New South Wales election: the Greens

6. State and private schools are one final issue. We have come a long way since State Aid to private schools was introduced by the Menzies Government in 1963. There is now a tangle of various kinds of assistance to schools and it would be difficult to unravel. There are many issues of equity, disadvantage and religion, all inter-connected. The Greens are outspoken on the need to support State schools. Further details of their education policies will be announced soon.

Is the election about Sydney, or the bush? Clearly, both. Sydney has its own mess of issues. There has been much arguments about lockouts to stop drunkenness in pubs. There's also angst about trains running on time (or not), packed roads, and crowded State schools ( inner-city State schools are overflowing and there isn't much land left).

Country towns have their own issues- people walking off farms, few practical work choices for kids, loneliness, alcoholism, suicide.

I asked earlier: will the election be fought on local, State or national issues? The answer is - yes. All of them. These include: the popularity of the local MP, the transport available (Newcastle is a case in point). And the reputation of the major parties in this town or city. Plus what the party has interpreted as the lessons of the elections in Queensland and also Victoria. And finally- the Abbott Government's standing.

There is an Upper House election as well as the Lower. Sometimes voters cover themselves by voting one party in the Lower House, and another one- or five - parties in the other House. That might complicate what a Labor or Liberal Government was able to do (assuming one of those will win) . The exchange of preferences between Labor and the Greens will also be highly important. And there may be a difference between what the parties suggest ( eg Labor voters probably being guided to give second preference to Greens), and what is actually done in the voting booth. Remember that NSW has an optional preference system.