At the end of 2022, we are more than halfway through the Legislative Assembly term – and less than two years away from the 2024 election. Canberra Daily talked to Elizabeth Lee, the opposition leader, about how the year went for the Canberra Liberals, and their agenda for the next year.

The Korean-born lawyer and academic is determined to be the Liberals’ first chief minister since her mentor, Kate Carnell.

“I absolutely am confident that we have the best chances to win 2024,” she said. “I’ve got a very good, experienced, diverse team, and everyone is focused on making sure that we put our best foot forward so that we can bring about a change of government in 2024, because the Canberra community deserve that change, and they deserve a government that is going to put their best interests as a priority.”

From a young age, she said, her migrant parents taught her to give back to the community. Both sacrificed a comfortable life in Korea – her father worked in property; her mother was a housewife – for their children’s future. What drives Ms Lee, as she told Canberra Daily in 2020, is “being able to advocate for and represent people who may not be in a position to do it for themselves”.

Now the second half of the term has begun, Ms Lee said, her focus will be on “bringing forward a positive vision and laying out a positive plan for the future of Canberra under a Canberra Liberals government”.

Her party, she continued, has already started to lay the foundation in its focus and priorities around housing affordability, healthcare, community safety, and basic service delivery – areas she believes the current government has neglected.

But the Canberra Liberals will have been out of power for 23 years come the next election; their last chief minister, Gary Humphries, lost office in 2001. Ms Lee, however, is undaunted.

“I’m conscious that, after a long time in opposition, we do need to make sure that we are getting cut through.

“We will continue doing what we do well, which is to listen to the community, and make sure that we reflect their needs – particularly the Canberrans that have been left behind by this Labor-Greens government.”

That, Ms Lee believes, is a “stark difference” for her party. When she took over the leadership from Alistair Coe, she promised to spend at least the first two years listening to the community.

“We have been doorknocking tens of thousands of homes; we’ve been out at the shopping centres and listening to the community. And we do get a lot of concerns. A lot of the times, people come to us because they know that the government won’t listen to them, or they’ve tried, and the government has failed to listen to them.”

This year, for instance, the Liberals called on the government to address the cost of living crisis, and to set up an inquiry into the causes of poverty in the ACT. They put forward motions on behalf of bereaved families and the Australian Federal Police Association, calling for a reform of bail and sentencing laws in the ACT, and tougher penalties for reckless motorists; to increase the number of police, and to adequately resource ACT Policing to re-establish face-to-face crime reporting and investigation.  The government rejected those motions, maintaining that they were already working on those issues, or what the Liberals proposed was unnecessary.

“It tells the Canberra public where this Labor-Greens government’s priorities lie – and the priorities don’t lie with the most vulnerable people in our community; it doesn’t lie with Canberra families doing it really tough,” Ms Lee said.

“It clearly lies in protecting the political alliance that they hold dear. But we will continue fighting for and standing up for the Canberrans that have clearly been left behind by over 20 years of this Labor-Greens government.”

Indeed, Ms Lee considers one of the Liberals’ greatest achievements this year to be “shining a spotlight on some of the dodgy practices” happening under the government.

“It’s been incredibly disappointing, but probably unsurprising, that this year, we’ve uncovered so much incompetence and so much of what this government has been doing that has really concerned many people in Canberra,” she said.

The CIT contracts scandal, for instance, when the CEO paid a consultant more than $9 million. Or the Campbell Primary modernization project: the Auditor-General’s “scathing” report found it lacked probity, while the Integrity Commissioner declared that these types of issues in procurement are rarely a one-off, and is now looking deeper into broader procurement practices across the entire ACT Government. “There is a huge issue with culture – and culture starts from the top,” Ms Lee said. Or the Auditor-General’s report that the West Basin project lacked transparency, and did not demonstrate value for money.

“This Labor government has no shortage of scandals,” Ms Lee said. “It’s a government that has become arrogant, and is not governing in the best interest of Canberrans.”

