16 October 2016

Where, and how, the ACT election was won

| Charlotte
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Michael Pettersson

There will be plenty of analysis in coming days about why Canberrans voted the way they did. This is our early assessment of some of the key issues that were in play.

Depth per seat and local focus of candidates

In Ginninderra, Labor had two sitting MLAs in possible future deputy leader Yvette Berry and fellow cabinet member Chris Bourke. It had one high profile and popular candidate with deep roots in the electorate in Kippax Uniting Church minister Gordon Ramsay (pictured immediately below with his wife), another in local issues blogger, Belconnen Community Council chair Belconnen Arts Centre board member Tara Cheyne (next photo below Mr Ramsay) and another in former Labor staffer and RiotACT columnist Kim Fischer.

Gordon Ramsay
Having such strong candidates makes it hard to pick even now who will actually win one of the five slots in the electorate, but one thing is for sure, under Hare-Clarke, such a line-up is a winner overall.

Tara Cheyne

Meanwhile, in Yerrabi, a 25-year-old wunderkind from Crace named Michael Pettersson (and a loyal band of supporters) built up such name recognition and community support that he is on track to become the surprise success story of the election. He’s pictured at top.

The fact that one of his key Liberals opponents lives in Red Hill and another held his campaign launch in a Manuka cafe is just as much in play in this seat as the fact that light rail is of course popular here.

Social media management

The Liberals totally blew it on this one. Social media works best when it’s authentic because accounts are run by candidates. Take a look at Andrew Barr’s Facebook and Twitter accounts and you’ll see immediately that he is hands on and reactive.

The Liberals’ social media was, we understand, handled centrally.

Dozens of Canberrans were so angry at being blocked or having their comments on Liberals Facebook pages deleted they even set up a Facebook group to share their frustrations:

“Canberra Liberals: stop suppressing comments & start responding to questions on Facebook!”

Yes, the co-founders were Greens supporters, but the fact remains, blocking and deleting posts makes people angry and gives them more rather than less ammunition.

Unless comments breach guidelines such as those on discrimination and vilification in the RiotACT’s moderation policies, it is better to either engage and make your case, leave the commenter’s remark so that others can assess it on its merits, or post a note saying something like “We’ll have to agree to disagree on this one, but thanks for your input.”

Vision for the future

From light rail to Test cricket, to international engagement and 100 per cent renewable energy targets, Labor has developed and successfully sold a vision for the future of the city.

The Liberals focused on issues that affect Canberrans individually such as rates and the cost of light rail, but this is a city filled with progressives who actually want to pay taxes to ensure a better life for everyone. For the most part, they’re actually happy to wear the rate rises as part of a tax reform package, and to pay for light rail even if they won’t use it as much as their friends across town.

The two key visions within the Liberals’ campaign were to improve the health system and bus network, but Labor swiftly countered with commitments that either matched or improved on those of their conservative opponents.

People power

There was simply no comparison between the major parties when it came to people on the ground. With the exception of Elizabeth Lee, the Liberals lacked the hordes of willing helpers that Labor builds its success upon. If the attendance at their launch event was an indication of their active membership, it was a much smaller and older group than that of Labor. Take a look at our Facebook live video coverage of the election night parties and you’ll see what I mean.

You’ll also note the evangelical behaviour of said supporters in contrast with the more reserved Liberals. It’s infectious, that level of political belief, and each and every one of those supporters is lobbying their friends and contacts via social media and in person constantly.

A huge benefit for all of this for Labor is that when it comes time to select candidates, they have a pool of potentials who are embedded in their communities from which to draw.

Media management

Every single day of the campaign, Labor had something positive to announce for the city, in another part of the city, to the point where it became impossible for the media to keep up. It meant Mr Barr, Ms Fitzharris or Ms Berry in particular were on commercial and ABC television with something to sell every night.

I have never in all my 35 years living in the capital travelled so widely within it as I have during the campaign. Did Labor hold an event or announcements in every suburb? It sure felt like it at times, and this was a strategy that gave it a territory-wide presence.

They kept the media so busy covering election pledges that journalists had little time left for analysis of, for example, the Auditor-General’s report into the Land Development Agency or indeed whether the latest announcement was something new or just a re-announcement of something already factored into the forward estimates.

