SPEECH: BUDGET-IN-REPLY 2025

E&OE

Check against delivery……………………………………………………………………..

Thank you, Speaker.

It is an incredible honour and privilege to address the Assembly this evening, to offer a Budget in Reply speech as Leader of the Opposition.

I am not your typical politician.

I didn’t go to ANU, I didn’t spend my 20s working as a political staffer, and I haven’t lived my life with my eyes on a big political prize.

So I never expected to be here, doing this.

I am here for one simple reason: the streetlights where I lived weren’t working and nobody in government cared enough to come and fix them. My local members weren’t doing a good job, and I thought I could do better. So I joined the Liberal Party, got myself elected, and today, those streetlights are working.

But as a Member, I have come to see it’s not just my streetlights. This Government isn’t working. It’s not delivering for Canberrans and it’s not delivering for our communities.

I believe we can do better — and that Canberrans deserve better.

Just like I got myself elected to the Assembly to get those streetlights fixed, I plan on getting the Liberals elected to Government, so we can get Canberra fixed.

Tonight, I will offer you my vision for how we do that.

Labor’s vision

Before we talk about where we need to go, it’s important to know where we have come from and how we ended up here.

The policies and vision Labor has today didn’t spring from a vacuum; they were a response to the challenges we faced when Andrew Barr became Treasurer and then Chief Minister.

Many of us have forgotten how the years after the Global Financial Crisis were years of stagnation. They were years of slow economic and wage growth, after many years of sustained, robust growth.

After five years of this, the community was frustrated and hungry for something better.

At that time, Andrew Barr seemed to have the answers. He told us he had an agenda for growth, to get us back on track: an agenda based on tax reform, economic diversification, and infrastructure investment.

And I’ll admit: there was boldness and ambition in what he talked about. But, 12 years into his agenda, we should ask ourselves if the Barr agenda has delivered for the community — or just for Labor.

The delivery of this agenda has been underwhelming at best.

Labor’s plans for economic diversification were never underpinned by a solid plan. Today, it’s strategy is defined by vague, undeliverable promises about ‘giving back time’.

That is why they have failed to achieve their goals – and why the private sector is a smaller part of the ACT economy than ever before.

The exodus of small businesses from Canberra means the public sector will soon account for 60% of the local economy, leaving us more dependent than ever on Commonwealth spending.

Labor’s plans for infrastructure investment remain more of a fantasy than a reality, with light rail years behind schedule and their other promises more likely to inspire derision than awe.

And, as shown by the business cases I have forced the Government to release, it is clear that these projects never have, and never could, stack up.

Rather than driving economic and productivity growth, they are taking us backwards.  

And Labor’s plans for tax reform have had to be abandoned because of the fiscal pressures, borne of years of reckless spending.

This agenda only delivered the most mild tax relief.

And even that was offset by the scale of tax hikes with higher rates, fees, charges, and the proliferation of new levies – all of which undermine Labor’s goals of improving efficiency and equity.

The delivery of Labor’s agenda was underwhelming and so were the economic results.

We were promised faster economic and wage growth but have performed no better than other jurisdictions, where governments had no ambitious, big-spending reform agenda.

Labor has spent more and more to deliver less and less – the very antithesis of the productivity growth it claimed to be pursuing.

The ACT is now worse off than if we never had Labor’s economic agenda.

And that’s all before we consider the consequences for our local community.

The inability to control spending means taxes are higher than they need to be, and that government debt continues to surge despite those high taxes.

The size of the debt means interest payments will consume one dollar in every four that you pay in local taxes next year — which means there isn’t enough money to properly fund our schools, hospitals, and police. 

The inability to deliver transport infrastructure means congestion is worse than it has ever been.

The burden of local taxes and regulations imposed by Labor means it’s increasingly difficult to start and grow a business, meaning empty shopfronts and deserted local shopping districts.

And the unaffordability of local housing means young people and private sector workers are increasingly leaving Canberra. Which means it is more difficult and more expensive to find retail workers, hospitality staff, and local tradies for home maintenance.

We have become a city where many in our community feel permanently stressed, that they cannot have a comfortable standard of living unless they are a public service executive.

So more and more local families are making the decision to leave — either just across the border to communities like Googong, Queanbeyan, and Yass, or further interstate to Sydney, Brisbane, and Perth.

We can’t let Canberra become a town where you have to be an executive just to get by or own a home.

These are the consequences of Andrew Barr’s reform agenda. That agenda might have been justified given the challenges we faced in 2012, if Labor was up to the challenge of delivery.

But it was an irresponsible agenda to maintain once COVID hit and we had the inflationary pressures – and the spiralling cost of government debt – of the last few years.

And it is an agenda that fails to recognise – let alone address – the challenges that our community faces today.

Labor has failed to deliver and it has failed to adapt.

