Greens candidate Tonia Gray is far from impressed by what she described as “political skulduggery” by Labor on election day.

She said Labor volunteers in plain clothes deceptively handed out how-to-vote cards that looked like they had been produced by The Greens, asking constituents to put Katelin McInerney as their next preference if they were putting Dr Gray first.

The Greens had placed Labor at fifth on their official how-to-vote cards behind Ellie Robertson from the Animal Justice Party, Don Fuggle (Legalise Cannabis Party) and Community Independent candidate Kate Dezarnaulds.

“It was political skulduggery. We had Labor No.5 on our vote ticket. They had their younger volunteers, not dressed in their usual red T-shirts, handing out these things,” Dr Gray told The Bugle.

“We tried to play a clean game but because we hadn’t given them the No.2 preference, they printed off all these forms that look like ours. They were green. No one noticed. It was just trickery.

“They were dressing in hippy sort of clothing, even verging on green.

“It’s deceptive and not in the tone of the game we were trying to play, which was very respectful campaigning.

“It left a bad taste after such a great campaign.”

Dr Gray accused Labor of trying to leapfrog from five because they didn’t want Dezarnaulds to be above them.

“I was appalled. Any self-respecting person would have thought it was a Greens flyer,” she added.

“Would they be OK if, in the next election, we do some red ones and say if you’re voting Labor, vote Greens two?”

McInerney said she was unaware of the green pamphlet being handed out and a Labor Party spokesperson said it had been approved by the NSW Electoral Commission and that several parties had used similar tactics during other election campaigns.

Dr Gray’s percentage of the primary vote dipped from 11.1% three years ago (when there were only five candidates) to 7.9% this time around (with 13 names on the ballot paper).

The Greens’ share was reduced by a combination of a Climate 200 candidate in Dezarnaulds entering the state race, plus the Legalise Cannabis Party - which received 5% of the vote - as well as Animal Justice Party and Sustainability Australia nominees.

“We were very happy with our final result given that there was 13 candidates to vote for on the ballot paper,” she said.

Dr Gray said the landslide Labor win was a massive wake-up call for the Liberal Party

“They’re reeling. The Libs are in disarray. They’re rudderless. It’s time for them to have a really hard rethink about what they stand for,” she said.

“Their leadership style probably needs a revamp.”

As for her own future, Dr Gray said “you never say never” but this was likely to be her last tilt at politics and hoped to see fresh blood representing The Greens at the next state election in early 2027.

“My lived experience was the main thing driving me. I’m not a career politician, I just saw that the education system was in crisis in the early childcare sector, I could see we could do battery-powered trains so easily. Public housing needs to be fixed,” she said.

“I want to finish on a nice campaign. We put our best foot forward. I really enjoyed it except for that last bit of skulduggery.

“We had wonderful MLCs who came down - Abigail Boyd, Sue Higginson, Cate Faerhmann and Amanda Cohn - they’re all just good, capable women at the helm.

“Politics needs more people who are willing to be a whistleblower when things go wrong. The two major parties like to coast along with lazy policy.”

Her message for McInerney and Premier Chris Minns was simple - deliver on your promises.

“How many times will we see Chris Minns back in the electorate in the next 18 months? Ten times in a few weeks but will we see him on a regular basis?” she asked, cheekily.

“I’d love to see Katelin engage in some really strong environmental activism. She said she was worried about her son’s future so let’s get out of native forest logging, for example.

“Stop the cost shifting onto local councils. That’s really hurting us at the coalface.

“It’s time to put your promises into deliverables.”