They had a very structured campaign plan from start to finish, with specific policy focus rotating weekly.

All of this was made possible for them because with 15 years in government, they have access to resources, information and venues the Opposition can only dream of.

Pictured are Michael Pettersson at home in Crace, Gordon Ramsay and his wife, and Tara Cheyne. Photos: Charlotte Harper

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JC said :

chewy14 said :

JC said :

gooterz said :

Labor key seats are the north so thats where they spend thwir money a Liberal government isn’t going to spend money in the north with so little amount of spending could flip the south.

Canberra voters are cheap and dumb. If we are spending all this money on a tram why wasn’t it done 20 years ago?

Belconnen kind of debunks your theory. It had the 2nd highest Labor vote on Saturday yet like Tuggeranong not seeing masses of money being spent on it. What is is Gungahlin and it is getting money spent because it is the growth area of town. Just like how in the 80’s and early 90’s Tuggeranong had heaps of money spent on it too. Did you hear the Belconnenites or Weston Creekites complaining?

Oh and Molongolo is now getting money spent on it. And Molongolo (what has been built thus far) is “south side” unless I am mistaken.

No older area ever got the type of infrastructure that is being built and planned for Gungahlin and the Inner North (which is also an existing area like Tuggeranong).

Belconnen is traditionally a Labor stronghold and remains so. If the Libs were any chance in this election they needed the fifth seat in Gungahlin and the Tram neutralised that possibility perfectly (for Labor).

So light rail is the only difference then? In which case do you want the higher density housing down in Tuggeranong that comes with it? That is a key difference of course.

No it isn’t the only difference, for example the lovely wetlands that the inner north got over recent years but the ones planned for Tuggeranong got canned despite Lake Tuggeranong water quality being an ongoing major issue. Lucky they got those inner north ones installed early enough isn’t it?

And you must have me confused with someone else because I am 100% in support of the government’s plan for urban intensification along major transport routes. I welcome that being rolled out city wide because it’s the only way that wide scale public transport will be economically feasible in Canberra.

My issue is the inconsistent delivery of that infrastructure and how it’s paid for with massive cross subsidies being common.

bj_ACT said :

I have bemoaned on Riotact how Unemployment in areas of Tuggeranong has gone up, NAPLAN School performances in Tuggeranong have gone way down and Places like Kambah and Wanniassa have been listed as the most mortgage stressed in the entire country.

But with these issues at the forefront of my mind and a feeling that ACT Labor had done nothing to address these problems. Why didn’t I actually vote Liberal?

I guess a feeling that the Libs wouldn’t actually address the issues for the strugglers in Tuggeranong or that the Liberals would be too Conservative in their policies.

The real take out from this post should be…… If I’m an example of a dissatisfied voter within the ACT. I guess the Liberal party,Greens or Independents will have to start looking at a way to actually get a vote like mine over the line on Election Day? I was there for the taking but no one actually had the policy or vision to make it happen.

I don’t mean to sound antagonistic, but the real take out is that voters like you get what they deserve. If you’re silly enough to continue to vote in a way that keeps the incumbents in power, then you deserve to keep being neglected. You voted to keep the party that you *know* doesn’t care about Tuggeranong, instead of the one who promised to do something about it. And your justification is “well, *maybe* they wouldn’t make good on the promise”. Had you (voters in general) taken the chance, things in Tuggeranong could only have improved, because they couldn’t have gotten worse. Instead, you’re in for another 4 years of rates rises, and seeing none of that revenue being invested into Tuggeranong.

The cynic in me thinks you don’t like what ACT Labor is doing, but you keep voting Labor because you’ve always done so. I hope that isn’t the case. More voters need to be selfish with their vote, rather than blindly following party loyalty. We don’t owe the parties anything. They owe us.

JC said :

chewy14 said :

JC said :

gooterz said :

Labor key seats are the north so thats where they spend thwir money a Liberal government isn’t going to spend money in the north with so little amount of spending could flip the south.

Canberra voters are cheap and dumb. If we are spending all this money on a tram why wasn’t it done 20 years ago?

