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Greens leader inspired by Canadian PM

Australian Greens leader Richard Di Natale hopes the Greens can gain 20 per cent of the national vote within a decade.

Senator Larissa Waters and Greens Leader Richard
Senator Larissa Waters and Greens Leader Richard Di Natale during a press conference at Parliament House in Canberra, Wednesday, May 4, 2016. Source: AAP

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Source: AAP


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Australian Greens leader Richard Di Natale is finding inspiration in Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

Senator Di Natale is aiming for the Greens to gain 20 per cent of the national vote within a decade and expects breakthroughs at this poll and the next.

He says multi-party government is the future for Australia and he's nominated Mr Trudeau's ascension to power in Canada as a model of how a progressive party can win government.

The Greens are targeting several Labor lower house seats including Grayndler, Sydney as well as the Victorian seats of Batman, Wills and Melbourne Ports.

So far the party only has one lower house seat, Melbourne, held by Adam Bandt.

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"There will be a time in the not-too-distant future where we will have Greens in the lower houses of the federal parliament and what that will mean is that the issue of power-sharing governments becomes the rule rather than simply an anomaly," Senator Di Natale told ABC TV.

"(Mr Trudeau) has shown, as have many other European examples, that you can have strong progressive values, you can stand up to the big vested interests, that you can want a more inclusive society, one where we look after each other," he said.

Senator Di Natale reiterated the Green's willingness to share power with Labor if there was another hung parliament.

He cited climate change policy and Medicare funded dental care for children as successes from the Greens deal with Labor in 2010.

Labor has swiftly ruled out the prospect of a second dalliance with the Greens.


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