Former prime minister Paul Keating has used a Labor rally to turn his caustic wit on the Greens Party, labelling it "a bunch of opportunists and Trots" splitting the progressive vote.
In his first public address of the 2016 election campaign, Mr Keating told the Sydney crowd the Greens were reducing Labor's ability to form government.
"They're a protest party, not a party of government, but their game is to nobble the party of government that can actually make changes," Mr Keating said.
"You can't be a government when you've got a bunch tearing away at you, trying to pinch a seat here and there, all to make themselves look important."
Mr Keating addressed the rally in aid of fellow Labor stalwart Anthony Albanese, who is under pressure in his inner-western Sydney seat of Grayndler.
The seat has come under sustained Greens attack after AEC redistributions cut the traditional working-class stronghold of Marrickville, as well as Mr Albanese's home and office, from the electorate.
He is facing Greens candidate Jim Casey, a former firefighter and Fire Brigade Employees' Union secretary.
Mr Albanese, who labelled Mr Keating "Australia's greatest treasurer", said the Greens were taking the public funding from every NSW seat solely to attack him.
"They're outspending us two to one in this seat. There's billboards everywhere," Mr Albanese said.
Mr Keating castigated the Greens for positioning themselves as the true Australian progressive party, saying it was Labor who introduced legislation to protect the Daintree, Jervis Bay and Antarctica.
The Greens had also failed the environment by blocking Labor's emissions trading scheme (ETS) in 2009.
"They purloined the name Greens. We're more green than they are," he said.
"Ratting on Rudd with the ETS scheme and walking away from the Malaysia Solution, things that required a bit of courage ... they could've been the Yellows."
Turning to the economy, Mr Keating said leaving the economic lifting to central banks through monetary policy had become increasingly ineffective.
He said the onus now fell on governments to intervene with infrastructure spending and public service provision.
"Governments have tucked themselves away and let central banks lower interest rates in the hope, like lighting a match, if you strike it enough there might be a flame," Mr Keating said.
"The market system which I participated in as treasurer, where we opened the economy up, we basically reduced the size of government to let all these forces go.
"We're now at a point in economic history in Australia and around the world where that system is going nowhere."
Mr Keating's appearance comes just a day after criticising the government's proposed company tax cuts in a letter to the Australian Financial Review.