Belconnen kind of debunks your theory. It had the 2nd highest Labor vote on Saturday yet like Tuggeranong not seeing masses of money being spent on it. What is is Gungahlin and it is getting money spent because it is the growth area of town. Just like how in the 80’s and early 90’s Tuggeranong had heaps of money spent on it too. Did you hear the Belconnenites or Weston Creekites complaining?

Oh and Molongolo is now getting money spent on it. And Molongolo (what has been built thus far) is “south side” unless I am mistaken.

No older area ever got the type of infrastructure that is being built and planned for Gungahlin and the Inner North (which is also an existing area like Tuggeranong).

Belconnen is traditionally a Labor stronghold and remains so. If the Libs were any chance in this election they needed the fifth seat in Gungahlin and the Tram neutralised that possibility perfectly (for Labor).

So light rail is the only difference then? In which case do you want the higher density housing down in Tuggeranong that comes with it? That is a key difference of course.

JC You keep going on about Tuggeranong getting all the Infrastructure spending of Belconnen and Other parts of Canberra back in the 80s and 90s. Once again you are making a false claim and continuing to repeat it. Actually you obviously have something against Tuggeranong as you fire off pot shots at the area ad-nauseum.

Here’s just a few examples of why Tuggeranong despite being a quarter of taxperayers since self government, didn’t get it better than everyone else in the past.

ROADS – Tuggeranong only had Drakeford drive built as a multi lane main road. Ashley Drive, Sulwood Drive, Athlonn Drive, Johnson Dr, Issabella Dr, Tharwa Dr and Erindale Dr are ‘single lane’ main roads and they take huge amounts of Tuggers 85,000 residents cars. Compare Tuggers single lane main roads to Belconnen where similar roads Coulter, Southern Cross, Kingsford Smith, Ginninderra, Hayden, Caswell etc are all multi lane (many of these take less traffic per day than Ashley & Sulwood etc). Self Government stopped all the planned duplication of these roads in the 90s saying they couldn’t afford it. They seemed to be able to afford expenditure in other areas.

SCHOOLS – Tuggers had massive school closures and you should check out ‘Your School’ site to see how backwards the areas Education results have dropped. A number of Education institution promises from when Tuggers was built, were never realised.

LAKE & PARKS – How do you compare the Tuggeranong Lake and Parklands against similar facilities across Canberra?

PUBLIC INSTITUTIONS – What happened to Tuggeranong’s Public Institutions. I guess you need things like The Art Gallery, Library, Science Centre & National Musuem near the lake and city centre. But Belco rightly got the Institute of Sport, Bruce Stadium, UC, Calvary Hospital, etc Tuggers got nothing of the sort.

You can think Tuggers residents are dumb for not voting for ACT Labor as much as your area did, but even Labor ministers have mentioned how the party focuses on winning in the North as the key to maintain government.

chewy14 said :

JC said :

gooterz said :

Labor key seats are the north so thats where they spend thwir money a Liberal government isn’t going to spend money in the north with so little amount of spending could flip the south.

Canberra voters are cheap and dumb. If we are spending all this money on a tram why wasn’t it done 20 years ago?

Belconnen kind of debunks your theory. It had the 2nd highest Labor vote on Saturday yet like Tuggeranong not seeing masses of money being spent on it. What is is Gungahlin and it is getting money spent because it is the growth area of town. Just like how in the 80’s and early 90’s Tuggeranong had heaps of money spent on it too. Did you hear the Belconnenites or Weston Creekites complaining?

Oh and Molongolo is now getting money spent on it. And Molongolo (what has been built thus far) is “south side” unless I am mistaken.

No older area ever got the type of infrastructure that is being built and planned for Gungahlin and the Inner North (which is also an existing area like Tuggeranong).

Belconnen is traditionally a Labor stronghold and remains so. If the Libs were any chance in this election they needed the fifth seat in Gungahlin and the Tram neutralised that possibility perfectly (for Labor).

So light rail is the only difference then? In which case do you want the higher density housing down in Tuggeranong that comes with it? That is a key difference of course.

JC said :

gooterz said :

Labor key seats are the north so thats where they spend thwir money a Liberal government isn’t going to spend money in the north with so little amount of spending could flip the south.

Canberra voters are cheap and dumb. If we are spending all this money on a tram why wasn’t it done 20 years ago?

