He threatened to turn this into a national issue if the Liberal party hierarchy did not state publicly that it would not preference Casey. Greens strategist admit that the only way Casey could win in Grayndler is with Liberal preferences. But Kroger’s comments have angered some conservatives in the Liberal party, and some senior figures in the Greens, neither of which want to do any deal with the other. Labor’s Anthony Albanese has ramped up his threat against the Liberal party, saying if the party directs its preferences towards his Greens opponent in the Sydney seat of Grayndler he will turn the issue into a national judgment on Malcolm Turnbull. He said the Liberal party for strategic reasons had still failed to rule out a preference deal with Jim Casey, the Greens’ candidate in Grayndler, but the delay was putting them on the side of an avowed anticapitalist.

Source: The Guardian May 29, 2016 03:00 UTC