Housing, infrastructure and how to pay for it all key issues in leaders' debate

Greens leader Shane Rattenbury said his party were the changemakers, Liberal leader Elizabeth Lee had bold plans, Independents for Canberra representative Thomas Emerson promised a better way of doing politics while Chief Minister Andrew Barr made a virtue of being relatively boring.

Last night’s Region leaders’ debate on the Future of Canberra brought the three main party leaders together with the ‘leader’ of a group that’s not an official party but is running as one and may have a big influence on the outcome of the 19 October ACT election.

Moderated by Genevieve Jacobs, the four faced questions from the ANU’s Andrew Hughes, the Canberra Business Chamber’s Archie Tsirimokis and ACTCOSS head of policy Corinne Dobson.

It was a civil affair with no interruptions, fireworks or revelations, but it did draw out some distinct differences despite all four sharing accepted aspirations for Canberra to remain the Bush Capital.

It’s just on how to do it that they differ.

Mr Emerson, with a focus on equity, sounded like a Green at times, but at the same time joined Ms Lee in calling out 23 years of Labor rule and the string of projects that have failed to materialise, producing the best line of the night comparing election promises to New Year resolutions.

“I promise, darling, I’m going to start training, I’m going to stop drinking and I’m going to start eating clean and it lasts a month or the four weeks before the election and then four years later, we’re in the same place,” he said.

Ms Lee deflected most questions, her answers edged with barbs directed at Labor’s record, and keen to promote her signature big ticket promises – the city stadium and convention centre.

Mr Rattenbury spruiked the benefit of government intervention to solve the housing crisis – 10,000 public housing homes over a decade – and free health care, with GP clinics providing 160,000 new bulk billing places.

Mr Barr zeroed in on what Labor must feel is a winner – health – listing the Northside Hospital as the priority infrastructure project, and economic management.

“We are the party that builds hospitals in this city,” he said.

It was housing and infrastructure and how to pay for it where the fault lines emerged.

Ms Lee had a “bold” housing plan, but kept this morning’s announcement about a new town centre at Kowen Forest under wraps when pressed about just where the city should stop, beyond the Liberals’ aspirations for West Tuggeranong, across the Murrumbidgee. Although she did rule out the western edge due to ecological sensitivity.

That begged the question of where the Liberals would go to provide more single blocks to change the current housing bias towards apartments and townhouses.

Now we know.

That sets up a choice for voters between the compact city of Labor and the Greens and the more expansive plans from the Liberals.

On infrastructure, Ms Lee trumpeted the stadium and convention centre as key to attracting business and investment to the city and anchoring it.

But Mr Barr said the focus should be on priorities, and things like a stadium and convention centre and entertainment pavilion could wait until the new hospital was built.

Interestingly, Mr Barr also used the anchor word referring to the planned new Lyric Theatre in the city.

How to pay for it all and running a Budget in a small, resource-scarce jurisdiction animated Mr Barr, who told viewers it was a hard grind for a treasurer at state and local level and hard choices had to be made.

“The starting point in all of this is if you keep on running down your revenue base, you cannot provide the services,” he said, in an obvious jibe at the Liberals’ penchant for talking up rates and tax relief while announcing big infrastructure projects.

“If we continue to denude our revenue base, then we should not be surprised that we can’t deliver everything.

“And what I’ve had found as the Treasurer in my experience in the Assembly is that I get a lot of requests to spend money, a lot of requests to reduce tax and an expectation that with less revenue and more expenditure, somehow the budget will balance, that doesn’t work out.

“There is no magic pudding. You can’t just assume you’re going to get funding from the Commonwealth. You can’t just assume that the economy will always grow and deliver extra revenue.”

When asked about this and growing the revenue base, Ms Lee launched into an attack on Labor’s economic credibility.

“The ACT hasn’t had a revenue problem,” she declared.

“It’s actually had a waste problem. You think about the hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars that have been thrown away and wasted on dodgy procurements and some of these contracts that have obviously made the media, including some that have been before the Integrity Commission, and the lack of ministerial responsibility obviously has really concerned many, many Canberrans.”

And the big projects would feed economic growth, she said.

Ms Lee also reminded viewers that the Liberals won’t be adding a $4 billion tram to the list.

A self-deprecating Mr Emerson tended to stay above the policy weeds, warming to his task of selling the Independents for Canberra as an honest broker that would be able to pressure from the crossbench whatever government is formed to get things done.

“I’m tempted to follow Mr Rattenbury’s strategy of declaring we are intending to form government,” he said. “I’ll be the chief minister, three days of media attention. It’s really genius.

“We’re calling for people to vote independent to challenge the status quo, to create change.”

Was there a winner? Mr Emerson, a fresh face in the Pocock mould, probably made the best impression, but there is not as much at stake for him as the other three.

The third and final debate will be live on Riotact’s Facebook page next Wednesday, 6 pm, 25 September.

It will cover the cost of living and include Independents for Canberra candidate in Brindabella Dr Vanessa Picker, ACT Greens Deputy Leader Rebecca Vassarotti, who is contesting Kurrajong, Liberal MLA in Murrumbidgee Ed Cocks and Deputy Chief Minister Yvette Berry, from Ginninderra.