NSW:Greens confident on NSW upper house seat

AAP General News (Australia)
04-11-2011
NSW:Greens confident on NSW upper house seat

SYDNEY, April 11 AAP - The NSW Greens are confident they can beat Pauline Hanson in
the race for the final NSW upper house seat.

Ms Hanson is 6000 votes ahead of her nearest rival, the Greens' Jeremy Buckingham,
with 91 per cent of primary votes counted, ABC election analyst Antony Green says.

The result is due to be declared on Tuesday, following distribution of preferences.

"It's possible that Pauline Hanson will win the seat, but we have a solid chance of
beating her," NSW Greens electoral affairs spokesman John Kaye told AAP.

"While she's 6000 votes ahead, once preferences have been distributed, we will be about
10,000 votes ahead."

Mr Kaye said his claim was based on observations of preference flow by Greens scrutineers.

So far 20 of the 21 upper house seats up for election have been filled, with the coalition
winning 11 of the vacancies.

Labor has won five of the seats, the Greens have two, and the Shooters and Christian
Democrats each have one.

Ms Hanson is standing as an independent candidate, having severed formal links with
One Nation, the party she co-founded.

She moved to the NSW Central Coast last year and announced in early March she intended
to run for an upper house seat.

It led to a storm of criticism from the main political parties, with former premier
Kristina Keneally accusing Ms Hanson of harbouring racist views.

Ms Hanson was not immediately available for comment on Monday.

The coalition will be two seats short of a majority in the upper house and is expected
to rely on support from either the Christian Democrats or the Shooters and Fishers.

AAP mdg/wjf/apm

KEYWORD: POLLNSW HANSON UPDATE

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