labor leader Rebecca White took part in the debate at Wrest Point casino.

But Ms O’Connor said her party was the third force in Tasmanian politics and should have been included.

“The Property Council should have provided its members with an opportunity to hear from the Greens,” Ms O’Connor said. “We represent a significant proportion of the Tasmanian electorate and on key issues in Parliament, we’re the only ones standing up for clean, green, future-focused Tasmania.”

Ms O’Connor said those who “pad the hefty lunch fee” were instead forced to listen to a “lacklustre debate between two leaders” sniping at each other on minor political points but “on big issues ... singing in unison.”

She said the major parties displayed a troubling consensus on planning law, which was to the advantage of developers and the detriment of the community.

“Little wonder the Greens weren’t invited to present a different perspective,” she said.

The issue is expected to rear its head again once the State Election campaign is officially launched in the lead-up to the March poll.

At the last State Election, the Liberal and Labor parties were reluctant to share the stage with the Greens during a public debate at the Hobart Town Hall, televised by Sky News; something which raised the ire of then leader Nick McKim.