The ACT's Attorney-General is clinging to his seat by a thread as the Canberra Liberals work to come to terms with their sixth straight election loss, which saw their vote backslide.
Key points:
- ACT Attorney-General Gordon Ramsay's position in the Legislative Assembly still hangs in the balance
- After the Liberal vote went backwards, former chief minister Gary Humphries says the party has to change
- The Greens say they will not rush into a governing agreement with the Labor Party, which does not have a majority to take power without them
As counting for the ACT election continues, former Liberal chief minister and senator Gary Humphries has lashed the conservative wing of the Liberals, saying the party needs to change or risk "endless opposition" in Canberra.
On Saturday night, under conservative leader Alistair Coe, the Canberra Liberals saw a swing of more than three per cent against them.
In the southern electorate of Brindabella, where the Liberal vote is usually strongest, Labor and the Greens both received swings towards them, booting out Liberal MLA Andrew Wall.
Mr Humphries, who recently re-joined the party, said it needed to urgently change to appeal to the ACT's progressive sensibilities.
"I now think it is possible we could stay in Opposition for an almost endless period if people aren't persuaded that we are a viable alternative," he told the ABC.
"I'm urging party members to embrace the need for change, to say if we're a party in a progressive city like Canberra, we cannot run a very heavily, socially conservative agenda."
The party's campaign focused almost solely on cost of living, and Mr Humphries said Mr Coe's inability to explain how he would pay for lowering taxes while increasing spending insulted the intelligence of voters.
"There are so many people in this city who are politically and financially literate … they looked at those figures and said 'this doesn't make any sense'," Mr Humphries said.
In response to the criticisms, ACT Liberal senator and conservative Zed Seselja lashed out at Humphries.
"When Gary last led the Canberra Liberals, we lost 41-31 [per cent] to Labor," he said.
"When I last led the Canberra Liberals, we won the most votes in the territory and the most seats the party had ever won. He is hardly in a position to credibly criticise anyone."
Gordon Ramsay risks facing the chopping board
ACT Attorney-General Gordon Ramsay's prospect of being re-elected hangs in the balance as counting continues, with the Greens having taken the fourth of five seats on offer in the Belconnen-centred electorate of Ginninderra.
Mr Ramsay is locked in a preference battle with Liberal Peter Cain to determine who will take the final seat.
ACT Chief Minister Andrew Barr said he was "sweating the result", but not prepared to write his colleague off.
"Gordon was Minister for Seniors and did a lot of work campaigning amongst his older constituents, who are more likely to have postal voted or have voted in a traditional paper ballot in the pre polls," Mr Barr said.
"I'm sweating on that result, absolutely, because Gordon is an outstanding member of the Legislative Assembly and brings a wealth of experience in the community and it would be a devastating loss for ACT Labor."
Meanwhile, the Greens still have hopes they will secure a record sixth seat, as a tight race with Labor for the final spot up for grabs in Brindabella continues.
Greens Leader Shane Rattenbury said the party would not rush into a governing agreement with the Labor party.
"I think there's real opportunity for us in being part of the cabinet process to be involved in some of the decision making, to work with the government agencies to implement policies, but there is obviously strength in sitting on the crossbench as well," he said.
"We'll weigh that up this week. Part of that will of course, be a conversation with the Labor Party.
"The important thing is that we find the most effective way to implement the policies that we took to the election, and get the outcomes that we said to Canberra we wanted to deliver."
https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMiaGh0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmFiYy5uZXQuYXUvbmV3cy8yMDIwLTEwLTE5L2FjdC1lbGVjdGlvbi1yZXN1bHRzLWdpbm5pbmRlcnJhLWdvcmRvbi1yYW1zYXktdW5jZXJ0YWluLzEyNzgyNjIy0gEnaHR0cHM6Ly9hbXAuYWJjLm5ldC5hdS9hcnRpY2xlLzEyNzgyNjIy?oc=5
2020-10-19 05:44:00Z
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