Barr and ACT Greens clash over minister competence | Bega District News

begadistrictnews.com.au · Feb 17, 2026 · Collected from GDELT

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Chief Minister Andrew Barr has weighed in on the ACT Greens leader describing one of his ministers as "close to incompetent", saying the two political parties were "obviously not" best friends.Subscribe now for unlimited access. or signup to continue readingAll articles from our websiteThe digital version of Today's PaperAll other in your area"It's been often remarked that in politics, if you want a friend, get a dog, and in this instance, I don't think anyone should expect that Greens and Labor MLAs are best friends, we're obviously not," Mr Barr said."I don't know that [Rattenbury] was expecting that to be in the public arena... maybe the way to move forward might be to engage on the policy issues rather than attacking personalities... let's just focus on that rather than politicians calling each other names."Cheif Minister Andrew Barr at the press conference on Tuesday. Picture by Keegan CarrollMr Barr acknowledged the comments were leaked from what the Greens "believed was a closed meeting"."I'm sure a similar private conversation, recorded in other party meetings may well also have some less than complimentary things to say about Greens MLAs as well," he said"In the end, I think the community doesn't really care what politicians say about each other behind their backs, they're more interested in policy outcomes."He said Mr Rattenbury had made it clear the Greens would pursue a different approach in the parliamentary term once Labor had formed government in 2024."What he wasn't clear about was that that would include secretive, behind-the-scenes talks with the Liberals and so he wasn't straightforward and transparent in regards to that," Mr Barr said.The chief minister would not be drawn on whether his government had felt threatened by a possible Greens-Liberal coalition, saying minority government was "always difficult".Mr Barr said the ACT's electoral system meant it would always be ruled by a minority or coalition government, while taking a stab at the Canberra Liberals."If you look at opinion polls now, if One Nation were to run at the next territory election, half the parliamentary Liberal Party would lose their seats to One Nation, which is obviously a realignment in conservative politics in Australia," he said.DailyYour morning newsToday's top stories curated by our news team.