The ACT independent politician likely to hold a significant balance-of-power vote in the Senate says the new Prime Minister dismissing territory rights as not a priority is "disappointing".
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It costs the government nothing to move ahead on repealing the Andrews Bill, which prevents territories from legislating for voluntary assisted dying, David Pocock said.
"This is something for a number of Canberrans they simply can't wait," he told reporters at Parliament House on Monday.
"Whilst I'm not suggesting actually legislating [for] voluntary assisted dying, I'm saying as a territory we should have the right to debate and legislate and it's not going to cost the government anything."
The novice politician has not spoken with Anthony Albanese since the Labor leader last week declined to put a timeframe on legislation to protect territory rights.
The Prime Minister instead began his crossbench negotiations with the existing five independents in the lower house - Rebekha Sharkie, Bob Katter, Andrew Wilkie, Helen Haines and Zali Steggall - to secure support for his government and supply.
Mr Pocock walked the halls of Parliament on Monday as early ballot counting put him within reach of unseating Liberal Zed Seselja for the second ACT Senate spot. But he told reporters he was "not getting ahead of ourselves" by presuming victory.
While ACT Chief Minister Andrew Barr had encouraged Canberrans to give Mr Pocock their second preference in the election, behind Labor's Senate ticket, the rugby great confirmed he had not spoken with Mr Barr about policy priorities for the capital territory.
"We have historical social housing debt, [while] Tasmania and other states have had theirs wiped - I think there's a really good case for that happening here in the ACT," Mr Pocock said of his policy priorities.
He said he was also a supporter of Ms Steggall's climate action bill and Ms Haines' integrity commission bill, but did not see himself as part of the same parliamentary bloc as the new wave of teal independents - not least because his campaign colour was a navy blue, and because of the different role senators have in the Parliament.
"Coming into this campaign we knew the balance of power would be held by the crossbench. I'll be using that to get good outcomes for the ACT," he said.
"I think the results from the weekend show that there are a lot of Australians out there who are frustrated with politics, the way that the big issues that we all know we have to get on and deal with have been politicised by the major parties.
"It's a great reminder to major parties to reconnect with the people that they're actually there to serve."
Climate was the perfect example of how an issue has been politicised, he said. The Business Council of Australia had a more ambitious emissions target for 2030 than either the Coalition or Labor. That said a lot about the economic opportunities that Australia could have had with the right policy, Mr Pocock lamented.
Mr Pocock also went into this election with major climate policies of his own, including a full household electrification pilot in Canberra that would grow the local economic by 5500 jobs and $580 million in spending.
"I see the role of leaders as looking ahead and dealing with the big challenges we face in a way that actually turns them into opportunities," he said.
Asked if he was ready to put on his rugby kit to help the politicians in the Parliamentarians vs Press Gallery annual charity game, Mr Pocock said he was out of practice but "happy to lace on his boots".
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