Belconnen kind of debunks your theory. It had the 2nd highest Labor vote on Saturday yet like Tuggeranong not seeing masses of money being spent on it. What is is Gungahlin and it is getting money spent because it is the growth area of town. Just like how in the 80’s and early 90’s Tuggeranong had heaps of money spent on it too. Did you hear the Belconnenites or Weston Creekites complaining?

Oh and Molongolo is now getting money spent on it. And Molongolo (what has been built thus far) is “south side” unless I am mistaken.

No older area ever got the type of infrastructure that is being built and planned for Gungahlin and the Inner North (which is also an existing area like Tuggeranong).

Belconnen is traditionally a Labor stronghold and remains so. If the Libs were any chance in this election they needed the fifth seat in Gungahlin and the Tram neutralised that possibility perfectly (for Labor).

Disclaimer: I was never going to vote for infrastructure that I will pay for until I die but will never see anywhere near where I live. Rip in, I can take it.

Personal Opinion: Regardless of policies, the Liberals were left in the dust when it came to running a campaign. I caught the end of an interview on 666 yesterday (not sure who it was) where it was stated that they invested heavily in a ‘broadcast campaign’. I’m assuming that this refers to letterbox drops and recorded cold-calls.
Both of these are wasted on me.
Labor doorknockers, however, twice visited our home and they seemed to have a presence everywhere. They were friendly and reserved. They looked like a team and won like a team.

gooterz said :

Labor key seats are the north so thats where they spend thwir money a Liberal government isn’t going to spend money in the north with so little amount of spending could flip the south.

Canberra voters are cheap and dumb. If we are spending all this money on a tram why wasn’t it done 20 years ago?

Belconnen kind of debunks your theory. It had the 2nd highest Labor vote on Saturday yet like Tuggeranong not seeing masses of money being spent on it. What is is Gungahlin and it is getting money spent because it is the growth area of town. Just like how in the 80’s and early 90’s Tuggeranong had heaps of money spent on it too. Did you hear the Belconnenites or Weston Creekites complaining?

Oh and Molongolo is now getting money spent on it. And Molongolo (what has been built thus far) is “south side” unless I am mistaken.

bj_ACT said :

I have bemoaned on Riotact how Unemployment in areas of Tuggeranong has gone up, NAPLAN School performances in Tuggeranong have gone way down and Places like Kambah and Wanniassa have been listed as the most mortgage stressed in the entire country.

But with these issues at the forefront of my mind and a feeling that ACT Labor had done nothing to address these problems. Why didn’t I actually vote Liberal?

I guess a feeling that the Libs wouldn’t actually address the issues for the strugglers in Tuggeranong or that the Liberals would be too Conservative in their policies.

The real take out from this post should be…… If I’m an example of a dissatisfied voter within the ACT. I guess the Liberal party,Greens or Independents will have to start looking at a way to actually get a vote like mine over the line on Election Day? I was there for the taking but no one actually had the policy or vision to make it happen.

Labor key seats are the north so thats where they spend thwir money a Liberal government isn’t going to spend money in the north with so little amount of spending could flip the south.

Canberra voters are cheap and dumb. If we are spending all this money on a tram why wasn’t it done 20 years ago?

Also we have a mandated at all costs light rail to woden over land and sea. If it costs $5 billion they still have to do it no questions asked.

There is no justification of any labor voter complaining about rates or taxes now.

Its time to start a party now that isn’t labor or libs

I have bemoaned on Riotact how Unemployment in areas of Tuggeranong has gone up, NAPLAN School performances in Tuggeranong have gone way down and Places like Kambah and Wanniassa have been listed as the most mortgage stressed in the entire country.

But with these issues at the forefront of my mind and a feeling that ACT Labor had done nothing to address these problems. Why didn’t I actually vote Liberal?

I guess a feeling that the Libs wouldn’t actually address the issues for the strugglers in Tuggeranong or that the Liberals would be too Conservative in their policies.

The real take out from this post should be…… If I’m an example of a dissatisfied voter within the ACT. I guess the Liberal party,Greens or Independents will have to start looking at a way to actually get a vote like mine over the line on Election Day? I was there for the taking but no one actually had the policy or vision to make it happen.

chewy14 said :

JC said :

Proboscus said :

Wow!! Just when I thought Canberrans couldn’t get any stupider, they re-elect the Labor/Greens for another term.

