Page 2216 - Week 06 - Thursday, 7 June 2018
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people to make their own choices; and a local government that does core business properly.
Madam Speaker, I want to make this a reality, and the Canberra Liberals will do just that.
MR RATTENBURY (Kurrajong) (3.24): The Greens welcome this year’s budget. From a Greens perspective, this budget takes another step towards making Canberra the most sustainable, fair and progressive place in Australia. Although the Greens are currently few in number, just two MLAs among the 25 members in this place, our goal is to punch above our weight: to work diligently; to consult and fight for progressive issues; and to speak for people, animals and the environment, which is sometimes neglected.
From the ACT Greens perspective, this is a milestone budget. This is the 10th budget since the Greens negotiated a solid and constructive power-sharing arrangement with the Labor Party here in the Assembly. This budget marks a decade of stronger, positive Greens influence in a wide range of the ACT government’s functions. Over this time we have helped shape and enhance ACT budgets, policies and initiatives across the policy spectrum.
We are proud of progress towards developing the ACT into the most green and progressive jurisdiction in Australia. When we decided to sign up to this power-sharing arrangement, we committed to making the ACT green and progressive. We have put sustainability and fairness—especially for vulnerable people—first. The ACT Greens have pushed tirelessly for progressive policies, securing better outcomes by protesting against bad policies, putting big issues on the agenda, bringing the community’s voices to the Assembly, and introducing legal reforms. Through three successive parliamentary agreements, we feel we have made significant progress.
This year’s budget continues to advance Canberra as a fairer and more sustainable city, recognising key parliamentary agreement commitments like sustainable transport, mental health, our local environment and climate change. The Greens’ support for the Labor government is contingent on the delivery of these policy achievements.
The last decade has seen big and important long-term policy shifts in the ACT. Slowly but surely, these shifts are shaping Canberra into a sustainable, more compassionate and prosperous city, in line with the Greens principle of the triple bottom line approach to policy: valuing the environmental, the social and the economic dimensions of policies. The Greens are proud of the direction Canberra is going in as a result of this work.
We will reach 100 per cent renewable electricity by 2020, showing Australia and the world how to lead in emissions reduction and renewable energy uptake. We have reached this point because climate change has been front and centre in ACT government policy since the Greens ensured that the fundamental work was done to set a strong legislated emissions reduction target in the 2008 parliamentary agreement with Labor a decade ago.
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