Former Labor leader Jon Stanhope's decision to accept an offer to spearhead the Liberals' proposed poverty taskforce has diminished his standing in the party, according to Chief Minister Andrew Barr.
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Mr Barr resumed hostilities with his former boss and now fiercest critic on Wednesday, after Mr Stanhope accepted Alistair Coe's offer to lead the expert panel he plans to establish if the Liberals win next month's election.
Mr Coe played down the political overtones of the offer, insisting Mr Stanhope had the experience, integrity and community sector connections required for the proposed position.
But Mr Barr, who sat in Mr Stanhope's cabinet at the start of his political career, described Mr Coe's move as an "obvious political stunt".
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Mr Barr said Mr Stanhope's decision to accept the offer had diminished his standing in the Labor party. Asked if the ACT's longest serving chief minister should be stripped of his life membership of the ALP, Mr Barr said: "that's not really something I give a rat's arse about frankly".
"[Former Labor prime minister] Julia Gillard sets the gold standard for behavior for former leaders," Mr Barr said.
"I'm not giving Jon Stanhope a gold star, you can say that."
Mr Barr wasn't worried that Mr Stanhope's decision would signal to traditional Labor voters that it was OK to jump ship to the Liberals, saying his supporters were smart people who would understand that his party was better placed to tackle the problem.
Greens leader Shane Rattenbury, who has been the target of a number of Mr Stanhope's attacks in recent years, joked that it was "nice to see he has entered a phase where he wants to make a constructive contribution".
In an interview on 2CC radio on Wednesday morning, Mr Stanhope said he didn't disguise the fact that he had been disappointed with the performance of the Labor-Greens government since he left the ACT Legislative Assembly in 2011.
His main grievance was with the government policies, including its "strangling" of land supply for detached homes, which he argued had worsened housing affordability in the nation's capital. He also accused the government of cutting spending on health, in real terms, by more than $100 million a year in the past six years.
"The third big picture issue is the budget," he said.
"The government, and I says this advisedly, has been fiscally reckless over the past six to seven years."
Dan Jervis-Bardy
Dan covers federal politics from Parliament House, with a special focus on climate policy and the NDIS. He has previously reported on ACT politics and urban affairs since joining the Canberra Times in 2018.
Dan covers federal politics from Parliament House, with a special focus on climate policy and the NDIS. He has previously reported on ACT politics and urban affairs since joining the Canberra Times in 2018.
