Shane Rattenbury

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Shane Rattenbury
MLA
Shane Rattenbury MLA ACT Greens Member for Molonglo
Speaker of the ACT Legislative Assembly
In office
5 November 2008 – 6 November 2012
Preceded by Wayne Berry
Succeeded by Vicki Dunne
Member of the
ACT Legislative Assembly
Incumbent
Assumed office
18 October 2008
Constituency Molonglo
Personal details
Born (1971-08-25) 25 August 1971
Batemans Bay, New South Wales, Australia
Nationality Australian
Political party Australian Greens
Alma mater Australian National University
Occupation Politician
Website http://www.act.greens.org.au

Shane Stephen Rattenbury (born 25 August 1971), Australian politician and former Speaker of the ACT Legislative Assembly, is a member of the multi-member unicameral Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly representing the electorate of Molonglo for the ACT Greens since 2008.[1] He was the first Speaker in any Parliament in the world representing a Green political party.[2]

Early life, education and career before politics

Rattenbury first moved to Canberra in 1984. He attended Canberra Grammar School and went on to gain a BEc and LLB(Honours) from the Australian National University[3] and commenced employment, working with the Australian Department of Industry. Prior to his election to the Assembly, Rattenbury travelled between Amsterdam and Australia as the International Political Director of Greenpeace International.[1] During this time, he gained publicity for his work on global campaigns on climate change and whaling.[4][5][6]

Political career

Rattenbury first ran for election to the ACT Legislative Assembly in the 2001 ACT Election,[2] for the ACT Greens in the electorate of Ginninderra. After the distribution of preferences, Rattenbury was defeated by both Labor's Wayne Berry and the Australian Democrats', Roslyn Dundas.[7]

In June 2008, the ACT Greens announced that Rattenbury would again stand for election in the electorate of Molonglo.[8] Independent polling released in October[9] suggested the Green vote had doubled to tripled since the last election at the expense of Labor,[10] with the Liberal vote remaining relatively unchanged. Commentators predicted the Greens would hold the balance of power and decide who forms government. The Greens stated they were willing to court both major parties.[11][12] At the close of counting on election night, with 82.1 per cent of the vote counted, Labor had obtained 37.6 per cent of the vote across the ACT, with the Liberals at 31.1 per cent and the Greens at 15.8 per cent. Swings were recorded against both the Labor (-9.3 per cent) and Liberal (-3.7 per cent) parties with a +6.6 per cent swing towards the Greens. This resulted in the election of Rattenbury, Meredith Hunter, Amanda Bresnan, and Caroline Le Couteur.

Parliamentary career and election as Speaker

After deliberations with both the Labor and Liberal parties, the Greens chose to support a Labor minority government. Hunter was a key negotiator of the Parliamentary Agreement between the ACT Greens and the Labor Party. Under the agreement, the Greens secured a range of policy outcomes in the areas of schools and education, health service provision, housing, public transport and gay rights. It also ensures that the Greens will Chair three of the Assembly's key committees. In exchange, the Greens agreed to maintain confidence in Chief Minister of the Australian Capital Territory, Jon Stanhope.[13][14] The Greens also secured Government support for the nomination of Rattenbury as Speaker of the Assembly.[15][16] While on the cross bench in the 7th Assembly, Rattenbury held the portfolios of Attorney-General, Environment, Climate Change and Water, Energy, Police and Emergency Services, Tourism, Sport and Recreation.[1]

Post-2012 ACT Election

Following the 2012 ACT election, Rattenbury was the only Greens MLA to retain his seat in the Assembly. With the election resulting in a hung parliament, Rattenbury, who held the balance of power, announced he would support Katy Gallagher and the Labor Party in the formation of government. The ACT Labor Caucus agreed to appoint Rattenbury as a minister in Gallagher's five-member cabinet, and to support 100 Greens policies.[17] Rattenbury is currently ACT Minister for Ageing, Minister for Housing, Minister for Corrections, Minister for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs, as well as, Minister for Territory and Municipal Services.

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 "Shane Rattenbury MLA". ACT Legislative Assembly. 2008. Retrieved 2009-09-27. 
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Shane Rattenbury: Inaugural Speech". ACT Hansard. ACT Legislative Assembly. 2008-12-11. Retrieved 2009-09-27. 
  3. ↑ "Candidate profile: Shane Rattenbury". The Canberra Times (Fairfax Media). 2001-10-16. 
  4. ↑ "Whalers set collision course with Greenpeace ship". The Age (Fairfax Media). 2006-01-06. 
  5. ↑ "Greenpeace, whalers clash at sea". CNN (Cable News Network). 2006-01-09. 
  6. ↑ Miller, Barbara (2007-12-17). "Cautious optimism on Bali Declaration". The World Today (Australian Broadcasting Corporation). 
  7. ↑ "Voting Data – 2001 Election". 2001 ACT general election - official results. ACT Electoral Commission. 2001. Retrieved 209-09-27. 
  8. ↑ "Greens Team of Three Tackles Majority Rule". The Canberra Times (Fairfax Media). 2008-06-05. 
  9. ↑ "Poll Results no Comfort to Labor or Liberals". The Canberra Times (Fairfax Media). 2008-10-04. 
  10. ↑ "Stanhope Slump". The Canberra Times (Fairfax Media). 2008-10-05. 
  11. ↑ "Stanhope will Need the Greens to Hold Power". The Canberra Times (Fairfax Media). 2008-10-04. 
  12. ↑ Bowe, William (2008-10-04). "Labor 7, Liberal 6, Greens 4". Crikey. Private Media Pty Ltd. 
  13. ↑ Stockman, David; Rudra, Natasha (2008-11-01). "Greens' nod sees Stanhope keep job". The Canberra Times (Fairfax Media). Retrieved 2010-08-15. 
  14. ↑ "Parliamentary Agreement for the Seventh Legislative Assembly for the ACT". ACT Greens and ACT Labor. 2008-11-01. Retrieved 2010-08-15. 
  15. ↑ "Greens' Shane Rattenbury elected ACT speaker". The Canberra Times (Fairfax Media). 2008-11-05. Retrieved 2010-08-15. 
  16. ↑ "Rattenbury elected Assembly speaker". ABC News (Australian Broadcasting Corporation). 2008-11-05. Retrieved 2010-08-15. 
  17. ↑ "Bourke dumped for Rattenbury". ABC News. 6 November 2012. Retrieved 6 November 2012. 

External links

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Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly
Preceded by
Wayne Berry		 Speaker of the ACT Legislative Assembly
2008–2012 		Succeeded by
Vicki Dunne
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