ACT Greens end key working relationship with government
Posted , updated
ACT Greens Leader Jo Clay says they have given the government opportunities to come through on key issues. (ABC News: Dave Sciasci)
In short:
ACT Greens leader Jo Clay has announced the end of the party's confidence and supply agreement with Labor for the remainder of the term.
Ms Clay said the party was not considering forming government with the Liberals.
What's next?
But she said the Greens would help pass the budget through the ACT Legislative Assembly.
The ACT Greens have ended their agreement to support the government on key votes, citing a breakdown in negotiations over priority issues.
ACT Greens leader Jo Clay said the end of the agreement with Labor would apply for the remainder of the parliamentary term.
Ms Clay said the move was the decision of all four Greens MLAs as well as party members, who were consulted.
She said the ending of a formal relationship allowed the party to better hold ACT Labor to account, and that she had informed Chief Minister Andrew Barr of the decision earlier in the day.
While the party did not renew its coalition with Labor after the 2024 election, they did agree to the confidence and supply agreement, which helps the minority Labor government pass legislation through the ACT Legislative Assembly.
"When negotiations began in early August, the Greens' goal was simple: secure the best possible outcomes for Canberrans, the climate, and environment,"
Ms Clay said.
"This means measurable progress on public housing, stronger protections for renters, protecting the Western Edge, and properly resourced community services like our libraries."
Chief Minister Andrew Barr was informed by Jo Clay on Wednesday that their working relationship would end. (ABC News: David Sciasci)
Ms Clay said the government was going to have to be "very careful, issue by issue to work with everyone in parliament" from now on.
She said the party had set a "clear, fair bar" for the government but it had chosen "not to be accountable in delivering their own policy".
"We asked for reasonable outcomes with dates attached. But what we got in return was non-commitment,"
she said.
"As we've seen very recently, from the cancelled ice rink in Tuggeranong, to below-inflation pay offers for teachers, to cut library hours, the community is tired of good intentions with no follow-through."
But she said they would help the upcoming budget pass through the Assembly.
"We went in to negotiate on this budget earlier this year and we got some really key concessions in there. We made sure that the health levy would not be coming back, we made sure that we got a proper uplift in community sector funding," she said.
"This budget is not perfect, but this budget is a budget that the Greens will support passage of."
Ms Clay said the party was not considering forming government with the Liberals at this stage.
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