The Greens now a political force.

(From Canberra Times)

THE MOST interesting aspect of the NSW state election campaign for national politics is undoubtedly the spotlight on the Greens, as that party threatens to double or treble its vote to 7-10 per cent. It had to happen. The momentum of the Greens has provoked a counter-attack. This may not cause the Greens serious damage in this election but it is a sign of things to come. The general dimensions of the issue are quite predictable. A new and growing party is being tested about its identity and its preferences in the way the Democrats were at the 2001 federal election and as One Nation was at the 1998 federal election. There is a lot at stake for the major parties. The Greens are complaining that the major parties are banding together 'against the Green tide'. But all this attention shows that the Greens have made it as a …