ACT Greens

ACT Greens
LeaderShane Rattenbury
Deputy LeaderTBD
Founded1992
Headquarters2/18 Lonsdale Street,
Braddon ACT 2612
IdeologyGreen politics
Progressivism
Political positionLeft-wing
National affiliationAustralian Greens
Colours  Green
Legislative Assembly
4 / 25
House of Representatives
0 / 3
(ACT seats)
Senate
0 / 2
(ACT seats)
Website
greens.org.au/act

The ACT Greens is a green political party located in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT), and a member of the federation of the Australian Greens. Both parties were formed in 1992, three years after the ACT achieved self-government in 1989.

Since its formation the ACT Greens has had a significant presence in the ACT Legislative Assembly, having formed minority or coalition governments with the Labor Party since 2008.

History

[edit]

1995–1998 Assembly

Two Greens candidates, Lucy Horodny and Kerrie Tucker, were successful at the 1995 election, the first to be run under the Hare-Clark system. The election resulted in a hung parliament, but the Liberal Party was able to form government with two independents.

1998–2001 Assembly

Kerrie Tucker was left as the only Greens member during this assembly, in which the Liberal Party again formed government with the help of independents.

2001–2004 Assembly

Kerrie Tucker was once again the only Greens member during this assembly, in which the Labor Party formed a minority government with her support and that of Australian Democrat Roslyn Dundas. There was no formal parliamentary agreement between the three governing parties for this assembly.

2004–2008 Assembly

This was the first ACT election since the enactment of a fixed four-year term. Deb Foskey was the sole Greens member of the assembly, in which the Labor Party held the majority.

2008–2012 Assembly

Following the 2008 election, the ACT Greens held the balance of power in the 17-member Legislative Assembly, with four members (Amanda Bresnan, Meredith Hunter, Shane Rattenbury and Caroline Le Couteur), to Labor's seven and the Liberals with six.[1][2][3] After deliberations with both the Labor and Liberal parties, the Greens chose to support a Labor minority government.[4][5][6]

2012–2016 Assembly

Following the 2012 ACT election, Shane Rattenbury was the only Greens MLA to retain his seat in the Legislative Assembly, and entered into a power sharing arrangement to allow the Labor Party to once again form minority government.[7]

The agreement gave Shane Rattenbury the ministerial portfolios of Ageing; Housing; Corrections; and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs, as well as Territory and Municipal Services in the Second Gallagher Ministry and the First Barr Ministry.

2016–2020 Assembly

Shane Rattenbury retained a seat in the expanded Legislative Assembly at the 2016 ACT election, and held the ministerial portfolios of Climate Change and Sustainability; Corrections and Justice Health; Justice, Consumer Affairs and Road Safety; and Mental Health. Caroline Le Couteur was also reelected, after losing her seat in 2012. The Greens maintained their position in the balance of power for a third consecutive term, and the ACT Greens and ACT Labor parties signed another parliamentary agreement setting out the terms of their power-sharing arrangement in government.[8]

2020–2024 Assembly

During the 2020 election, the Greens had an excellent result, winning an extra seat in each of the ACT's 5 electorates apart from Murumbidgee where they already had a seat. The party took 2 seats from the Labor party and 2 seats from the Liberal party. the 6 Greens MLAs formed government with the 10 Labor MLAs, negotiating a coalition agreement with 3 Greens members, Shane Rattenbury, Rebecca Vassarotti and Emma Davidson, being apart of the 9 person cabinet.[9]


On 10 November 2023, member of the Greens Johnathan Davis was stood down from his duties as an MLA and referred to police by the ACT Greens after allegations he had sexual relationships with a boy under the legal age of consent (16-years old in the ACT) and a teenager who was a legally still a child, under 18 at the time.[10][11]

Davis resigned from parliament and as a member of the Greens on 12 November 2023.[12]

Leader

[edit]

Party leaders

[edit]
No. Leader
(birth–death)
Portrait Electorate Took office Left office Term Chief Minister (term)
1 Kerrie Tucker
(1948–)
Molonglo 21 February 1998 16 October 2004 6 years, 238 days Carnell (1995–2000)
Humphries (2000–2001)
Stanhope (2001–2011)
2 Deb Foskey
(1949–2020)
16 October 2004 18 October 2008 4 years, 2 days
3 Meredith Hunter
(1962–)
Ginninderra 18 October 2008 20 October 2012 4 years, 2 days
Gallagher (2011–2014)
4 Shane Rattenbury
(1971–)
Molonglo
(2008–2016)
20 October 2012 present 12 years, 32 days
Barr (2014–)
Kurrajong
(2016–)

