ACT returns Andrew Barr, Labor and Greens to government

The Australian Capital Territory have chosen Chief Minister Andrew Barr to govern the territory for another term.

Barr and ACT Labor have secured 10 seats in the territory’s one house of Parliament, just shy of the 13 needed to form a majority government.

The Greens have taken 5 seats, and may secure a sixth, all but ensuring their role in another minority government.

Barr, Australia’s only gay state or territory leader, will be continuing Labor’s unbroken legacy, eyeing 23 years in power for the party in the ACT. Barr marked his victory with a kiss with his husband, Anthony Toms.

“We’ve had an extraordinary series of challenges thrown at us, as a city and as a community, and we’ve got through it because we’ve worked together,” Barr said after his win.

“We’ve got through it because we’ve applied progressive values to our government decisions and because we’ve applied compassion and we haven’t left people behind.”

ACT Greens leader Shane Rattenbury said his party is hoping to encourage a ‘reset’ when negotiations for minority government begin this week.

“The ACT is the answer to the travesty we saw in last week’s federal budget, which was a trickle-down budget, a gas-led future and one that completely ignored the desperate need for new social housing in this country.”

“We’ve had some really clear feedback during this election from members of the community who are not entirely happy with how things have been going. There are things we need to reset on and we need to reflect on.”

OIP Staff

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