Greens down but not out of fight to decide power struggle

The electorate yesterday turned on the Greens, stripping the crossbenchers of a likely two seats.

The Greens remained defiant last night, but sitting member Caroline Le Couteur, who won the Greens an unlikely fourth seat by the narrowest of margins at the 2008 election, is unlikely to retain her spot as Member for Molonglo.

Member for Brindabella Amanda Bresnan's political life hangs in the balance as counting continues this morning.

But the Greens are set to return Member for Ginninderra Meredith Hunter, and Member for Molonglo Shane Rattenbury.

It was a fall from grace from 2008, when the Greens tripled their representation in the Assembly. The Greens were battered across the territory's three divisions yesterday, copping about a 4.6 per cent swing against.

Last night, before this newspaper went to print and after about a third of the votes were counted, the vote fluctuated in the 11 per cent range. But at 10pm, the Greens were not conceding defeat.

Mr Rattenbury looked set to retain his seat in Molonglo with 6 per cent of the vote.

Ms Hunter looked likely to keep Ginninderra with 6.9 per cent of the vote. Ms Bresnan had attracted 5.8 per cent of the vote in Brindabella and faces a nervous wait as preferences are counted.

Ms Le Couteur holds an even slimmer chance of survival, despite increasing her personal vote to 5.5 per cent. She will also sweat on preferences today.

ACT Greens rank and file gathered at the Civic Hellenic Club to watch the bittersweet drama unfold, caught between celebration and commiseration.

The MLAs arrived individually after 8pm, spending the early part of the evening at the tally room.

Ms Hunter, in her address, remained defiant.

''Let's hold on, there's still booths to be counted, it's still early days,'' Ms Hunter said. ''We have heard that the Libs have had a surge down in [Brindabella] … we are still quite confident that we are going to hang on to Amanda Bresnan for Brindabella.''

The split decision means the Greens will be courted over the coming days to provide support to form government.

Ms Hunter said negotiations would hinge on policy, not voter numbers. She listed light rail, greenhouse gas reduction targets by 2020, education and local services as their main priorities.

''These are the policies that are so important to us [and] we're not going to let them be left on the shelf, we will continue to see them through,'' she said.

''That is the most important thing when we sit down in the next couple of days to decide who we will support to lead the territory.

''These initiatives are too important to not be progressed and that is our where our discussions and negotiations will start.''