To those who voted them back in, you cannot complain when the cost of the light rail skyrockets.

Or when your rates do the same.

Or when the health system collapses.

Or when your child finishes school stupid and uneducated.

This ridiculous result has just hastened my move interstate.

I think you are right about one point which is education. Quite clearly not enough has been spent on education down south going by the election results.

Yep, there’s the Labor arrogance and contempt for members of the electorate who don’t agree with them. You should get a job on Andrew Barrs staff, you’d fit right in.

I am not alone going by the views that have been expressed here this campaign and what is in the Canberra times comments today. Though most of those that I speak of are right leaners.

Btw it was a joke. Maybe the south also needs a comedy school too.

chewy14 said :

JC said :

Proboscus said :

Wow!! Just when I thought Canberrans couldn’t get any stupider, they re-elect the Labor/Greens for another term.

To those who voted them back in, you cannot complain when the cost of the light rail skyrockets.

Or when your rates do the same.

Or when the health system collapses.

Or when your child finishes school stupid and uneducated.

This ridiculous result has just hastened my move interstate.

I think you are right about one point which is education. Quite clearly not enough has been spent on education down south going by the election results.

Yep, there’s the Labor arrogance and contempt for members of the electorate who don’t agree with them. You should get a job on Andrew Barrs staff, you’d fit right in.

Actually, the HQ for our Marxist educators is in the Tuggeranong Town Centre.

Our own fifth column.

JC said :

Proboscus said :

Wow!! Just when I thought Canberrans couldn’t get any stupider, they re-elect the Labor/Greens for another term.

To those who voted them back in, you cannot complain when the cost of the light rail skyrockets.

Or when your rates do the same.

Or when the health system collapses.

Or when your child finishes school stupid and uneducated.

This ridiculous result has just hastened my move interstate.

I think you are right about one point which is education. Quite clearly not enough has been spent on education down south going by the election results.

Yep, there’s the Labor arrogance and contempt for members of the electorate who don’t agree with them. You should get a job on Andrew Barrs staff, you’d fit right in.

A Nonny Mouse said :

Neither Labor nor Greens vote changed by more than a small fraction of a percent. The change was entirely the Libs going down by 3.8%. It is often said that oppositions don’t win elections, governments lose them. In this case, it was the opposition that lost it. To much listening to a small number of old fogies from Can the Tram and thinking they could base a campaign around that. Didn’t help that people actually like 100% renewable electricity and when was the last time you heard a Liberal enthusiastic about any energy source but coal? Claiming to support the 100% target was not enough. Look at the company these people choose to keep: Federal liberals promised not to change the federal renewable energy target, ‘unity ticket on Gonski’ etc. Really, Libs don’t do the vision thing.

That swing is now -2.6% the prepoll votes are clearly biased toward labor.
20% still to count with 10% of the vote going to independants.

It makes sense those thinking of shifting to labor would have waited until last minute to do so.

ABC is somehow declaring greens 2 seats one only has a quota of .4.

Wonder what happens if the preferences to follow the party lines.

justin heywood7:03 pm 16 Oct 16

Charlotte Harper said

“….but this is a city filled with progressives who actually want to pay taxes to ensure a better life for everyone. For the most part, they’re actually happy to wear the rate rises as part of a tax reform package, and to pay for light rail even if they won’t use it as much as their friends across town.”

Really? You saw it (the election) as a battle between the altruists on the left and the self-interested on the right?

I know plenty from both sides. Labor/green voters don’t have a monopoly on virtue, even if they tell themselves otherwise.

But all that aside, congratulations to RiotACT on its balanced and fair coverage in the lead-up to the election.

A Nonny Mouse said :

Neither Labor nor Greens vote changed by more than a small fraction of a percent. The change was entirely the Libs going down by 3.8%. It is often said that oppositions don’t win elections, governments lose them. In this case, it was the opposition that lost it. To much listening to a small number of old fogies from Can the Tram and thinking they could base a campaign around that. Didn’t help that people actually like 100% renewable electricity and when was the last time you heard a Liberal enthusiastic about any energy source but coal? Claiming to support the 100% target was not enough. Look at the company these people choose to keep: Federal liberals promised not to change the federal renewable energy target, ‘unity ticket on Gonski’ etc. Really, Libs don’t do the vision thing.

