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Battle lines have been drawn: Greens candidate for Melbourne Ellen Sandell says the Greens are ruling out supporting the Liberals. Photo: Jesse Marlow

EXCLUSIVE

The Greens would seek an agreement with Labor to help form government in the event of a hung parliament, the party's Melbourne candidate has declared.

In a bid to clearly state the Greens' intentions before people begin voting on Monday at early voting centres, Greens candidate for Melbourne Ellen Sandell told The Age the party would either enter into a coalition government or a Adam Bandt-style agreement to offer the government support, with the latter more likely, in the event the Greens secured the balance of power.

Ms Sandell said it would be up to Labor about the type of agreement but wanted to make it clear that the Greens were"ruling out supporting the Liberals."

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"We want to be clear that a vote for the Greens will not help re-elect the Napthine government."

"We will seek an agreement with Labor for an effective, stable and progressive government that takes strong action on the big issues like public transport, climate change and education. It is what would be best for the future of Victoria," she said.

"We want a government that can stand up to Tony Abbott and his cruel cuts to hospitals and schools."

Last week Labor leader Daniel Andrews instructed the party to reject a preference deal request from the Greens that would have seen the Greens preference Labor second in all lower house seats, with a few exceptions, in exchange for preference flows in the upper house.

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Greens rule out supporting Liberals

Outgoing Prince Edward Island Premier Robert Ghiz says he is willing to help the federal Liberals in the next election if he can do something "without being on the ballot."

Ghiz surprised residents of P.E.I. and political watchers across the country on Thursday when he announced he would step down as premier and provincial Liberal leader as soon as his replacement can be chosen.

A leadership convention is expected sometime early in the new year.

His decision led to speculation that he stepped down in order to run for the federal Liberals in an election expected next October.

Ghiz, however, said Friday that he expects to help out the federal Liberals in some way, including working with Charlottetown MP Sean Casey, who served as his campaign manager when he ran for the provincial leadership in 2003.

"If there's something for me to do without being on the ballot, I'd be willing to help out," he told CTV's Canada AM on Friday.

He has spoken to New Brunswick Liberal MP Dominic Leblanc, a good friend, and expects to speak with Leader Justin Trudeau soon.

Ghiz, 40, cited several reasons for stepping down, including the fact that he has been an MLA for 12 years and became premier at age 33 in 2007.

"Thats a good career in politics," he said, adding that he is leaving his province and his party "in good shape" for a seamless transition too.

"Too often you see the transitions arent smooth," Ghiz said. "Whoever the next leader is, is left with perhaps a party that is in a bit of a shambles."

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Ghiz will help federal Liberals 'without being on the ballot'

Bill #39;s Gift to Liberals
Is it possible to undo the Obama legacy? Bill has an idea!

By: Wild Bill for America

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Bill's Gift to Liberals - Video

Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La., is vulnerable; she needs help. Instead, liberals are shamelessly turning their backs on the three-term senator.

Landrieu gets it and they don't like it. Hollywood and simpatico leftist political writers have long loved Robert Redford asking, "what do we do now?" at the end of "The Candidate." It suits them to think they must perpetually guide elected officials.

But this November, voters answered that question emphatically. "Not that," they said of Washington's liberal tack the past six years.

Surveying the wreckage, some Democrats have gotten the message. Landrieu is one of them. Yes, her steps like voting against Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., as Senate Minority Leader and her newfound enthusiasm for a vote on the Keystone XL pipeline smack of desperation. It's obvious these are moves Landrieu feels compelled to make with her political back against the wall.

On the other hand, they are the right things to do. They are things most of her constituents or the country want her to do. And they are therefore things any reasonable official reading the post-midterm political tealeaves would do.

Do others on the left see it that way? They do not. The good liberals at Talking Points Memo survey Landrieu's collapsing support among Democratic moneymen and throw up the headline"Dead Woman Walking." Outside groups that provide critical financial support are also sitting out the Louisiana runoff.

The left-wing writer Richard Yeselson smugly tweets, "pretty much everything politically and substantively lame about Democratic party encapsulated 'vote Keystone; save Landrieu' brain freeze."

Yeselson has it exactly backwards. The Pew Foundation has dug into the roughly2-to-1 support the pipeline enjoys and found only one subset of people - hardcore liberals - against it.

In other words, more Democrats favor it than oppose it. Landrieu, who has long said she backs it and is now moving aggressively for a vote on it, is thus in line with America. What's more, to listen to her campaign line, these steps don't even mark a detour for her; they are, in fact, in line with her thinking all along.

To sum up: Louisiana voters said they want a turnaround, and perhaps did so in such a way that the shift won't include Landrieu. Nevertheless, in response she makes these very reasonable and, again according to her storyline, consistent moves.

Excerpt from:
Liberals turn their backs on Sen. Mary Landrieu, D-La.: James Varney

Tanning beds have been linked to skin cancer.

The State Government has had to hold off plans to ban commercial tanning beds after an embarrassing lack of support in the Liberal party room.

In a move that stunned cancer experts, several Liberal backbenchers questioned whether sun beds posed a health risk, despite the International Agency for Research on Cancer classifying them in the highest risk category for cancer.

From next year, WA will be the only State that allows commercial machines.

Health Minister Kim Hames had the support of State Cabinet to ban tanning beds from 2016 but some Liberal MPs questioned the health risks of the machines.

Dr Hames said yesterday he had agreed to provide more information. "I've arranged an urgent meeting next week with health specialists, including those with radiation, skin pathology and dermatology expertise," he said.

At question time in Parliament, he tried to deflect some responsibility to people who used sun beds. "No one forces them. No one's making them get cancer," Dr Hames said.

But Cancer Council WA director of education and research Terry Slevin said when it came to advice about what caused cancer, MPs should trust the International Agency for Research on Cancer and the World Health Organisation.

"Sun beds are a class one carcinogen - end of story," he said.

"We urge all MPs to put the interests of their constituents over the small number of solarium operators in WA and join the rest of the country in banning commercial solarium operators and their machines which add to the enormous skin cancer burden in WA.

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Liberals stall sun bed ban