Worse than that: they have no ability to adapt.

There is no Labor leader in waiting, someone who is in tune with the needs and challenges faced by the community, someone who can provide a vision and an agenda for change.

We know a number of Ministers are vying, behind the scenes, to be the next Chief Minister. But when was the last time you heard anyone in Labor offer their vision for Canberra?

When was the last time you saw them offer passion for this city or the work they do? When have you even seen them admit to the challenges that the Territory and local people are facing?

A vision for a city of half a million people isn’t something you can conjure on the walk from the Party Room to the press gallery.

It’s something you have to think about and refine for years, something you have to test with a variety of local people, until you’re sure you’re doing the things that matter – the things that will make the biggest difference for local people and local communities.

None of those opposite have a vision for the future. None of them have the ability to deliver something different or something better.

Which means, under Labor, we are on track for three more years of the same. Three more years of waste. Three more years of taxes. Three more years of neglect. Three more years of incompetence. Three more years of spin.

Three more years where the needs of the community are ignored, if they are even recognised.

It is a grim picture.

And you can see that in the Budget that’s been handed down this week.

It was a Budget that didn’t just fail to deal with the challenges facing Canberra today – it actually made people’s cost of living struggles worse.

It failed to deal with the long-term challenges of our city: the structural deficit, the rapidly-growing debt burden, the superannuation liability, and the ageing population.

And it failed to offer us a vision for the future. A vision of how things could be different or how they could be better.

Which means this Budget – and the Government – has failed on all counts.

Our vision

Canberrans deserve better.

My job as Opposition Leader is to deliver a better Canberra, which starts with a clear vision for where we want to go and what we want to achieve.

That vision is the product of many conversations with Canberrans, both over the course of my life here in the ACT, and in the last seven months as part of my Listening Tour.

As part of that tour, I have now spoken to hundreds of local people, including at visits to Barton, Belconnen, Calwell, Casey, Charnwood, Chisholm, Civic, Crace, Evatt, Farrer, Florey, Garran, Gold Creek, Griffith, Gungahlin, Hall, Holder, Hughes, Kaleen, Kippax, Lanyon, Lyneham, Manuka, Mawson, Ngunnawal, Nicholls, Palmerston, Parkes, Rivett, Tharwa, Tuggeranong, Weetangera, Weston — and more.

At those events, I heard about the things people love about Canberra, the things that worry and frustrate them, and the things they hope for.

I heard their raw thoughts on the Liberal Party — and their hunger for an effective Opposition and a genuine alternative government.

I understand the challenges and opportunities of Canberra more deeply now than I did before.

I saw that most Canberrans aren’t ideologues or political tragics. They aren’t looking for radical, transformational change.

For most people, a better Canberra means a more affordable city, where public services are accessible and reliable. It’s a Canberra with safe streets, clean parks, good schools, and fast help when it’s needed.

This is not just their vision of a better Canberra: it’s mine too.

It’s what I wanted before I got into politics, when I was a single mum raising two kids in Ngunnawal – and it’s what I’ve been working towards since I was first elected.

And it is not an impossible dream. It’s a vision we can realise, if we make different choices.

Labor has an agenda for Canberra, one of grand plans and city-shaping projects.

And we see the results of that agenda all around us, particularly in this week’s Budget.

But we can make different choices. We can have different priorities. And we can deliver very different results for our community.

My plan is to focus on the three things that will make the biggest difference for local people and local families.

First, we need to focus on making housing affordable and accessible.

I hear about housing more than any other issue.

Young people are losing hope they will ever own a home. Families can’t afford homes that are right for their needs. Parents are worried their children will have to move out of the Territory and they won’t get to spend quality time with their grandchildren.

And many are worried they are one rent hike away from homelessness.

This is the result of choices Labor has made.

Choices that need to be changed. Every year I have been here, I have heard Labor promise change on housing — but I have never seen them deliver.

Second, we need to focus on reducing the cost of living.

Anyone who spends time in different parts of Canberra will have seen the number of vacant, graffitied shopfronts.

From Civic to the town centres to the local shops, it’s a clear sign that businesses struggle in Canberra.

This is not a new story: the private sector has been shrinking in Canberra for three decades. And it is only getting worse as Labor add to the burden of regulation and taxation on businesses, and scare off investors.

I don’t expect anyone to shed any tears for the private sector. But the decline in business investment and competition means less choice and higher prices for families.

Higher prices when you go to the supermarket. Higher prices when you go out for a coffee, a haircut, a medical appointment, or new shoes for the kids.

This is also the result of choices Labor has made. Choices that need to be changed.

Third, we need to focus on improving the quality of public services — and making sure Canberrans are getting value for money from their tax dollars.

This isn’t about cutting jobs or cutting spending.

It’s about delivering better outcomes for Canberrans.

