Whether it was the coal seam gas issue, corrupt political donations or the privatisation of public assets, the Greens made a point of standing up to vested interests.

Often dismissed as a mere party of protest, the Greens have shaken the Labor Party and Nationals out of their complacent claim over progressive politics by winning four lower house seats.

After her election loss in 2011, the Labor Party contender for Balmain, Verity Firth, a former education minister, was confident progressive voters in her electorate would return to her as someone with the backing of a major party.

In the days before the election, she said Jamie Parker, who in 2011 became the first Greens MP in the NSW lower house, was ineffective as "one lone voice".

"The Greens can promise the world and it doesn't mean anything. I think people recognise that," she said.

But Parker defied Firth's expectations, and those of some of his Greens colleagues who had underestimated his ability to connect with the local community.

He said the election result demonstrated that voters wanted an alternative to the "broken two-party system".

"We need an alternative to rotten, corrupt politics in this state and that's why the Greens were so successful in the election," he said.

Jenny Leong, who won the seat of Newtown, said the Greens' had found power in protest against vested interests.

"The idea of dismissing things as a protest doesn't resonate because to me protest is how we achieve positive change," she said. "The Greens have had a good track record of standing with the community to achieve that change.

"Whether it's in Newtown and Balmain against WestConnex or in Lismore and Ballina against coal seam gas, we are seeing those communities standing with the Greens and saying we want a different way of doing things.

"One of the things that we've shown is that we can use our progressive community to be able to reshape the progressive agenda in NSW."

During the campaign, older voters told her they had voted for the Labor Party their whole life and would change their vote for the first time on Saturday.

A senior left-wing member of the Labor Party said the state election result was a "terrible" one for the left-wing at ALP headquarters.

"There will be a lot of disquiet about their mismanagement of the campaign and underwhelming performance against the Greens," he said.

Re-elected upper house MP John Kaye said the Greens' success was a warning to both the Labor Party and the Liberal/Nationals Coalition.

"They can no longer ignore the needs of their communities to service the big end of town," Dr Kaye said.

"Mike Baird claims he has a mandate to privatise the electricity industry. That remains to be seen.

"If he doesn't control the upper house, if there is a majority that is opposed to privatisation of wires and poles, they will not be privatised – and that is the way democracy works."

Legislative Assembly

 

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Legislative Council

Half election

 

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Greens' candidate Tamara Smith, who campaigned against coal seam gas and cuts to TAFE, won the north coast seat of Ballina, held by the Nationals since 1988.

Adam Guise is likely to win the seat of Lismore against National Party stalwart Thomas George.

"This is an historic result in the history of Australian politics and comes off the back of a people-powered, grassroots campaign across the North Coast," he said.

"The community has been absolutely clear; coal seam gas has no future in NSW."

Mehreen Faruqi and John Kaye were both re-elected to the NSW upper house.