Greens name candidates for 2011 State Election

Here is how the Herald reported the results from The Greens pre-selection process.

Greens name election hopes
ANDREW CLENNELL


November 30, 2009 (Sydney Morning Herald)

THE executive director of the Nature Conservation Council, Cate Faehrmann, and the Mayor of Byron Bay, Jan Barham, are set to become state MPs for the Greens after winning preselection at the weekend.

Ms Faehrmann will be in Parliament sooner than the next state election in 2011 because she has been preselected to fill the casual vacancy state MP Lee Rhiannon will create when she leaves the Legislative Council to run for the Senate at next year's federal poll.

A quirk of the preselection is that Ms Faehrmann was an unsuccessful rival for the Senate preselection against Ms Rhiannon this year even though Ms Faehrmann had the backing of the Greens leader, Senator Bob Brown.

A Sydney lawyer and councillor, David Shoebridge, Ms Barham and the Orange City councillor Jeremy Buckingham will be the top three on the Greens ticket for the upper house in the next election.

Missing out on one of the top three spots was the Rhiannon-backed Rockdale councillor Lesa de Leau, who came second to Ms Faehrmann for the casual vacancy. With the Greens polling 12 per cent in the latest Herald/Nielsen poll, the third seat could be winnable, boosting Greens numbers in the upper house to five.

As well as Ms Faehrmann, the other MP up for election in 2015 is John Kaye.

Greens sources last night were hailing the result as the ''Greening of the Greens'' against the Rhiannon-Kaye harder left forces. Ms Barham, Mr Buckingham and Ms Faehrmann are seen as ''large G'' Greens.