With the ACT Election four months away, Canberra Daily is asking organisations around Canberra for their perspectives on key issues, the ACT Government’s accomplishments, and what an incoming government should focus on.

Tom Adam is president of the Phillip Business Community, a group that seeks to reinvigorate the Phillip Business District, Woden. He runs Canberra Martial Arts & Fitness, and frustrated the government was not listening to business, joined the Canberra Liberals party in June 2022.

What do you regard as the ACT Government’s successes in the current term?

I know this sounds cynical, but successfully avoiding any responsibility for the businesses destroyed during Covid.

I feel that this term has been one of talking about what needs to happen in the future, but not enough action. Phillip still looks the same, the footpaths and gutters broken, we got a few new trees. The bus depot has smashed the parking availability in Phillip – which was an issue we have been trying to get sorted since 2018. From our perspective, it’s been more of the same.

What could have been handled better – or left aside?

Covid, the support given to businesses (legislating landlords being forced to the table, compared to the rubbish we got), as well as the double standards applied to larger businesses (Bunnings) versus smaller stores that realistically had the same ability to cope but not the same rights applied.

Commercial land releases and rates is an ongoing issue that has been ignored. Massive increases in land taxes and commercial rates for little to no improvement of services – commercial properties don’t even get rubbish removal included.

The ACT Government stopped talking to Local Business Groups in late 2022 – full stop. They have ZERO idea of what is happening on the ground, and if they say otherwise – they’re lying to themselves as much as the public.

What do you see as the major issues that an incoming government will have to deal with?

A realistic discussion around debt and infrastructure costs. The Federal Government, due to personalities and politics, has been unwilling to invest properly in the capital city. So the ACT Government has been shouldering the costs and the connected debt.

But ACT residents and businesses are unable to continue to be burdened with the costs, and who is going to pay for it in the future? It’s evident that the ACT Labor/Greens aren’t willing to be truthful with the massive issue ahead, and I get the feeling that [Chief Minister Andrew] Barr will exit Government just before it really becomes a problem – so they’ll blame him for years instead of being ready for it now.

What should the government’s priorities be? What policy initiatives or reforms might be useful to meet the challenges ahead?

From a local business perspective, having a mature conversation about commercial rents, a mature conversation about the perception that the ACT Government support larger (union employing) businesses for a lot of works that could be done by smaller businesses.

Transport, particularly for South Canberra, is an issue. There is so much focus on Gungahlin, Belconnen and the City, but south of Woden is fairly forgotten.

We will continue to jump up and down about the lack of sporting facilities in the Woden and Molonglo Valleys. Lack of decent sized community facilities in the areas, and how we have provided ideas for years that have fallen on deaf ears.

Is there anything else you would like to add?

Over the last two years in particular, I feel that the Local Business Groups have been forgotten in general. We’re not important anymore – we keep getting told what’s good for us. Even the Canberra Business Chamber don’t know how to work with us collectively anymore. We used to have regular meetings all together hosted by the Chamber, we’d get Transport and City Services people there, we’d occasionally get other Government Agency reps and even sometimes MLAs.

I would say this about Community Groups, too: anecdotally I’ve heard that Government MLAs stop showing up because they didn’t want to have tough conversations. Sure, the opposition MLAs came along, but it’s why the Molonglo Valley Community Council stopped taking the Grant money. Spending hours and weeks organising mandatory events for the Government MLAs to not show up, or try to conduct door-stops instead of staying to engage.