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Canberra Today 20°/24° | Friday, March 29, 2024 | Digital Edition | Crossword & Sudoku

Greens defend Barr’s ‘inflammatory’ comments

Opposition Leader Alistair Coe.
THE Greens are not an independent voice, says Opposition Leader Alistair Coe, after they defended Andrew Barr’s “inflammatory comments” in the ACT Legislative Assembly today, March 20. 

During the Assembly, Mr Coe says Canberra Liberals moved to censure Mr Barr for expressing hatred against journalists and contempt for seniors.

“Today’s censure motion was to bring Canberra’s elected representatives together in solidarity to say that there is no place in our community, or in our parliament, for this sort of behaviour,” Mr Coe says.

“The Chief Minister’s born-to-rule mentality has driven him to lash out at anyone who dares to criticise or even scrutinise the government.

“The Canberra community will rightfully be disappointed to learn just how low the Greens and the Labor Party has set the bar for the leader of the government.

“They will also be disappointed to learn just how deep hypocrisy runs within the ACT Greens who, true to form, defended their Labor mates.  

“There is no crossbench, there is only a Labor-Greens coalition determined to shut down any views that are different to theirs.” 

Mr Coe says Mr Barr has also been critical of older Canberrans because they often use their retirement to engage in political life, drawing on their knowledge and experience, to make critical conclusions about the conduct of government policy.

“The Chief Minister’s expression of hatred is simple: he hates it when anyone speaks out against the failures of the Labor-Greens government he leads,” Mr Coe says.

“He hates it when people exercise their right to free speech and a free press. And he has made clear that he is prepared to use the public purse to greatly expand the propaganda tools of his government to drown out the voices of dissent.”

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Thank you,

Ian Meikle, editor

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