Prime Minister Anthony Albanese rules out minority government deal with the Greens

Anthony Albanese has adamantly “ruled out” making a deal with the Greens if Labor fails to win majority government at the next federal election.

Two peak Jewish bodies – the Zionist Federation of Australia and the Executive Council of Australian Jewry – have jointly called on both major parties to rule out forming relying on Greens’ support to form a minority goverment.

They also requested the opposing parties to preference each other above the Greens.

Speaking to Sky News, the Prime Minister rejected the idea of doing a deal with the Greens in order to secure Labor a second term due to their position on Israel, which the Greens claim is committing a genocide against Palestinians in Gaza.

Mr Albanese adamantly rejected the notion.

“Absolutely. I rule that out. I’m the only candidate for Prime Minister seeking a government in our own right and there’ll be no deals with the Greens,” he said.

“I want a majority Labor government and the best way that that can be achieved is by people voting Labor in the election when it’s held.”

Asked about preferencing, he said that was a decision made by the organisation and ultimately decided by the individual voter.

However, Mr Albanese avoided directly answering a question asking if he would ask voters to preference the Greens last, saying he also believed One Nation had some “pretty repugnant” views on race.

“People go into polling booths and put numbers next to names. So the preference allocation, of course, will be done by the organisational wing,” he said.

Although political parties can issue how to vote cards with recommended preferencing options, voters ultimately have the power to choose how to order their ballot.

Mr Albanese was also grilled on his support of Israel, maintaining he supported its “right to defend itself,” but added “how it defends itself matters”.

He also dismissed assertions his view was contradictory.

“(Our allies and partners) want a ceasefire that enables Israel to continue to exist with security,” he said.

“Now Israel is taking this action because there isn’t security there, and when people fire on Israel, Israel has a right to defend itself.”

Mr Albanese reiterated calls for a ceasefire between Israel, Gaza and Lebanon, and said there needed to be a “de-escalation in order to have a diplomatic solution”.