Try and understand that “old fogies” were not exposed to the rampart credit that our current young generation is soaking up and the the massively unfunded “visionary” schemes (like Gonski, the NDIS and trams) that today’s governments embrace.

We have seen “boom and bust” several times in our lifetimes and the next bust will be very soon.

The current working generation is about to find out what vision costs.

A Nonny Mouse5:33 pm 16 Oct 16

Proboscus said :

Wow!! Just when I thought Canberrans couldn’t get any stupider, they re-elect the Labor/Greens for another term.

To those who voted them back in, you cannot complain when the cost of the light rail skyrockets.

Or when your rates do the same.

Or when the health system collapses.

Or when your child finishes school stupid and uneducated.

This ridiculous result has just hastened my move interstate.

Taking those in reverse order, after 15 years of Labor and Greens:
-My children have recently finished school well educated in the ACT public system.
-On a few occasions when I had a serious medical matter, it was dealt with promptly and competently in the ACT health system.
-My rates have increased a little but it is more equitable and this was balanced when I paid no stamp duty to buy a vehicle that would run on the ACT’s 100% renewable electricity.
-Can’t comment on a that one, but the sky has not fallen in yet.

When you move interstate, I hope you enjoy the electricity that is more expensive yet less green than in the ACT.

A Nonny Mouse5:26 pm 16 Oct 16

Neither Labor nor Greens vote changed by more than a small fraction of a percent. The change was entirely the Libs going down by 3.8%. It is often said that oppositions don’t win elections, governments lose them. In this case, it was the opposition that lost it. To much listening to a small number of old fogies from Can the Tram and thinking they could base a campaign around that. Didn’t help that people actually like 100% renewable electricity and when was the last time you heard a Liberal enthusiastic about any energy source but coal? Claiming to support the 100% target was not enough. Look at the company these people choose to keep: Federal liberals promised not to change the federal renewable energy target, ‘unity ticket on Gonski’ etc. Really, Libs don’t do the vision thing.

Chris Mordd Richards5:25 pm 16 Oct 16

Small correction: I personally founded the Banned by Canberra Liberals group on 29th October (and yes I am a Greens member) and then 3 weeks later, I added Leigh Travis, a friend and fellow Greens member, as Co-spokesperson (and co-admin on FB) for the group, and Leigh and I have led the group together since then.

I will be looking to write something about the group explaining what we did in full and how it all came about over the next week or so to publish on RA to tell the full story from our perspective.

Maryann Mussared said :

And the losers are? The homeless; young people battling a complete lack of affordable housing; anyone stuck in the rental treadmill with no control over rent increases, including the elderly and veterans; the community of the Oaks Estate; the ageing population of Brindabella; and the arts community.

I am sure any reader with a sense of social justice will see how this election was hijacked. It is going to be a long time between elections….

These people fit the profiles of typical Labor voters.

They deserve the government they voted for.

rommeldog56 said :

Lenient said :

Interesting to note the huge swing against the Liberal in their stronghold of Brindabella. Given the impact of the anti-rail campaign would have had its optimal impact here indicates the ongoing impact of Zed rolling Humphreys has had on support for the current regime.

Agreed. As I recall, there was a large swing to the Libs in Brindabella in 2012 as I recall. So maybe some of that has gone back – regardless of policies.

Might have been because Zed was in that electorate last time and the leaders no matter how big a drop kick they are (like Zed was/is) tend to draw more of the vote. So maybe the swing was a normalisation of that.

But was funny to see one of the biggest swings against the Libs was in the Deep South and one of the biggest to was in Gungahlin!
Though onbviusly the swings are based on notional view of the last election due to the creation of 2 new electorates and the redistribution.

Proboscus said :

Wow!! Just when I thought Canberrans couldn’t get any stupider, they re-elect the Labor/Greens for another term.

To those who voted them back in, you cannot complain when the cost of the light rail skyrockets.

Or when your rates do the same.

Or when the health system collapses.

Or when your child finishes school stupid and uneducated.

