One notable name missing as ACT Greens announce first round of preselection

The party has announced nine of those people, and will run the process again for Brindabella after the resignation of former MLA Johnathan Davis.

Recently-elected MLA Laura Nuttall has not been named as a candidate as she did not put her hand up for preselection in October.

However, another candidate will be selected in the new year to run in Brindabella. Only two people were vying for lead candidates including Mr Davis.

Shane Rattenbury said the ballot was already underway when Mr Davis had resigned and Greens' processes prevented the party from installing Ms Nuttall as a candidate.

"With Laura just having joined the Assembly only a couple of weeks ago so was too late to enter into that process and because of our grassroots processes we couldn't just install Laura as a candidate," he said.

Ms Nuttall has not yet made a decision on whether she will seek preselection in the new year.

All other sitting MLAs will be lead candidates.

Mr Rattenbury will face his fifth ACT election as a lead candidate in Kurrajong and the former electorate of Molonglo. It will be his seventh overall.

Mr Rattenbury has sat in the Legislative Assembly since 2008 and will also face a party-wide leadership vote after the party preselects its candidates for the October 2024 election.

Rebecca Vassarotti will also run again for Kurrajong.

Current Greens MLAs Emma Davidson, Andrew Braddock and Jo Clay will also recontest their seats as lead candidates.

Mr Braddock will contest Yerrabi with Soelily Consen-Lynch, who is an assistant director at Canberra Health Services.

Adele Sinclair will run in Ginninderra along with Ms Clay. She is a former Greens party director and a chief operating officer at ANU.

Harini Rangarajan is a 20-year-old university student who will run in Murrumbidgee.

Sam Nugent, a rehabilitation clinician, will run in Brindabella.

The party only had six lead candidates in the 2020 election and all were elected. This time there will be two candidates in each electorate.

The Greens will run 20 candidates in the election with another round of candidates to also be decided in the new year.

Mr Davis had sought preselection before he resigned from the Assembly and the party last month.

Mr Davis resigned following complaints, including allegations of an inappropriate relationship with a 17-year-old and having sex with a minor.

The Greens have faced scrutiny over the handling of the complaints and there is an independent inquiry under way examining the party's actions.

Mr Rattenbury said he did not think this would damage the party's chances at next year's election.

"I think the community has seen that the Greens acted decisively in the matter," he said.

"We did not seek to shirk the issues and I think the community has welcomed that in the sense that they know that we took it seriously.

"What I can assure the community is the Greens MLAs now and the candidates who have put themselves forward are here for the community."

Mr Rattenbury said the party was developing its policies for the next elections but wanted to announce the candidates to give them the maximum opportunity to be known in the community.

ACT Greens co-convenor Julie Randall said having more Greens in the Legislative Assembly would mean they would be able to apply more pressure.

"Canberrans have seen what we've been able to achieve with six Greens MLAs in the ACT Legislative Assembly. We know that pressure works," she said.

"That's why, going into the 2024 election, we will field a large team of diverse candidates who are committed to working for the people of Canberra to address the crises we face.

"More Greens will be able to apply more pressure and break down the barriers between people and their government, to build a good life for every Canberran."