The Labor–Greens coalition was a

political alliance A parliamentary group, parliamentary caucus or political group is a group consisting of members of different political parties or independent politicians with similar ideologies. Some parliamentary systems allow smaller political parties, who a ...

between the Labor Party and the Greens in the

Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly The Legislative Assembly for the Australian Capital Territory, known in short as the ACT Legislative Assembly, is the unicameral legislature of the Australian Capital Territory (ACT). It sits in the Legislative Assembly Building, Canberra, Leg ...

. The coalition was founded in 2012 but was dissolved after the 2024 election, with the Greens moving to the

crossbench A crossbencher is a minor party or independent politician, independent member of some legislatures, such as the Parliament of Australia. In the British House of Lords the term refers to members of the parliamentary group of non-political peers. ...

. Unlike what generally happens with the

Liberal–National Coalition The Liberal–National Coalition, commonly known simply as the Coalition or the LNP, is an alliance of centre-right to right-wing political parties that forms one of the two major groupings in Australian federal politics. Its two members ar ...

, Labor and the Greens contest ACT elections on separate tickets. From 2020 until 2024, three Greens MLAs were members of the Barr ministry, while the other three effectively sat on the

backbench In Westminster and other parliamentary systems, a backbencher is a member of parliament (MP) or a legislator who occupies no governmental office and is not a frontbench spokesperson in the Opposition, being instead simply a member of t ...

History

Following the 2001 election, Labor was supported by the Greens and Democrats in a minority government. Labor won a majority in

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

, but after losing it in

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

they were again supported by the Greens. At the 2012 election,

Shane Rattenbury Shane Stephen Rattenbury (born 25 August 1971) is an Australian politician currently serving as as a member of the multi-member district unicameral Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly since 2008 and as the leader of the ACT Green ...

was the only Greens MLA to retain his seat in the Legislative Assembly, and entered into a power sharing arrangement to allow the Labor Party to once again form minority government. The Labor Caucus agreed to appoint Rattenbury as a minister in Katy Gallagher's five-member cabinet, and to support various Greens policies. Rattenbury was re-elected at the 2016 election and joined by party colleague

Caroline Le Couteur Caroline Le Couteur (born 1952) is an Australian politician. She was elected to the Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly representing the electorate of Molonglo electorate, Molonglo for the ACT Greens at the 2008 Australian Capital ...

, taking the Greens tally to 2 out of 25 total seats. As a result, Rattenbury joined the second Barr ministry, although he reserved the right to withdraw from Cabinet discussions on divisive issues and vote independently in the Assembly. Labor was re-elected with 10 seats of their own in

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

, while the Greens won a record six seats. On the night of the election,

Andrew Barr Andrew James Barr (born 29 April 1973) is an Australian politician who has been serving as the 7th and current chief minister of the Australian Capital Territory since 2014 and the treasurer of the Australian Capital Territory since 2011. He ...

confirmed Labor would again seek to enter into an arrangement with the Greens. Since November 2020, Rattenbury, Rebecca Vassarotti and Emma Davidson have served as Greens ministers, making up a third of the Barr ministry. The coalition dissolved after the 2024 election, where the Greens lost two seats to Independents. Rattenbury announced on 6 November 2024 that the Greens would be sitting on the crossbench, while continuing to guarantee supply in exchange for Labor adopting Greens policies.

Electoral performance

Legislative Assembly

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Labor-Greens coalition Political party alliances in Australia 2012 establishments in Australia 2024 disestablishments in Australia Australian Labor Party Australian Greens

History

Electoral performance

Legislative Assembly

See also

References