Today marks one year since the 2020 ACT Election that delivered the Greens 24 per cent of seats in the ACT Legislative Assembly, and balance of power for the fourth consecutive term.
“This has been one of the most challenging years ever for Canberrans, but the way we have responded, with genuine care for each other, makes me proud to be part of this government and part of this community,” said ACT Greens Leader and ACT Attorney-General Shane Rattenbury.
“The COVID-19 pandemic has proven that we do have what it takes to look after people, and gives me hope that we can achieve the vision of ‘a better normal’ that people voted for so strongly this time last year.
“We can emerge from this health crisis, respond to climate change, protect our precious environment and stamp out inequality so that ‘wellbeing’ isn’t reserved for some Canberrans, at the expense of others. The work we’ve done this year has made an incredible start.
“All six Greens MLAs, three in Cabinet, three in the Legislative Assembly, have so much to be proud of this year. From working daily in the emergency Cabinet to guide the ACT’s response to COVID-19, to booting banks out of our public schools and ending the rollout of fossil fuel gas to new suburbs, we are shaping a new normal that puts the wellbeing of people and the planet first,” Mr Rattenbury said.
“I do want to acknowledge our partners in government. Since 2008 we have shared power with ACT Labor, through the Bob Brown and Julia Gillard years, and out the other side. As Australia’s carbon price was historically legislated and repealed; as the leadership eras of Rudd, Gillard, Rudd, Turnbull, Abbott, Turnbull came and went; since before Black Saturday and through the Black Summer fires, Labor and the Greens have provided stable, progressive government for the people of Canberra.
“The Canberra we live in shows how the rest of Australia could be. Our Integrity Commission, our target of net-zero by 2045, our ban on single-use plastics, our investments in mental health and homelessness services, our progress toward raising the age of criminal responsibility; these are all things our community is crying out for at the federal level and here we are showing how – without short-term-ism or party tribalism – it can be done.
“The ACT may have a unicameral parliament, with only one chamber for debate, but we are a two-party government that exists in a constant state of push and pull. That strengthens our democracy and delivers better outcomes for the people of Canberra.
“As we celebrate one year of the Greenest government in Australia’s history, I’m looking forward to all that we can and must do over the coming three years to act on climate change and counter rising inequality,” Mr Rattenbury said.
To see a full list of ways the ACT Greens in Cabinet and the Legislative Assembly are delivering our vision of a better normal, go to: www.greens.org.au/act/how-we-are-delivering
