Elizabeth Lee MLA is leader of the Canberra Liberals.
2022 was not the start that we all hoped for; the omicron variant still poses many challenges for our community.
The Canberra Liberals’ first priority remains the safety of all Canberrans. Our community has done an amazing job in coming forward to get vaccinated and heeding the medical advice to keep everyone safe. During an extraordinary time when governments exercised extraordinary power, the Canberra Liberals made sure that ACT government decisions that hugely impacted Canberrans’ freedoms and liberties were warranted, reasonable, and within the rule of law, and did not leave behind any vulnerable members of our community.
Last year was incredibly challenging for many Canberrans, including our small business owners, families with school-aged children, and our frontline workers. When the first case of 2021 was announced and the ACT was plunged into a snap lockdown on 12 August, it was a defining moment for many of us. Within hours, businesses shut their doors, parents pulled their children out of school and early education, and office workers packed up and went home for remote work.
During this time, the community came together, rallying around to make sure that some of the most vulnerable had access to food and essentials, and that no one felt alone. It was incredibly inspiring to see thousands of Canberrans devote their time, resources, and funds to help.
Throughout the 2021 resurgence and lockdown, my team and I worked with the ACT government to support the health advice; to keep Canberrans safe; and to provide a calm and measured response in a time of incredible uncertainty. But we were also fierce advocates for many Canberrans who were forgotten and left behind by this Labor-Greens government.
Since the election in October 2020, the Canberra Liberals team have spoken to, engaged with, and listened to thousands of Canberrans, and the message is clear – that this Labor-Greens government is out of touch; that this government is complacent, arrogant, and does not care about the issues affecting Canberrans.
Rising costs of living, the plight of our businesses during the lockdowns, concerns about our already overstretched health system, the future of our children’s education, the lack of transparency and accountability in the planning of our city, the complete disregard for community safety with police let down by a complete lack of resourcing … and one of the greatest bug bears for many Canberrans – the sheer incompetence or care of basic municipal services in maintaining our roads, footpaths, and community green spaces. For too long, under this Labor-Greens government, we have not been a city befitting the nation’s capital. These issues are important to Canberrans, and we will continue to advocate on them.
As we head into 2022 a little more uncertain about what the next few months will bring, the Canberra Liberals’ first priority is keeping Canberrans safe. We will continue to work with the ACT government in supporting the health advice that has kept us safe.
Second, we must work together to make sure that our children can safely return to school and early education. The last two years have been incredibly disruptive for our school communities. The wellbeing, development, and education of our children is incredibly important as we move into the next phase of responding to the pandemic. Subject to health advice, we will work with our school communities to make sure our children are safely back at school.
Third, whilst there is no formal lockdown in the ACT, our businesses, especially in hospitality, are doing it incredibly tough. Sadly, some local businesses have shut their doors – some permanently and some indefinitely, with no clear date when they will re-open. Behind every local business is a Canberra family feeling pain. A thriving business community is important for the future of our economy, and we will support our small businesses through this pandemic.
I am proud of the achievements of the Canberra Liberals in 2021. Despite coming off an election loss, and despite the enormous challenges of COVD, we put forward a genuine and different way of being in opposition; of working together on issues like climate change, prevention of sexual violence and harassment, pregnancy and infant loss, and territory rights; and a genuine and different vision for the economic priorities over the next 12 months (which I delivered in my Budget Reply speech in October).
The next 12 months will build on the good foundations we laid in creating an alternate vision for the future of Canberra. We know that Canberrans are resilient, community-minded, and politically engaged. Canberrans expect a lot from their elected representatives, and so they should. Whilst there is a lot more work to be done, and as we grapple with the uncertainties of the future of COVID, I am also excited about what 2022 holds for our city.
Let’s bring on a fresh new year!
