Shane Rattenbury MLA |
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Rattenbury, pictured in 2012
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Leader of the ACT Greens | |
Assumed office 20 October 2012 |
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Preceded by | Meredith Hunter |
Speaker of the ACT Legislative Assembly | |
In office 5 November 2008 – 6 November 2012 |
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Preceded by | Wayne Berry |
Succeeded by | Vicki Dunne |
Member of the ACT Legislative Assembly |
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Assumed office 18 October 2008 |
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Constituency | Kurrajong |
Personal details | |
Born |
Batemans Bay, New South Wales, Australia |
25 August 1971
Nationality | Australian |
Political party | Australian Greens |
Alma mater | Australian National University |
Occupation | Politician |
Website | shanerattenbury |
Shane Stephen Rattenbury (born 25 August 1971), Australian politician and former Speaker of the ACT Legislative Assembly, is a member of the multi-member unicameral Australian Capital Territory Legislative Assembly representing the electorate of Molonglo for the ACT Greens since 2008. He was the first Speaker in any Parliament in the world representing a Green political party.
Rattenbury first moved to Canberra in 1984. He attended Canberra Grammar School and went on to gain a BEc and LLB(Honours) from the Australian National University and commenced employment, working with the Australian Government Department of Industry, Science and Tourism. Prior to his election to the Assembly, Rattenbury travelled between Amsterdam and Australia as the International Political Director of Greenpeace International. During this time, he gained publicity for his work on global campaigns on climate change and whaling.
Rattenbury stood for election to the ACT Legislative Assembly at the 2001 ACT election, as a candidate in the electorate of Ginninderra for the ACT Greens. After the distribution of preferences, Rattenbury was defeated by both Labor's Wayne Berry and the Australian Democrats' Roslyn Dundas.
In June 2008, the ACT Greens announced that Rattenbury would again stand as a candidate for election in the electorate of Molonglo. Independent polling released in October suggested the Green vote had doubled since the last election at the expense of Labor, with the Liberal vote remaining relatively unchanged. Commentators predicted the Greens would hold the balance of power and decide who forms government. The Greens stated they were willing to court both major parties. With 82.1 per cent of the vote counted, Labor had obtained 37.6 per cent of the vote, with the Liberals at 31.1 per cent and the Greens at 15.8 per cent. Swings were recorded against both Labor (−9.3 per cent) and the Liberals (−3.7 per cent) with a +6.6 per cent swing towards the Greens, resulting in the election of Rattenbury, Meredith Hunter, Amanda Bresnan, and Caroline Le Couteur.