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Labor takes Greens for granted: Seselja

20 Oct, 2008 04:01 PM
The Liberals will have "good faith" discussions with the Greens tomorrow about forming a minority government in the ACT.

After Saturday's general election, Labor and Liberal appear to have won seven seats - two short of an outright majority - in the Legislative Assembly with the Greens holding the balance of power with three seats.

The Stanhope Labor government has lost its majority hold over the assembly on the back of a nine per cent swing against it in the poll.

Liberal leader Zed Seselja said he'd had a conversation with the Greens lead candidate Shane Rattenbury.

"I'm not going to give away my negotiating position as this point," he told ABC Radio today.

"We'll negotiate in good faith, we'll negotiate responsibly."

The ALP had taken for granted the Greens would support a Labor minority government, Mr Seselja said.

"If the Greens do that, I suppose they will be sending out a clear signal that they're not a third force, they're simply an add-on to the Labor party.

"My discussions with Shane Rattenbury indicate he's not taking that approach."

Mr Seselja would not rule out offering the Greens a ministerial position in a Liberal minority government, but said it represented a challenge.

Negotiations could take two weeks: Brown

Taking a week or two to decide which of the two major parties forms a minority government in the ACT is a good investment in future governance, the Australian Greens say.

Neither the Labor government or Liberal opposition has won an outright majority in the 17-seat Legislative Assembly, while the Greens hold the balance of power with three seats after Saturday's general election.

The Greens federal leader Bob Brown said today the ACT community voted for minority government.

"The people of the ACT have said they don't want a majority government here, we want better outcomes and we'll do that by having a number of parties involved in the next government," he told ABC Radio.

Senator Brown said he hadn't discussed any "deal-breakers" with the three Greens MLAs elected on Saturday.

"I've discussed the process in the Tasmanian parliament where the Greens got better outcomes by being in the balance of power.

"It comes down to the Greens sensibly being able to get a good, comfortable arrangement in government."

It would take a week or two before an arrangement for government was agreed upon, Senator Brown said.

"But that is good investment in time when you're looking at the next four years of governance for the people of the ACT."

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I sincerely hope the Greens are not entertaining the idea of forming a coalition with the Liberals as this would spell electoral suicide for them at the next election. Green voters voted for a party that want to implement enviromentally sustainable and socially just policies. The Liberal party stand for American-style capitalism, and we've all seen what that has done to the world.
Posted by Ross, 20/10/2008 5:11:53 PM
In some sort of alternative reality "could be". Eric, you're living on Stanhope's short wavelength. The fact that you suggest that because people who "normally" vote for labor voted for the greens this time automatically means labor deserves to govern. If people wanted stanhope they'd have voted for him, it just indicates people didn't put enough thought into their vote. They may not have voted for the Liberals, but it's not a reason to exclude them as an option to form government.
Posted by dave, 20/10/2008 5:34:44 PM
It is well beyond the right time for Canberra to get a new leader. The Bolshevik type attitude and policies of 'intense John' and the current government is embarassing, out-dated and has far exceeded their use by date. Give them the holiday that they so need.
Posted by Carney , 20/10/2008 6:49:49 PM
It would be usual in Australian politics for a minority government to be formed by the party most recently in power. One would then expect Labor to continue in government. This is one of the reasons Australia is known for its stable governmental processes. However, it would be a severely chastened government which would have to submit each piece of legislation to a consensus building process with the Greens and the Liberals. There doesn't have to be a coalition! All is needed is a reasonable agreement to allow a reasonable budget that is acceptable to Green principles. Thus the Greens agreeing to supply with the Labor government is the most sensible option. If the Liberals were wanted in government they would have won, possibly with some right wing independents. The result plainly shows a preference for a left wing government that must negotiate.
Posted by Murray, 20/10/2008 6:50:41 PM
How much of the swing against the Libs was the result of Stanhope offering a job to the Liberals largest vote winner in Ginnindera? The swing in Molonglo can be attributed to the Richard Mulcahy group. Zeds personal vote went up 12.8% while Stanhopes went down 14% (despite taking his closest competition out of the picture by offering a Government appointment to Stefaniak).
Posted by Spin Sick, 20/10/2008 7:28:08 PM
I would love the Greens to join the labor party - Government is always harder than constant opposition. The first action should be to have an inquiry into the appropriateness of Stanhope offering a job to Stefaniak so close to the election. Especially given that he was contesting the same seat. This seems very simialr (in a moral sense) to the Terry Metherell affair in NSW that cost Nick Geiner his job. What was the selection process? What was Stanhope's role in the appointment? Was their an application and interview process? Where is the seletion report?
Posted by Spin Sick, 20/10/2008 7:34:15 PM
"Cannot govern themselves how can they govern you". They were roughly the words used during the recent campaign in respect of the Liberals. Little did we realise it is the same for the Greens. Fancy giving the balance of power to a rabble who is leaderless and cannot decide on a leader. Well done fence sitters of Canberra, what have you done to the rest of us?
Posted by Chris, 21/10/2008 6:57:11 AM
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Liberal leader Zed Seselja
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