Electoral results

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Territory

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Legislative Assembly
Election year # of
overall votes
% of
overall vote
# of
overall seats won
+/– Position
1995 14,967 9.1 (#3)
2 / 17
Crossbench
1998 16,417 9.1 (#4)
1 / 17
Decrease 1
2001 17,369 9.1 (#3)
1 / 17
Steady
2004 18,997 9.3 (#3)
1 / 17
Steady
2008 33,057 15.6 (#3)
4 / 17
Increase 3 Crossbench (supporting ACT Labor government)
2012 23,773 10.7 (#3)
1 / 17
Decrease 3 Coalition government
2016 25,109 10.3 (#3)
2 / 25
Increase 1
2020 36,307 13.5 (#3)
6 / 25
Increase 4
2024 30,877 12.3 (#3)
4 / 25
Decrease 2 Crossbench

Federal

[edit]
Election ACT House seats ACT Senate seats
Votes % Seats +/– Votes % Seats +/–
2001 14,335 7.1
0 / 2
14,825 7.2
0 / 2
2004 22,440 10.8
0 / 2
Steady 0 34,575 16.4
0 / 2
Steady 0
2007 29,424 13.2
0 / 2
Steady 0 48,384 21.5
0 / 2
Steady 0
2010 42,942 19.2
0 / 2
Steady 0 52,546 22.9
0 / 2
Steady 0
2013 32,356 13.4
0 / 2
Steady 0 47,553 19.3
0 / 2
Steady 0
2016 38,129 15.1
0 / 2
Steady 0 41,006 16.1
0 / 2
Steady 0
2019 44,804 16.9
0 / 3
Steady 0 47,855 17.71
0 / 2
Steady 0
2022 40,008 18.6
0 / 3
Steady 0 14,032 10.5
0 / 2
Steady 0

Members of Parliament

[edit]

Current Legislative Assembly members

[edit]
Kerrie Tucker and Lucy Horodny

Previous Legislative Assembly members

[edit]

References

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  1. ^ "ACT 2008 – ABC elections". Abc.net.au. 18 October 2008. Archived from the original on 20 January 2011. Retrieved 1 February 2011.
  2. ^ Williams, George (25 October 2008). "Case for a new umpire: Canberra Times 25/10/2008". Canberratimes.com.au. Archived from the original on 25 October 2008. Retrieved 1 February 2011.
  3. ^ "Greens take extra seat in ACT election: ABC News 25/10/2008". Abc.net.au. Archived from the original on 2 February 2011. Retrieved 1 February 2011.
  4. ^ "Labor to form minority government in ACT: The Age 31/10/2008". News.theage.com.au. 31 October 2008. Archived from the original on 15 September 2014. Retrieved 1 February 2011.
  5. ^ Stockman, David (1 November 2008). "Greens' nod sees Stanhope keep job: Canberra Times 1/11/2008". Canberratimes.com.au. Archived from the original on 11 August 2011. Retrieved 1 February 2011.
  6. ^ Labor-Greens parliamentary agreement PDF Archived 25 February 2009 at the Wayback Machine
  7. ^ "Bourke dumped for Rattenbury". ABC News. 6 November 2012. Archived from the original on 2 February 2014. Retrieved 21 January 2014.
  8. ^ "Labor, Greens Parliamentary Agreement 2016". ABC News. 30 October 2016. Archived from the original on 25 April 2017. Retrieved 29 April 2017.
  9. ^ "Labor to win re-election in ACT with support of Greens, ABC election analyst Antony Green says". ABC News. Retrieved 19 October 2024.
  10. ^ "Greens MLA Johnathan Davis investigated over teen sex allegations". The Canberra Times. Archived from the original on 10 November 2023. Retrieved 18 November 2023.
  11. ^ "ACT Greens politician Johnathan Davis stood down indefinitely over allegations of misconduct". ABC News. Archived from the original on 10 November 2023. Retrieved 18 November 2023.
  12. ^ "ACT Greens backbencher Johnathan Davis resigns after sexual misconduct allegations". ABC News. 12 November 2023. Archived from the original on 18 November 2023. Retrieved 12 November 2023.