Canberra awaits outcome of Territory government elections

LABOR in the ACT have declared victory, winning a fifth term in office in a minority government as the Canberra Liberals face 19 years in opposition.

Labor's Andrew Barr has been re-elected as ACT Chief Minister. Picture: AAP

ACT Labor has won a fifth term as the Canberra Liberals contemplate 19 years in opposition.

While a final result won’t be known for another week, Labor is in a position to form minority government with the support of the Greens.

Chief Minister Andrew Barr, in declaring victory on Saturday night, said Canberrans had voted for a positive vision of a city that was confident, self- reliant and where everyone had the opportunity to achieve their potential.

“Tonight I want to thank the people of Canberra for backing a positive plan for our city,” he told the Labor Party faithful.

The result was a fundamental rejection of a narrow-minded conservative agenda, Mr Barr said.

The Labor leader confirmed he would work with returned Greens MLA Shane Rattenbury to form a government.

Greens member Shane Rattenbury will help Labor form a government. Picture: Supplied

“There is absolutely no doubt that we will form a government in the coming week,” Mr Barr said.

There’s an outside chance Labor could form a majority in the 25 seat Legislative Assembly.

With 76 per cent of the vote counted from Saturday’s election both major parties are guaranteed 10 seats and the Greens one. Four seats remain in doubt.

Federal Labor leader Bill Shorten congratulated ACT Labor.

“Canberrans sent a message to (Prime Minister Malcolm) Turnbull that they did not want another Liberal voice at the COAG table helping Mr Turnbull make more cuts to our schools and hospitals,” Mr Shorten said in a statement on Sunday.

The Liberals went backwards on their 2012 performance, recording a 3.3 per cent swing against them.

Labor’s vote improved marginally, up 0.2 per cent from the 2012 election. The Greens held their ground with 10.6 per cent of the primary vote.

Liberal leader Jeremy Hanson rang Mr Barr to congratulate him on retaining government, with the help of the Greens.

“It is the case that it is very difficult for us to form government and we have to acknowledge that from here, it is unlikely that we will do so,” he told his party’s celebration in an announcement greeted with loud booing. “That is a disappointing thing but tonight is not the night to dwell on that. There will be plenty of time for us to consider the ramifications of that.”

ACT Chief Minister Andrew Barr voting earlier today.

Mr Barr thanked the Liberals leader for sticking by a promise to fight the election based on issues.

Labor won 39 per cent of the primary vote, with the Liberals on 35.6 per cent and the Greens 10.6 per cent.

Both major parties are on track to win at least 10 seats in the 25 seat Legislative Assembly.

ABC election analyst Antony Green expects the best the Liberals can get is 11 seats, possibly 12.

The Greens will have at least one seat - in the central electorate of Kurrajong - with an outside chance of winning a second.

Tough task ahead: Liberal leader Jeremy Hanson.

Mr Rattenbury, who is likely to retain a ministry in a minority Labor government, says the minor party remains in the game.

“We will not know until next Saturday if there are going to be more Greens,” he told the party faithful.

But he said Canberra voters clearly rejected the Liberals as a party “looking backwards, a party that brought no vision for this city”.

Mr Hanson said his party had run a very good campaign, from the television ads to their messages and the “corflute wars” around the election signs that lined Canberra’s roads.

“It’s been a battle, a very good battle out there on the ground,” he said. But Labor’s likely deputy leader Yvette Berry said it was her party’s campaign of talking to people that got them over the line.

“We were having a very positive campaign around conversations and it clearly shows that a negative campaign with corflutes doesn’t win an election,” she told ABC TV.