This ridiculous result has just hastened my move interstate.

I think you are right about one point which is education. Quite clearly not enough has been spent on education down south going by the election results.

I just think the Liberals really fail to make (a) a compelling case for change (b) any suggestion that they possess the competence to deliver it. While the Labor government has plenty of flaws, such as regular bouts of incompetence, and a propensity to pursue dubious pet projects, they are not terrible. The Liberals have never been able to convince me that they would provide a better alternative, and indeed, much about them suggests they could be worse.

Lenient said :

Interesting to note the huge swing against the Liberal in their stronghold of Brindabella. Given the impact of the anti-rail campaign would have had its optimal impact here indicates the ongoing impact of Zed rolling Humphreys has had on support for the current regime.

Agreed. As I recall, there was a large swing to the Libs in Brindabella in 2012 as I recall. So maybe some of that has gone back – regardless of policies.

Maryann Mussared said :

And the losers are? The homeless; young people battling a complete lack of affordable housing; anyone stuck in the rental treadmill with no control over rent increases, including the elderly and veterans; the community of the Oaks Estate; the ageing population of Brindabella; and the arts community.

I am sure any reader with a sense of social justice will see how this election was hijacked. It is going to be a long time between elections….

+1. Add in self funded retirees whose pension increases wont come anywhere near meeting the Annual Rates increases + levies, let alone all the other rapidly rising ACT Labor/Greens Govt charges and cost of living. The 10% avg increase in Annual Rates pa forever + the 20% rise in Annual Rates for Units from 1/7/16 and another 15% for Units on 1/7/17, is going to hurt so many people that would otherwise not have hurt anywhere near so badly under the old Annual Rates/Stamp Duty regime.

But wait……I hear the comments coming about selling up and moving to a small unit or renting, about how the reduction in conveyancing stamp duty is better for housing affordability and mobility, about how you should sell and buy every 10 years to lessen the burden, etc, etc, etc……

I wonder what this is going to do for waiting lists for ACT Government Housing (those tenants don’t have to pay Annual Rates apparently) ! Or for housing affordability when Annual Rates are $4K+ pa. However, I think many, many ACT voters/ratepayers are way too affluent on their duel Public Servant salaries to worry about such minor matters, I’m afraid.

Yes – plenty of people will be and are being left behind in housing affordability in Canberra – despite the fact that the ACT has the 2nd highest rate of homelessness in the country !! The ACT Lib’s sure didn’t strategise/focus anywhere near enough on housing affordability and homelessness in the election.

Welcome to the new, cold, hard and uncaring ACT Labor/Greens “vision” for Canberra.

I don’t think people realise the impact gay marriage had on this election. The federal Liberals have handled the issue appallingly with the public being left the impression that the conservative rump is calling the shots on the issue. Added to this the fact that Barr is gay and the Territory has a tradition of backing the progressive outlook on social issues, the issue was poison for the local Liberals, especially when The Canberra Times revealed during the Campaign that Coe, Jones and most of the other Liberal candidates opposed gay marriage. I know the media was portraying it as a referendum on the tram but the backstory is that the gay marriage debate and the plebiscite issue played itself out over the course of the ACT campaign and the Canberra Liberals were caught in the crossfire.

The Liberals needed a stronger policy platform than having more left-over coreflute than the ALP.

Interesting to note the huge swing against the Liberal in their stronghold of Brindabella. Given the impact of the anti-rail campaign would have had its optimal impact here indicates the ongoing impact of Zed rolling Humphreys has had on support for the current regime.

Maryann Mussared2:05 pm 16 Oct 16

And the losers are? The homeless; young people battling a complete lack of affordable housing; anyone stuck in the rental treadmill with no control over rent increases, including the elderly and veterans; the community of the Oaks Estate; the ageing population of Brindabella; and the arts community. I am sure any reader with a sense of social justice will see how this election was hijacked. It is going to be a long time between elections….

Wow!! Just when I thought Canberrans couldn’t get any stupider, they re-elect the Labor/Greens for another term.

To those who voted them back in, you cannot complain when the cost of the light rail skyrockets.

Or when your rates do the same.

Or when the health system collapses.

Or when your child finishes school stupid and uneducated.

This ridiculous result has just hastened my move interstate.

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