Every one of us in this place knows that our frontline workers — our teachers, doctors, nurses, ambos, bus drivers, cops, and so many others — are all doing their best.

They are good people caught up in bad systems.

Systems where frontline staff are stripped of the ability to make decisions, where their input isn’t sought or valued by ministers and executives, and where they are left feeling disrespected and unvalued.

The number one message I heard from local Public Service workers — particularly those at the frontline of service delivery — is about bad culture and poor morale.

We can’t fix these systems or improve outcomes until the people who make up those systems feel respected, empowered, and valued.

Those unhealthy cultures and workplaces are also the result of choices Labor has made.

Choices that need to be changed.

Whether it is making housing affordable, reducing the cost of living, or delivering better public services: we have our work cut out for us.

There are no silver bullets to fix these problems and they cannot be solved overnight. But our team is developing the reforms that will put us on a pathway to delivering our vision for a better Canberra.

Over the next three years, we will progressively release components of this agenda so Canberrans can see these are more than just aspirations or election commitments — but a true foundation for government and a foundation for change.

Our approach

It is easy to promise change. It is harder to show you are able to deliver it.

I accept there is an obligation on me and on our local Liberal team to prove we are up to the job of making change and can be trusted to see it through.

Trust is everything in politics – and I admit we have work to do.

I don’t intend to shy away from that work.

I intend to make it the focus of everything I do as Opposition Leader and, if given the opportunity, as Chief Minister.

So here is my plan: the three things I will do to rebuild trust with the community and earn their consent to form government.

The first step is to genuinely listen to the community and respond to their concerns and their priorities.

In my first speech as Opposition Leader, in October last year, I committed to travelling around the ACT and to listen to as many Canberrans as I could meet. And that’s exactly what I did.

Because I want the community to guide us, to be a genuine partner in our work here.

Our whole team is listening to the community and letting them shape the work we have prioritised this term.

Whether it is local issues like phone towers and dog parks, policy issues like coercive control or stamp duty clawbacks, or matters of principle like integrity and transparency – we are listening and acting on the community’s concerns.

The second step is to be honest and up front with the community.

We will articulate our vision and our reform plans, so Canberrans have a clear understanding of the changes we are working towards, how we will deliver them, and why they matter.

That work begins with this speech but it will continue for the months and years ahead, as we flesh out our vision for Canberra into a reform agenda that will provide meaningful change for every Canberran and every local family.

The third step is delivery.

The community expects us to do more than listen and make plans for the next three years: they want us to do the work of achieving real outcomes — and to show what we are capable of.

And I am proud to say our team is already delivering.

This term we have forced Labor to commit to criminalising coercive control – even though they voted against my Bill just last year.

We have forced Labor to backflip on the Lanyon dog park, thanks to the determined advocacy.

We have forced Labor to wind back their illegitimate policy on retrospectively denying stamp duty exemptions.

We have forced Labor to accept the Fix My Street app is defective, and have an inquiry to drive improvements —just as we have already done with MyWay+.

We have forced Labor to agree to, and fund, an inquiry into lobbying by the Integrity Commissioner.

We have forced Labor to commission an independent inquiry to help the thousands of Canberrans stuck waiting for necessary and long-overdue surgeries.

And we have forced transparency on Labor, time and time again, with a series of Assembly orders that have led to the publication of hundreds of previously-secret documents – documents Labor actively withheld from the community.

We have done this by staying focused on the issues that matter most to Canberrans — and by working with the Assembly to build consensus and to secure outcomes.

The Canberra Liberals are already delivering outcomes that are improving the lives of Canberrans — even from Opposition.

In the last eight months, we have delivered more for the community than we have in any term since we were in government.

There is a huge amount still to be done — and a huge amount we can only do from Government — but we are making a start.

We are doing what we can, with what we have, where we are.

And that’s our plan: Listening to the community. Being honest about our plans. And delivering on those plans.

This will be my approach in Opposition and it will be my approach in Government. It is how we will rebuild trust with the community so we can serve them in this term and into the future.

Conclusion

As Members may be aware, I recently became a grandmother. Now I find myself thinking more and more about the future.

Not my own future but the future my children and grandchildren will inhabit.

What are the challenges they will face and what can I do today to help ensure they are ready to face those challenges?

I worry we are so caught up with the issues and challenges of the moment that we are failing to think about those challenges.

And I worry that we are not doing enough to ensure Canberrans are ready to face them.

As a Territory, we can’t go on like this. We must change.

All those years ago, when Andrew Barr took office, the community was frustrated the Government was not responding to the challenges our community is facing, and were hungry for change.

Once again, the community is frustrated the Government is not responding to the challenges our community is facing, and they are hungry for change.

While the opportunity for that change– the next ACT election – is still more than three years away, we must use every minute we can between now and then to build the plans and the policies for that future.

We have no time to waste.

Thank you.