Yesterday, ACT Greens leader Shane Rattenbury announced that the Greens would seek to lead government. Bill Stefaniak, co-convenor of the Belco Party, says the thought of Shane Rattenbury becoming Chief Minister is scary.

For comparison, the reader is referred to Canberra Daily‘s article of 18 June, in which Mr Rattenbury argues that the ACT Greens are the party of choice for those seeking progressive policies.

At a recent candidates’ forum, a Labor member of the Assembly, when chatting to several people, said words to the effect: “People think [Chief Minister] Andrew Barr is arrogant, but Shane Rattenbury is much more arrogant than him.”

I would add “delusional” as well, if he thinks he will be Chief Minister.

I would ask Shane this question as well: “How are you going to pay for all your promises, and why have you not implemented any of them before? You have had 12 years to do so.”

But, just for a moment, let’s say enough Canberrans were stupid enough to elect more Greens.

A Green-led government would be disastrous.

The economy would be ruined within two years, with businesses leaving Canberra in droves and no-one investing in Canberra.

An example of things to come: the Real Estate Institute of the ACT (REIACT) told me that, as a result of the Greens’ residential tenancy policies and changes to the Residential Tenancy Act, 20 per cent of their mum-and-dad landlords have sold their investment property in the last 12 months, as they can’t pay the exorbitant government rates, and are severely restricted by the excessively pro-tenant laws. Far from helping tenants, such measures will lead to a depletion of rental stocks, which will then see rents rise, to the great detriment of tenants.

The Greens’ fixation on the tram has already led to billions of dollars that should have gone to hospitals, health, and extra police being wasted on a tram system that is only used by a maximum of 7 per cent of the population.

Speaking of police, the Greens do not like police. They don’t want to give police the powers necessary to do their job, and they think more police is a bad thing. How crazy can you get?

They also hate people having fun. Horse-racing will be banned. [One of the Belco Party’s candidates is ex-jockey Greg Burke.]

Drug laws will be further relaxed, and the age of criminal responsibility raised for all crimes, including murder, to 14. (I have seen a few 12- and 13-year-old killers in my time as a prosecutor and solicitor.) Juvenile crimes and drug abuse have already increased with the new decriminalisation of hard drugs laws, and it will only get worse as criminal bikie gangs expand their evil trade into Canberra. According to frontline police, this is already happening.

One of the most distressing things already occurring after 23 years of Labor, and then Labor and the Greens, is the politicising of the public service and the refusal by the Green/Labor government to use merit as a criterion for employment and membership of government boards. This would only get worse under a Green-led government, as they only want people who think the same way they do to be given positions on boards and in the local public service.

The local Greens ceased to be interested in animals and the environment years ago. The disastrous kangaroo cull and their refusal to back an independent inquiry, called for by Animal Liberation, the Belco Party, and now even the Liberals, speak volumes for their contempt for the welfare of our furry friends.

Hypocrisy seems to be the main trait of our Greens.

Many budding industries such as local defence industries will be barred from operating in Canberra. Now, I must concede Shane has said he is not an anti-Semite – unlike his Green mates in the federal parliament and the Victorian and NSW parliaments – and I accept his assurance on that. But his backbenchers have attempted to ban the ACT government from investing in any Israeli-related arms firms, and the local Greens have yet to unequivocally condemn Hamas for the atrocities it committed in Israel on 7 October last year.

The good news is, I am confident the Greens will not get more seats.

They are an integral part of the government, with three ministers in cabinet. They are fully responsible for all the bad decisions of the last 12 years.

Indeed, the Labor government seemed to go off the rails when the Greens joined it in 2012. Before then, led by the redoubtable and solid Jon Stanhope, they generally ran the Territory fairly well.

If the Greens did get more seats, Labor and Liberals must join together to ensure the Greens were not in government.

As far as the Belco party goes, we would always vote for Andrew Barr to be Chief Minister if the choice were between him and Shane Rattenbury.

Although, of course, after 23 years, we believe it’s time for a change. The most likely result, if that were to occur, would be a Liberal minority government supported and kept honest by a few sensible independents.

Views expressed are those of Mr Stefaniak, and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publication.