VOTERS have provided a mandate for the Canberra Liberals to form government, according to leader Zed Seselja.
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Final results from last weekend's territory election showed the Liberals were the most popular party for first preferences with 86,032 votes, narrowly defeating Labor by 41 votes. But the Liberals claimed it gained a larger win after including preferences, attracting 92,716 votes to Labor's 90,523.
The electorate handed the Liberals a 7.3 per cent swing, helped largely by an 11.1 per cent swing in Brindabella.
Labor, in comparison, received a 1.5 per cent swing overall thanks to a 4.3 per cent increase in Molonglo. The ALP recorded a swing against it in Brindabella (-0.8) and Ginninderra (-0.3).
''There's a lot of things pointing towards there being a strong vote for change here, even though it's a very close result,'' Mr Seselja said.
''We had a swing to us in every electorate, which is quite significant, and a very large swing to us overall. The Labor Party had swings against it in two of the three electorates.''
Mr Seselja, who attracted 29.2 per cent of the vote in his seat of Brindabella, said the numbers would make up part of negotiations to form government through the support of sole Greens MLA Shane Rattenbury.
Mr Seselja has ruled out offering Mr Rattenbury a ministry for support. The would-be chief minister said his pitch would focus on better outcomes for the Greens. ''I've looked through a lot of the Greens policies … there's a lot there where there's a similar direction and we can work together.
''There's an argument that it hasn't been good for the Greens in that their connection to the Labor Party hasn't served them well.
''My case will also be about delivery. The Greens had a lot of aspirations about the last four years, I think they were frustrated by a third-term Labor government.''
