ACT Liberals open to alliance to grab the reins of power

ACT Opposition Leader Elizabeth Lee has left the door open to the possibility of forming a government with independents or minority parties to secure a win at next year’s election.

ACT Opposition Leader Elizabeth Lee addresses the National Press Club in Canberra. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Martin Ollman

ACT Opposition Leader Elizabeth Lee has left the door open to the possibility of forming a government with independents or minority parties to secure a win at next year’s Territory election.

In an address at the National Press Club outlining the Canberra Liberals’ pitch to voters, Ms Lee promised to return to the basics by investing in healthcare, education and local infrastructure.

Ms Lee also reaffirmed her pledge to overturn the Barr government’s drug decriminalisation laws if returned to power and slammed the Labor-Greens government as “arrogant and out of touch”.

The Labor Party, led by Chief Minister Andrew Barr, has been in power in Canberra for 22 years, with Ms Lee’s hitting on the “It’s Time” factor in ACT politics to argue that voters are ready for change.

“Obviously, my primary goal is of course to ensure that the Canberra Liberals are elected as a majority,” she said. “I think that’s every major party’s goal, but I accept that there is a real chance that there may be some other parties that are elected.”

Ms Lee urged voters to cast their vote for the Canberra Liberals rather than the Greens as an alternative to the “tired” Barr government, accusing the left-wing party of being “in bed” with Labor.

“Before I became leader, and I was all very idealistic, I mentioned in public that I’d be willing to work with anybody in the best interests of Canberrans,” she said.

“But let’s have a look at the record the Labor-Greens coalition has left behind in Canberra and is leaving behind; the fact is the Greens try to mount themselves as some kind of alternative – if you don’t like Labor vote for us.

“But what we have seen is the reality that they are truly in bed with the Labor Party.”

Former Opposition Leader Bill Stefaniak, who founded the independent Belco Party, said his party was happy to preference the Liberals, indicating that he would be open to a political alliance.

“The talks we’ve had in the last few months have been quite productive,” he said.

“I would certainly like to see us working together where we can, especially and I think sensible preferences but also in terms of co-ordinating policies, initiatives, so we don’t tread on each other’s toes. We complement each other.”

Former Liberal leader Gary Humphries commended Ms Lee’s approach of “bypassing big ideological questions and going straight to bread and butter issues”, admitting that Canberra had not been politically “fertile ground” for the party.

“You can’t have a climate denier as the Liberal leader, you have someone who is sympathetic to Aboriginal reconciliation and preferably supported the voice, someone who will work with a very diverse multicultural and ethnically diverse community,” he said.