THE NSW Labor Party is poised to back a motion today allowing officials to give preferences to the Greens last after substantial changes were made to ease concerns among the Left that the move was a ploy to shift the party to the right. But the debate at today's ALP state conference is still expected to be fiery.
Many members of the Left are unhappy that the broader attack on the Greens which the motion has sparked could alienate the progressive voters Labor is trying to win back.
They will argue that policy reform, not blaming the Greens, will bring the voters back.
''The debate will benefit from less discussion about the value of our preferences and more discussion of progressive values,'' the NSW Labor Left assistant secretary, John Graham, said.
A copy of the motion, first revealed by the Herald online, contains a preamble making significant mention of Labor's social achievements.
The motion was finalised at a meeting between the NSW ALP general-secretary, Sam Dastyari, and the NSW left powerbrokers Doug Cameron and Mr Graham.
Mr Dastyari did not quibble.
"The NSW Left has raised a legitimate concern that a move towards a re-definition of our relationship with the Greens should occur in conjunction with a continued effort to win over Labor voters who have voted Green in recent years. I agree with that sentiment entirely,'' he said. ''The motion has been drafted to reflect this view. "
The motion does not force Labor to give preferences to the Greens last, but gives officials such as Mr Dastyari the option of using this threat as leverage during preference negotiations.
The strong anti-Greens rhetoric which accompanied the announcement of the motion - including claims by Mr Dastyari and others that the Greens were more extreme than One Nation - alarmed the Left that it was a de facto ploy by the NSW Right to push the party to the right.
Consequently, the motion contains a preamble which notes that ''for over 120 years, Labor has advocated for social and economic justice, the environment, the arts and civil liberties''.
In includes such achievements as compulsory superannuation, universal paid parental leave, Medicare, floating the dollar, ending WorkChoices, introducing anti-discrimination legislation and formal native title rights, apologising to the stolen generations and introducing environmental protection laws.
''Labor has a strong and proud history of delivering for all Australians by advocating a positive message of hope and opportunity, and building broad public support on social and economic issues,'' it says.
But it also points out that the Greens refused to give preferences to Labor ahead of One Nation and other right-wing parties at last year's state election. Instead, the Greens issued an open ticket, giving preferences to no one. It also notes the NSW Greens backed ''Coalition Government legislation prohibiting unions and environmental NGOs from running campaigns such as 'Your Rights at Work'.''
''In view of these circumstances, Conference resolves that NSW Labor should not provide the Greens Party with automatic preferential treatment in any future preference negotiations,'' it says.
The state opposition frontbencher and senior Left figure Luke Foley expressed displeasure at the nature of the motion.