Helen Burnet held a 20-minute press conference but one answer is still unclear
Helen Burnet fronted the cameras on Friday to announce she was quitting the party she's been a member of for more than 20 years, but it's still not clear exactly why she's made the move.
During a press conference that went on for more than 20 minutes, Clark MP Helen Burnet struggled to give a clear answer to one key question.
Exactly why it was that she'd decided to quit the Greens and sit as an independent instead?
She served up a series of long-winded answers about a growing frustration with the party she'd been a member of for more than 20 years, and how she wanted to "amplify" key issues she felt the Greens had not focused enough on.
Those issues? The stadium, clean water, public transport and housing.
All things the Greens would argue they bring up regularly in state parliament, especially the stadium, which the party campaigned vigorously against in the lead up to July's election.
Asked what more the Greens needed to do on those issues, Ms Burnet didn't go into details, but said "some issues need a louder voice".
The Greens campaigned vigorously against the proposed Macquarie Point stadium at the last election. (Supplied: Macquarie Point Development Coorporation)
There wasn't much more clarity about what steps she'd taken to address that growing frustration with Greens leader Rosalie Woodruff, although she said they'd had conversations about it, including before last July's election.
Or why she hadn't mentioned her intention to quit the party until Friday morning, by which time she'd already hired a public relations firm and booked in a press conference to announce the move.
It's OK for details of her conversations with party leadership to remain private.
But Ms Burnet needs to explain to voters who elected her as a Greens MP less than six months ago about what's changed.
That might mean providing clear examples of where she's disagreed with decisions the party's made — something she refused to do on Friday.
Helen Burnet won a seat in Clark at the past two state elections. (ABC News: Luke Bowden)
The differences between her defection and former deputy prime minister Barnaby Joyce's recent decision to quit the federal National Party couldn't be starker.
Over many months, Mr Joyce made his dissatisfaction known about key Coalition policies, and then fired a public broadside at the party leader.