Page 4357 - Week 13 - Thursday, 11 December 2014
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video
I would also like to acknowledge your family, David and your three girls.
Ms Gallagher: Two girls and a boy.
MR HANSON: My apologies, two girls and a boy. Maybe there is another one to come; I do not know. You will have more time. We all know, Madam Speaker, the pressure that this job puts on us and the pressure that puts on our loved ones. On behalf of my team, farewell. I hope you look back on this place with fondness.
MR RATTENBURY (Molonglo), by leave: Let me start by formally acknowledging, on behalf of the ACT Greens, my support of Andrew Barr as the new Chief Minister of the ACT. Mr Barr and I yesterday formally exchanged letters agreeing to continue with the 2012 Labor-Greens parliamentary agreement, and I look forward to working with Mr Barr to continue delivery of that agreement, and stable, progressive and energetic government for the remainder of this term. I also look forward to working with Andrew because I know we share a great optimism for the future of this city and the things that can be done to make Canberra a great 21st century city.
It was not a difficult decision to offer my support for Mr Barr as the next Chief Minister. At a personal level he has demonstrated that he has the necessary leadership qualities for the territory and for the role. And it should come as no surprise that I continue to hold the view that the ALP, more so than the Canberra Liberals, deliver a policy agenda that the Greens can support, even though it is clear that we do not support the government or the ALP on absolutely every issue. Broadly, there is a closer alignment between the policies of the Greens and the Labor Party here in the ACT than there is between the Greens and the Canberra Liberals.
As an aside, I did note with some amusement the comments about whether Mr Barr has a mandate to become Chief Minister. I do, of course, note that Mr Hanson was not the leader of the Liberal Party at the last election and yet he saw fit to nominate as Chief Minister today. I am sure I am not the only one who sees the irony in that decision and I suspect it is fair to say that the Canberra community would have been greatly surprised if Mr Hanson had become Chief Minister this morning.
The Greens have a policy agenda that we put to the Canberra electorate at the last election and key parts of that agenda were translated into the parliamentary agreement that I signed with the former Chief Minister, Katy Gallagher, in 2012. I am pleased with how the agreement has progressed so far and look forward to working with the new Chief Minister to continue to deliver benefits for the people of Canberra. We are a dynamic, sustainable and progressive government while being an effective and responsible government.
Over the past two years the ACT Greens and ACT Labor have delivered one of the most stable governments in the country, despite the commentary that we sometimes see on minority governments. The parliamentary agreement has been progressed well in the first half of this term and we have delivered on the 90 per cent target for renewable energy by 2020 and have put that into legislation.
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video