'Greens deal fatally compromised Gillard'

• Opposition leader says Gillard government fatally compromised by the deal
• Abbott says he wouldn't have give Greens what they wanted
• Also said he didn't want to give the independents what they wanted
• Greens declare loss of faith in Labor
• Opinion: Parties still united against Abbott

PRIME Minister Julia Gillard's embrace of the Australian Greens was a fatal move that compromised her government from the beginning, says Opposition Leader Tony Abbott.

The Greens have ended their alliance with the federal government after the party's leader Christine Milne accused Labor of walking away from the agreement that kept the minority government in power for more than two years.

"I think her government from the beginning has been fatally compromised," Mr Abbott told Fairfax radio.

"She embraced the Greens.

"It has turned out to be a fatal embrace."

Opposition Leader Tony Abbott says the deal Labor made with the Greens to form a minority government in 2010 was a fatal mistake. Picture: Colin Murty

Mr Abbott said he had not been prepared to make deals with the Greens or independents that were inconsistent with coalition principles following the 2010 election.

"I wasn't prepared to give the independents, I wasn't prepared to give the Greens what they wanted," Mr Abbott said.

"Julia Gillard was.

"I don't do these sorts of deals with people."

Senator Milne said by siding with the big miners, Labor had made it clear it no longer had the "courage or the will" to work with the Greens on a shared agenda for the national interest.

But the Greens will stand by its pledge to deliver confidence and supply to Labor until the next election so not to advance the interests of Mr Abbott.
 

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