Today all Members of the Eleventh Legislative Assembly were officially sworn in, including the appointments of Mark Parton as Speaker and Andrew Barr as Chief Minister. It was a day of celebration for Members, and many had their families and friends on hand to watch the ceremony, including our newly minted Independent for Kurrajong, Thomas Emerson MLA.
Agreement on confidence and supply
Earlier this morning and prior to having been sworn in, Thomas Emerson and Andrew Barr formally agreed to a set of conditions on which Thomas could support Mr Barr's appointment to Chief Minister and to guarantee confidence and supply. You can find a copy of that agreement here, and a copy of the associated media release here.
This agreement puts Tom in a terrific position to be able to maintain his independence on the crossbench, but importantly to deliver on some of the key election commitments announced throughout the election campaign.
Of course, the scope of the agreement is limited, and there is much further we need to go to realise the kind of change we desperately need to see across Canberra. To that end, and through an exchange of letters which accompanied the agreement, Thomas has made clear to the Chief Minister and ACT Labor the policy priorities he intends to pursue beyond the scope of this agreement. Those priorities include, but are not limited to, improving outcomes for First Nations peoples and people with disability, addressing child and youth homelessness, improving aged care assessment turnaround times, improving literacy and numeracy outcomes in our public system, addressing the GP workforce crisis, delivering an integrated public and active transport system, and taking steps to address family, domestic and sexual violence.
Stay in touch with Tom!
The team have also worked hard in the first couple of days to establish a new and dedicated website for Thomas Emerson, MLA. This website will become the central place for people to connect directly with Tom, to follow his voting record as it unfolds, stay up to date on the progress of implementing the measures outlined in today's agreement, and learn about other developments relevant to his role as an independent Member of the Legislative Assembly.
The Independents for Canberra page will, of course, remain active and operate in support of the broader movement across the entirety of Canberra.
People who want to closely follow what Tom is doing in the Assembly and for the electorate of Kurrajong should subscribe for updates on the new webpage, which you can do here.
Leigh & the team