Elizabeth Lee, leader of the Canberra Liberals and Shadow Treasurer, will today move a motion of no-confidence in Chief Minister Andrew Barr, whom she says can no longer guarantee supply. The motion will be heard in the Legislative Assembly on Monday, 15 August.
Ms Lee’s no-confidence motion comes after Greens leader Shane Rattenbury committed to vote on the floor of the Assembly against an item of expenditure in yesterday’s ACT Budget: a $41 million subsidy from rate payers to the horse racing industry.
Under a Memorandum of Understanding, the ACT Government will pay $41,144,000 to the Canberra Racing Club and Canberra Harness Racing Club over the next four years to 2026-27.
“The Budget is supposed to reflect what we value as a community, and the future we want to build together,” Mr Rattenbury said. “I am confident the community would prefer this $41 million to go to public housing and homelessness, or mental health support, or climate change adaptation, or public transport, or any measure of other things.
“We must consistently strive to move and improve government policies, and to reflect these in the ACT Budget, and we simply cannot support this allocation of much needed funds.”
Ms Lee pointed out that Mr Rattenbury helped to pull the budget together, as Greens leader, and member of both the Cabinet and the Expenditure Review Committee member.
“For him to now indicate that he does not fully support the budget is in stark contravention of Cabinet solidarity, his role as a government minister, and the contents of the Labor-Greens Parliamentary and Governing Agreement.
“The fact is, the Chief Minister has lost control of his Cabinet and his Government; the Labor-Greens Government is deeply divided.
“For Government Ministers to indicate that they will not support the Government’s budget is untenable, it is a shambolic mess.
“The Opposition have lost confidence in the Chief Minister’s ability to guarantee supply and deliver a stable coalition government, and it seems now the Greens have too,” Ms Lee concluded.
Mr Rattenbury said the ACT Greens have full confidence in the Chief Minister, and will not support the vote of no confidence.
“This is a good budget for the Territory,” Mr Rattenbury said. “While the ACT Greens and the Labor party have a different position on the subsiding of the horse racing industry, it is one line item in a significant budget that delivers for the Canberra community. We will simply seek to amend the budget on the floor of the assembly when the appropriate bill is debated later this year in order to vote on this single line item.
“This is an example of how two parties can work together maturely and constructively on many initiatives and issues, and have a difference of position on some issues.”
Liberals: Budget “underwhelming”
The budget itself, Ms Lee said, was full of spin and failed to address a number of serious problems plaguing Canberrans, following 21 years of a Labor-Green government.
“This is an underwhelming budget; a budget that is business as usual for a tired, complacent government that long ago stopped governing in the best interests of Canberrans.”
Earlier this week, she called for an independent budget audit of the Territory’s finances.
With net debt at $6.524 billion in 2022-23 and forecast to rise to $9.882 billion by 2025-26, Ms Lee said that Canberrans have every right to ask where that money has gone.
“Every budget this treasurer has delivered is the same play book; promise an improvement in the operating budget across the forward years which does not eventuate, and start again with a new promise the following year,” Ms Lee said.
Mr Barr dismissed Ms Lee’s proposal, saying the Liberals wanted to reduce public expenditure, stop building infrastructure, and sack public servants. Without debt, the ACT would not be able to finance its infrastructure projects.
“With our health system at breaking point, our education system failing, basic city services not up to scratch, and the ACT in a housing crisis, this Labor-Greens government continually fails to deliver…
“It is astounding this government continues to spruik the hospital expansion every budget that was promised a decade ago, while Canberra continues to have the longest emergency department wait times in the country and a health system in crisis.
“This Chief Minister has systematically cut funding to health since 2015-16 to the point where our frontline workers are at breaking point and Canberrans are being treated in hospital hallways.
“Frontline staff across a number of areas are inadequate, and none more so than in our schools, despite the Labor-Greens government promising 400 teachers at the last election.
“Once again, all this budget provides for our education system is more demountables, not enough teachers, and funding to begin plans for a new college in Gungahlin that is years overdue.”
Ms Lee also called out the Chief Minister for failing to be upfront with Canberrans when announcing his housing package over the weekend.
“All the Chief Minister provided was a glossy document that failed to provide a breakdown of single, medium, and high-density housing for the 2023-24 financial year and beyond,” Ms Lee said.
“What we do know is the Labor-Greens government plan to deliver 17 fewer dwellings in this new land release program than what was previously promised; Canberrans deserve genuine choice when it comes to housing options, and Labor along with the Greens are failing to provide it to our community.
“Canberrans deserve so much more than they are getting under this government, and I hold serious concerns about what impact this continued mismanagement will have for the people of Canberra,” Ms Lee concluded.