The Canberra Liberals have moved no confidence motions against five MLAs so far this term. Against Chief Minister Andrew Barr, in August, claiming he lost control of his cabinet and government when Greens leader Shane Rattenbury voted on the Assembly floor against a $41 million Budget subsidy from ratepayers to the horseracing industry – a Budget Mr Rattenbury helped to write. Against Mr Rattenbury, as Attorney-General, in October, when he did not conduct a review into sentencing and bail called for by bereaved families and the AFPA. Against education minister Yvette Berry, in April, after Worksafe ACT issued a prohibition notice to Calwell High School, declaring it unsafe. Against skills minister Chris Steel, in June, when the CIT scandal broke, accusing him of “shocking misuse of public funds” and negligence. And two against corrections minister Mick Gentleman last year, after riots at the Alexander Maconochie Centre, prisoners escaped, offenders were mistakenly released into the community, prisoners were transported in unsafe vehicles, and an Indigenous woman’s human rights were breached.

All failed – the Liberals don’t have the numbers, and the Parliamentary and Governing Agreement prevents MLAs from moving motions of no confidence or supporting Opposition no confidence motions, in most cases – and the government has dismissed them as time-wasting stunts and cheap attempts to score scalps.

Ms Lee, however, maintains it is the opposition’s duty to “raise significant concerns that obviously demonstrate that this government has lost its way and its priorities … and to hold the government to account”. Those concerns, Ms Lee said, include “significant issues with probity, integrity, accountability, and transparency within the CIT contracts saga; schools being shut down, because they are not safe for children to attend; a Greens minister holding the government to ransom in passing their own budget; and concerns at the gaol that have a serious impact on community safety”.

Light rail is another concern. After asking for months how much stage two (Civic–Commonwealth Park–Woden) would cost, and when it would be delivered, the Liberals declared earlier this month that they could not support the project. In their view, “essential government services are being eroded because the money is going to the tram”, Ms Lee said.

“To date, the relevant minister [Chris Steel] has absolutely refused to be upfront with the public about the serious questions that we and the community put to him about stage two… This is just demonstrative of a government that has got a culture of secrecy. They don’t want to be upfront with the public, and the reason is they can’t justify it. And so, it is right for the public to be concerned about the cost of stage two, the business case, the cost benefit analysis, and the timing.”

Then the potholes, unmown grass, and cracks in the footpaths worry Canberrans, Ms Lee said.

“We’re very conscious of not forgetting some of the basic local services that people should expect from their local government.

“Canberrans are sick of this Labor-Greens government. They know that after 20 years, they have become arrogant, out of touch, and are definitely not governing in the best interests of the Canberra community.”

Criticism of the government aside, 2022 has been a tumultuous year for the Canberra Liberals. Senator Zed Seselja, widely seen as conservative, lost his seat to independent David Pocock; there is no longer an ACT Liberal politician at the federal level.

“It was a blow to us to lose a voice at the Federal Parliament in the ACT, but we accept the will of the electorate,” Ms Lee said.

Giulia Jones stepped down as deputy leader in January, then resigned from the Assembly in May, due to family and health reasons, to become CEO of Painaustralia, the peak body for people living with chronic pain.

“Obviously, the resignation of Giulia Jones was a big loss to her party; she served her community and the party very well for a decade, but she seems to be enjoying her new role, and I wish her all the very, very best,” Ms Lee said.

Mrs Jones was succeeded as Liberal MLA for Murrumbidgee by Ed Cocks in June, after a casual vacancy countback.

“Ed’s been an incredibly hard worker so far,” Ms Lee said. “Even though he’s new, he’s incredibly engaged, and is out there within his community. I’m very proud of the work that Ed has done so far. He really has hit the ground running.”

Ms Lee, pregnant with her long-desired second child, will take maternity leave from April to June next year. Managing the demands of political leadership and motherhood will be a challenge, she acknowledges, but she has a supportive family, network, and colleagues.