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The Canberra Times
The Canberra Times
Lucy Bladen

About 40 per cent of Labor-Greens power agreement yet to be completed

About 40 per cent of the policies in the Labor and Greens power sharing agreement are yet to be completed less than a year out from the ACT election.

Of the policies that have yet to be delivered, the government considers them to be all underway, an update of the governing agreement between the parties has revealed.

The update showed the government made the most progress in areas such as legislative reforms and its changes to the planning system.

The agreement had 21 legislative changes and all but four have been delivered. Only one of these changes had been enacted at the end of 2022.

A number of bills passed the Assembly this year including raising the age of criminal responsibility, a ban on foreign political donations and legislation to prevent public sector outsourcing.

The passing of the planning bill also helped in ticking off items in the agreement with several items related to planning changes included.

There are more than 100 policies in the Labor and Greens power sharing agreement and the government has considered 60 as completed.

Items underway include building 50 electric vehicle charging stations, expanding specialist homelessness capacity, delivering 400 new public housing properties and building the second stage of light rail.

Labor and Greens members signed the agreement to form government as no party was able to secure a majority in the 2020 election.

Chief Minister Andrew Barr and ACT Greens leader Shane Rattenbury. Picture by Elesa Kurtz

The Assembly's newest MLA, Laura Nuttall, from the Greens, has also become a signatory to the agreement. She joined the Assembly in November to replace Johnathan Davis.

The policies in the agreement are separate to election commitments made by the parties, some of which have already been dumped including Labor's promise to build an elective surgery centre in Bruce.

Chief Minister Andrew Barr said Labor would prioritise health, education, housing, cost of living and infrastructure.

"There will be progress on the planning, design or construction of a number of once-in-a-generation projects that will shape our city's future," he said.

"This includes the new Woden CIT campus, the Molonglo Valley bridge, the city's theatre precinct, light rail to Commonwealth Park, a new indoor entertainment facility and the health, education and sports precinct in Belconnen."

Greens leader Shane Rattenbury highlighted the climate and housing crises.

"This two-party government is working hard to make Canberra a place where everyone is able to live a healthy, fulfilling life with strong connections to their community, in a way that cares for our planet," he said.

"We are proud to have worked together to deliver on big promises that make a real difference to people's lives."

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