Elizabeth Lee, Leader of the Canberra Liberals, used her Budget Reply speech this afternoon to outline her priorities for the post-pandemic economic recovery.

She pointed to four key areas that she believes will strengthen the economy:

• Backing business to boost confidence, innovation, skills, and jobs throughout and beyond the pandemic

“When we lose small businesses, we lose the spirit of entrepreneurship, vision, and everything that represents the blood, sweat and tears that goes into establishing every local business,” Ms Lee said. “We lose the heart and soul that goes into starting and growing every local business.”

She called on the ACT Labor-Greens government to giving all businesses the opportunity to create COVID-safe plans which would allow them greater freedoms to re-commence their operations safely. Although lockdown ends on 15 October, restrictions will continue, affecting many businesses; Chief Minister Andrew Barr had the responsibility to ensure Canberra businesses were not forgotten nor left behind.

“The default answer to whether businesses can operate should be ‘Yes’, unless it is clearly contrary to clear health advice. It should not be what we see now: a default ‘No’ unless allowed, leaving many, many businesses behind.”

• Getting our kids safely back into the classroom with world class facilities to deliver a world-class education

Ms Lee said the ACT must invest in school infrastructure. She called on the government to fast-track long-awaited upgrades to Canberra’s ageing schools to create safer learning environments, and also stimulate the building and construction industry.

“Many parents raised significant concerns about hazardous materials in our schools before this outbreak, and since lockdown, their concerns have intensified; they are concerned that when children do return to the classroom, they will be in schools that do not have appropriate ventilation; schools that are not fit for purpose in this new COVID world.”

• Getting more tradies on the tools by investing in skills and trades to deliver an ambitious infrastructure plan

“With every dollar spent generating a $3 economic return, a robust and thriving building and construction sector is crucial to our economic recovery,” Ms Lee said.

She urged the ACT Government to appropriately invest in training so that Canberra has the skills and talent to deliver ambitious infrastructure projects, to work strategically with industry and the Commonwealth government to boost local jobs, and to ensure that every project – small, medium, large – has real opportunities for Canberrans.

“If we don’t invest in skills now, we will not see a sustainable, beautiful city that we want to leave for our children.”

Ms Lee said the ACT Government’s announcement of a $5 billion infrastructure plan over five years was simply a 4 per cent increase in real terms on the infrastructure spend announced last year.

• Bringing students back to Canberra, both international and interstate, by maximising Canberra’s potential as the knowledge capital.

“Canberra is the knowledge capital of Australia and we can be the knowledge capital of the world,” Ms Lee proclaimed.

International education was the ACT’s first billion-dollar export industry, Ms Lee said. In her previous Budget Reply, she argued that Canberra could be at the forefront of research in climate action and renewables, cyber security, and defence – but noted that border closures had dealt a significant blow to universities. The ACT needed a plan to safely bring back international and interstate students, working with the Commonwealth government, universities, and the tertiary education sector.

“Not only do our international students support our university and tertiary and vocational education sectors, they also bring a richness of their culture, language and voice – making our city more vibrant, more dynamic.”

International students also worked in hospitality, retail, IT, and the service industry, making an enormous contribution to Canberra’s economy.

Ms Lee also accused the ACT Government of broken promises and repeated failures.

“The Treasurer on Wednesday attempted to sell his tenth Budget as a “turbo-charged” economic recovery,” Ms Lee said. “After 20 years of consecutive Labor Budgets, Canberrans will not be fooled. This is a band-aid budget.

“After 20 years of skyrocketing taxes and cost of living pressures, this government has run out of ideas; and the pandemic has brought to a head the glaring neglect by this government in health, education, housing, and infrastructure.”

The “cash splash” by this government to employ additional nurses was too little and too late, Ms Lee said; this was only half of the government’s election commitment to hire more than 200 nurses, and they had made almost no additional investments in frontline health staff.

The Budget did not address hazardous materials or overcrowding in schools, Ms Lee said; instead, most of it would be spent on expanding Margaret Hendry School – a school that opened two years ago. “This is a stunning admission of failure on the part of this government to properly plan for our growing school population.”

The Canberra Liberals had called for the government to raise public housing stock to a liveable standard. “Unbelievably, this government voted against our call to bring our public housing stock to meet the minimum safety standards.” Ms Lee said the $80 million budgeted for housing maintenance was “a catch-up to try and patch up the shocking neglect of public housing stock under this government’s watch”.