Dr Vanessa Picker wants to hit Chief Minister Andrew Barr for six. Photo: Independents for Canberra.
Independents for Canberra candidate for Brindabella Vanessa Picker won’t have a bar of the Chief Minister, but she won’t say what party she would support to form government if elected in October.
The former Labor Party member and campaigner for gender equality in cricket is hardly on the right of politics, but she says the people of Tuggeranong have spoken, and Andrew Barr should go.
“I wish to make it unequivocally clear: I do not, and will not, support Andrew Barr as Chief Minister of the ACT,” she said at the weekend.
“It’s also time for broader change after 23 years of the same government.”
Ms Picker said Mr Barr had failed Tuggeranong “utterly” and had turned a blind eye to the stories of neglect and harm in the community.
She described the recent $20 million package of promises for Brindabella as “last-minute, hollow gestures”.
He had “brazenly” admitted that it was motivated by his desire for Labor to reclaim the seat narrowly lost in the last election.
“This is not the conduct of a leader who genuinely cares about the people he serves; it’s the behaviour of someone clinging to power,” she said.
Ms Picker accused Mr Barr of blatant disregard for accountability, breaking a 2020 promise to step down as Treasurer.
She also resurrected rumours that Mr Barr would not last the full four years and was looking at federal politics, something he has denied.
“Labor must explain why they continue to back Mr Barr, despite the strong public sentiment against his leadership,” Ms Picker said.
“I urge my fellow independent candidates to join me in making this public commitment.
“We have a unique and critical opportunity to bring real accountability and meaningful change to the ACT. Let’s stand united in putting our communities first, above the vested interests and the influence of entrenched politicians.”
But she won’t commit to supporting any party before the election, saying that would “severely compromise my independence and my ability to respond to the evolving needs and views of our community”.
Mr Barr said on Monday that at least Dr Picker had been honest, and now Brindabella voters would know that a vote for her was a vote for a Liberal Government.
“That is the only way the Liberals have ever governed in the ACT, through the support of independents,” he said.
“So that risk is clearly there.”
Mr Barr said that people running for the crossbench who had no intention of seeking to actually form a government needed to be clear about which side of politics they were going to support.
“That’s the honest thing to do,” he said. “That’s the thing that independents with integrity would do, just indicate what they would do in that circumstance.
“Voters deserve to know where candidates stand on policy issues, and also on that pretty fundamental question because in our parliament, unlike any other in Australia, every single member on that first sitting day votes who the Chief Minister will be.”
Dr Picker’s comments come after the Canberra Liberals confirmed they were seeking a Barr lookalike to feature in campaign ads targeting the Chief Minister, adding to the perception that Labor’s opponents believe Mr Barr is on the nose with voters.
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