One of the longest and most respected political careers in the ACT’s history came to an end last night when ACT Greens leader Shane Rattenbury delivered his valedictory speech, bidding farewell to his Legislative Assembly colleagues and sparring partners.
The ACT’s third-longest serving minister, Mr Rattenbury has been a member of the ACT Legislative Assembly since 2008.
“Running for a seat in the ACT Legislative Assembly gave me the chance to step up and take action in the community that I call home,” Mr Rattenbury said. “I stand here now, some 17 years later, with a mixture of pride in the progress we have driven and the changes we have made for the people of Canberra, and a restlessness knowing there is still much more to be done.
“That is both the privilege and the burden of politics. The more you change, the more there is still to do. In here, we can make real change that is meaningful and impactful on people’s everyday lives.
“Sometimes it’s the small things, like helping someone get a footpath fixed or access a service they need.
“Sometimes it is big steps, the systemic change, like legislating climate targets, raising the age of criminal responsibility, introducing a charter of rights for victims of crime, or getting our light rail network underway.
“Whether big or small, the work we do in this place is important, and I feel so lucky that I’ve been able to do it for as long as I can.”
Mr Rattenbury announced his retirement from politics last month. Some have speculated this was the sequel to a failed attempt to ally with the Canberra Liberals, oust Andrew Barr, and install Mr Rattenbury as Chief Minister, but Mr Rattenbury and partner Louise state that 17 years of political work had taken its toll.
“I’ve formed a view that it is time,” Mr Rattenbury said. “There is no single reason for that. It is a mix of the draw of more time with more family, family members’ health, fatigue, the toll of public life, making space for others to step up, and the opportunity to try my hand at something new and contribute to our community in a different way.”
Formerly a Greenpeace activist, Mr Rattenbury ran for federal politics in 1995 and 1996 and for the ACT in 1998 and 2001. He was elected in 2008, a year after leading the Greenpeace delegation to the 2007 United Nations climate talks. As a Greens MLA, he said he sought to heed the UN’s call to action. He insisted the ACT adopt ambitious legislative emission reduction targets; those targets were in place by 2010. The ACT halved its emissions compared to 1990, and now has 100 per cent renewable electricity. It has started to phase out fossil fuel gas.
“The ACT’s progress on climate action offers lessons for governments in how to deliver bold reform,” Mr Rattenbury said. “When you set a goal, define clear targets and a defined timeline, you can take an entire community with you.”
As the Attorney-General, Mr Rattenbury said he improved renters’ rights, implementing minimum energy efficiency standards and ending no cause evictions. He banned battery cages and puppy and kitten farms, “some of the most progressive animal welfare legislation in the country”.
As mental health minister, he oversaw the introduction of the PACER model, combining police, ambulance and mental health clinicians in a single mental health response to improve patient care.
As corrections minister, he made the Alexander Maconochie Centre the only jail in Australia with an Aboriginal community-controlled health service, Winnunga Nimmityjah, operating inside the wire.
His successfully passed private members’ bills included setting up an exclusion zone for protesters around abortion clinics so women could seek medical care without harassment; overhauling the Freedom of Information Act to improve access to government documents; and this term adding the right to housing to the Human Rights Act.
Mr Rattenbury served in cabinet with Labor from 2012 to 2020, then formed a coalition government with Labor in the 2020 term.
Mr Barr paid tribute to Mr Rattenbury’s support for Labor initiatives. “That support was never automatic. He asked questions, scrutinised detail, and negotiated outcomes. Crucially, though, that engagement was grounded in a shared understanding that governing carries responsibility — not just to advocate, but to decide; not just to criticise, but to deliver.
“Because of that approach, significant reforms across tax, planning, education infrastructure, equality, climate action, and justice were able to move forward through this Assembly. And because they were built through negotiation rather than expediency, they were able to endure.”
“The collaboration between our parties hasn’t always been easy,” Mr Rattenbury said, “but this partnership was effective in delivering some great outcomes for our community. It is a credit to both our parties that we have been able to articulate and maintain a shared agenda… Through our collective efforts, we were able to demonstrate how an effective two-party government on the progressive side of politics could work.”
Mr Rattenbury also touched on the humorous side of politics. “The random things you get to do, things that definitely were not in the job description” included driving an Action bus; touring a sewer system; seeing the inside of more jails than the average person; dining with both Matt Canavan and Angus Taylor; doing a lap of Bathurst in an electric vehicle; touring a brothel; singing Daryl Braithwaite’s ‘Horses’ onstage at a Lifeline charity ball; trying his hand at stand-up comedy; and inviting the Queensland premier for a drink at Mooseheads.
“I would like to assure you that all of those things were done for work purposes!” he said.
Mr Rattenbury’s run-in with a kangaroo in 2013 went viral on social media; both CNN and the Indian Express reporting on it; while a group campaigning against kangaroo culls alleged he had faked his injuries to demonise the animal.
Interviewed about drug decriminalisation, he disclosed to a journalist that he had once taken ecstasy at a party.
“My answer became the headline. While some members of the community may have found that scandalous, the real problem for me was the damage to my street cred amongst many of my own voters, who could not believe I only did it once!”
He also received emails from people who objected to his jaywalking in Civic one day, or to his stubble when interviewed on TV over the Christmas holidays, sporting a holiday stubble; he received an email from someone who was “embarrassed [they had] to admit to their international visitors that this apparently scruffy-looking individual on TV was in fact the speaker of their local parliament!”
Somewhat bemused he has been called a divisive politician, Mr Rattenbury characterised himself as “someone who has always sought to listen, to understand different perspectives, and to find common ground wherever possible. Over time, I have come to learn being called divisive is sometimes what happens when you stand up for what you believe, have the conviction, argue the case, and press ahead in the face of headwinds.”
“This, I believe, is one of the greatest challenges facing modern politics. Our community is becoming more and more divided. The issues seem more complex, and the stakes much higher than ever before. How can we find common ground when our ground seems so far apart? How can we stand up for what we believe in and disagree with one another without tearing each other down? How do we find the space to fight fiercely to address the serious issues that we are faced with without creating so much space that our world is irreparably divided?
“To be honest, I don’t know what the answer to that is, but I know that it is the responsibility of those in this place and others like it, our community leaders, to lead that journey. The challenge for those who remain and those who will come to this place is not to retreat into grievance or short-termism, but to step up and meet the challenge with integrity, ambition, and courage. Because this place is not about us; it’s about what we do with the privilege we are given by being elected here.”
Politicians from across the spectrum — Mr Barr and Rachel Stephen-Smith from Labor, Mark Parton and Elizabeth Lee from the Canberra Liberals, and independents Fiona Carrick and Thomas Emerson, as well as Mr Rattenbury’s fellow Greens Jo Clay, Andrew Braddock, and Laura Nuttall — paid tribute to Mr Rattenbury’s collaborative approach and ability to find common ground with colleagues; his integrity, dedication, and leadership; his service to the community; his compassion and empathy; and his hard work.
“On his final sitting day, Shane leaves this Assembly with a record shaped not only by principle, but by collaboration, responsibility, and delivery,” Mr Barr said.
“It has been a privilege to serve alongside him for nearly two decades — to argue the issues, negotiate outcomes, and govern together in the interests of the Territory. The ACT is better for the work we were able to do together. And this Assembly is stronger for the contribution he has made to it.”
A countback will be held in Mr Rattenbury’s seat of Kurrajong. Former ACT Greens MLA Rebecca Vassarotti, a minister in the previous Assembly term, is likely to be returned.
