Commenting on the outcome of the federal election, which saw Prime Minister Julia Gillard retain power in a minority government, NSW Opposition leader Barry O'Farrell said he feared a similar outcome for NSW at the forthcoming state election.
Mr O'Farrell said he hoped voters understood a protest vote for the Greens or independents would not be in the interest of NSW.
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"The lesson for me from here is to ensure that people understand that in NSW, at the next election, a vote for an independent candidate, a vote for a Greens candidate, can be a vote for the return of the Keneally Labor government," he told Macquarie Radio on Wednesday.
Mr O'Farrell recalled the period from 1992 to 1995, when a minority government ruled NSW, to emphasise his point.
"John Fahey (Liberal premier at the time) described it as a handbrake on democracy," he said.
"The inability of the government of the day to make decisions to reform, to change, to respond to circumstances, because you couldn't lead as the premier unless you went and talked to three or four independents to get their blessing ... it made government almost come to a standstill."
