Without the Greens, Labor redefines itself as the party to get the job done, responsibly

Greens Leader Shane Rattenbury said Labor had held his party back in the last term, but it seems more like the reverse may be true.

Chief Minister Andrew Barr won’t say it, but this new government is feeling unburdened, more focused and re-energised without the Greens (although he will still have to negotiate with them to shepherd legislation through the Legislative Assembly).

But when Mr Barr unveiled his new Cabinet, not only did he seem a little lighter for passing Treasury to Chris Steel, but it was as if Labor on its own had narrowed its focus to what really mattered.

The government’s success this term is going to be built on delivering its infrastructure program, budget discipline and a degree of ruthlessness with the ACT public service so it can be more responsive to community needs and not embarrass Labor with any more failures such as the $78 million IT debacle.

Mr Barr may have kept the lid on it, but there is real anger there about areas of the bureaucracy’s performance.

Infrastructure and the budget go hand in hand, with Mr Barr acknowledging that the ratings agency was keeping a close watch on how both are managed. The last thing Labor wants is another credit downgrade.

While criticisms about debt and deficit may have been brushed off during the campaign, the government’s intent shows how seriously it is taking these matters.

Far from being in the shadow of Mr Barr, new Treasurer Chris Steel revealed a miserly edge saying his mentor might need to provide a moderating influence when it came to the Territory finances.

It might be just talk, but the impression was that while Labor would deliver on its election commitments, it would have to be done without blowing the bottom line.

In fact, Mr Steel used the word responsible several times, and a slip of the tongue may have also betrayed his enthusiasm for finding savings where he could.

“We are razor [sic] focused on making sure that we can deliver on our election commitments in a responsible way,” he said.

An overhaul of the public service will assist this juggling act, and the new Minister for the Public Service, Rachel Stephen-Smith, will oversee it.

A new agency, Infrastructure Canberra, an enhanced Major Projects Canberra, aims to keep the pipeline flowing and create efficiencies. Mr Barr will be deeply involved chairing the cabinet sub-committee that will keep a close watch on project delivery across portfolios.

Mr Barr flagged his plans for the directorates before the election, telling Region that a redesign would accompany the declaration of housing supply as a major project to help meet Labor’s goal of 30,000 new homes by 2030.

These would involve administrative changes to better align planning and transport, while city services, environment, parks and land management could be brought together.

They would also address frustrations from the property industry about costly approval delays within EPSDD.

No sweeping changes yet, but the government wants to reshape the public service to deliver more services and be more efficient at it.

Mr Steel expects these changes will also save the government money, but not through job cuts.

The government’s engine room will be a core economic committee made up of Mr Barr, Deputy Chief Minister Yvette Berry, Ms Stephen-Smith and Mr Steel.

Labor is designing a government for efficiency and results.

The party took a 3.7 per cent hit to its vote on 19 October. It looks like it’s determined to win them back.