Australia's Greens support push to oust Howard

Australia's tiny Greens party threw its support behind Labour's drive to oust Prime Minister John Howard's conservatives in November elections and promised not to block a new government's agenda in the upper house.

Australians will vote at national elections on November 24, with polls pointing to a solid victory for the centre-left Labour Party over Mr Howard, whose conservative government has been in power for 11 years.

The polls also suggest the conservatives would lose their two-seat majority in the Senate, while the Greens would take up to six seats - and with them the balance of power, allowing them to pass or defeat contentious legislation.

"We Greens would use the balance of power responsibly," Greens leader Bob Brown said yesterday, adding his party would have a key role in the Senate no matter who won government.

Elections are held every three years for all 150 seats in the lower House of Representatives, where the government is formed. But Senators are elected for six years, with only about half of the 76 seats contested at each election.

New Senators take their seats from July 1, next year meaning Mr Howard's lawmakers will have the numbers to defeat possible Labour legislation in the upper house until mid next year.

Opinion polls are pointing to a solid election win for Labour leader Kevin Rudd, although the Greens are polling strongly for seats in the Senate, where they currently hold four seats.

Veteran political correspondent Rob Chalmers, from the Inside Canberra political newsletter, said that despite the surge in support to Labour, Mr Rudd would be unable to win enough Senate seats to secure a majority in the upper house.

The traditional balance of power party, the Australian Democrats have polled only about one per cent of the vote all year, with the party set to lose all four of its remaining senators on November 24.

"Labour could not gain a majority, the Greens would have the balance of power and the Democrats would be wiped out," Mr Chalmers said yesterday.

Mr Brown said he would work well with Mr Rudd, in contrast with Mr Howard, who he has only met once over a cup of tea in 1996. At that meeting, the Greens leader invited Mr Howard to visit old growth forests in Mr Brown's home state of Tasmania.

"He gave me a cup of tea and I offered him the forest. I took the cup of tea and he took the forest," Mr Brown said, referring to the government's support for the logging industry. "I find Kevin Rudd a decent guy, a straight-talking man. I think it is time we had a change of government. I think the nation will benefit from it. Personally, I hope he is the next prime minister," he said.

Mr Rudd's support has been built on a promise to win back the government's unpopular workplace laws, known as Work Choices, which encourage workers to sign individual contracts with employers rather than work under union-based awards.

But Labour will also keep some elements of the Work Choices package, particularly for high-income earners, to appease concerns of mining companies and employers who are struggling to find skilled workers in a tight labour market.

Mr Brown said the Greens would try to amend Labour's plans for the workplace laws, but would not block the legislation if Mr Rudd wins the election.

"We will not block a Rudd Labour government's workplaces overthrow regime," he said.