Australian Capital Territory

Abstract

In the second half of 2022, ACT politics returned to some of its staples: progressive social policy, environmental initiatives, and debate about the Labor-Greens government's signature light rail project were all prominent. The return of the decade-old light rail debate, traversed through multiple Territory elections and much commentary between, elicited groans in some quarters. But there were also some surprises, including a minor constitutional crisis centred around COVID-19 precautions in the Legislative Assembly.

ACT governments of all parties have a history of clashing with more conservative federal governments over social policy, with the federal government usually prevailing. They have repeatedly disagreed over drug harm minimisation and LGBTQ rights, but the most enduring point of contention has been voluntary euthanasia, which federal parliament prohibited territory governments from introducing in 1997. For supporters of the ban, euthanasia was a fraught moral issue, but many of its critics focused on the territory rights aspect, arguing there was no equivalent limit on state legislation. This perspective gained ground from 2017 as the states passed euthanasia legislation, seemingly leaving the territories behind.

The May 2022 federal election delivered a likely majority for overturning the ban, and in July federal Labor MPs Alicia Payne and Luke Gosling, from the ACT and Northern Territory respectively, introduced a private members' bill to do just that (RiotAct, 4 July 2022). Over the next six months the bill made its way through the House of Representatives and Senate, passing the latter on 1 December. Chief Minister Andrew Barr and Opposition Leader Elizabeth Lee, both supporters of the bill, were present in the gallery, with Barr welcoming the conclusion of a matter “already conclusively resolved in the minds of the public” (Canberra Times, 2 December 2022).

When it came to drug law reform, by contrast, the ACT occupied its more usual place as first mover within the Federation. Labor backbencher Michael Pettersson's bill to decriminalise small quantities of illicit drugs other than marijuana, already decriminalised in the Territory, was certainly a national first. But by the time it passed in October it had also been much-debated, and the event was muted: the Liberals promised to repeal the measure if elected in 2024 and Australian Federal Police Commissioner Reece Kershaw warned about “narco-tourism”, but no new arguments emerged (Canberra Times, 21 October 2022).

A six-month drug testing trial launched by the government in July was another first, and it attracted considerable attention for what it disclosed about the quality of drugs sold in Canberra: in its first month some 27 per cent of purported cocaine samples contained no cocaine, while one supposed sample of methamphetamine was simply sugar (RiotAct, 2 September 2022). Unsurprisingly, a significant minority of people using the service discarded their drugs, and in January 2023 the government extended the trial for six months (RiotAct, 14 January 2023). Moreover, the Queensland government was quick to follow, announcing plans for a drug testing site in February (Guardian, 25 February 2023).

Decarbonisation policy, a significant feature of the Parliamentary Agreement between Labor and the Greens, involved longer time horizons. In July the government announced plans to ban the sale of new petrol cars from 2035, part of a suite of policies that also included vehicle registration fees based on emissions rather than weight and the extension of an existing stamp duty waiver on new electric vehicles to used EVs (Canberra Times, 18, 21 July 2022). Then, in August, it introduced legislation banning new household gas connections from late 2023 as part of its push to phase out gas by 2045 (RiotAct, 4 August 2022). Both commitments entailed political risk, but the government emphasised its incremental approach. On electric vehicles, Greens leader Shane Rattenbury stressed “the point is not to take people's cars off the road at 2035 if they're still driving an internal combustion engine, but simply to make sure no new [petrol] vehicles come into the market”, (Canberra Times, 18 July 2022) while Barr compared the transition away from gas to the phasing out of analogue television and leaded petrol (RiotAct, 4 August 2022).

The COVID-19 pandemic, meanwhile, was far from over: compulsory isolation periods remained in force, schools used temporary online learning to cover resulting staff shortages, and other workplaces continued to negotiate safety protocols. Among them was the Legislative Assembly where, in early August, COVID-19 safety sparked a very strange constitutional crisis.

The initial point of contention involved hearings of the Assembly's Liberal-chaired Estimates Committee, which wanted witnesses from the Territory public service to appear in person despite Mick Gentleman, the relevant minister, requesting remote hearings. Gentleman's office responded by contacting WorkSafe, the Territory's workplace health and safety authority, which proceeded to issue a prohibition notice barring the committee from holding further hearings (RiotAct, 15 August 2022). This, judged Speaker Joy Burch, infringed the Assembly's privileges. Writing to Workplace Health and Safety Commissioner Jacqueline Agius, she charged: “the action taken by you cuts directly across the separation of powers between the legislative and executive arms of government, and, on its face, seeks to upend the exclusive cognisance of the Assembly to exercise control over its own proceedings” (Canberra Times, 16 August 2022).

Within a week, the impasse over estimates was resolved: hearings resumed in a larger venue (the Assembly chamber), some witnesses attended remotely, and WorkSafe lifted its prohibition notice (RiotAct, 17, 22 August 2022). But the affair's constitutional aspect was more troubling, and the Assembly established a Privileges Committee to investigate. Reporting in early December, it found that Gentleman's office had not violated the Assembly's privileges; WorkSafe had, but the committee recommended no action against it or Commissioner Agius (Canberra Times, 2 December 2022).

By this time the government had discontinued most of its pandemic measures. Over time, following National Cabinet decisions, it: reduced the mandatory isolation period for COVID-19 cases from seven to five days from 9 September; released weekly rather than daily case numbers from 16 September; abandoned compulsory masking on public transport from 30 September; and ended mandatory isolation entirely from 14 October (RiotAct, 31 August, 8, 30 September 2022). The end of mask mandates was, however, largely symbolic: some Canberrans had long ceased wearing masks, while others continued to use them in crowded settings.

A similar approach was evident in the August budget, billed as the Territory's first normal budget since 2019. Barr (who served as Treasurer as well as Chief Minister) committed to no new major projects, instead using a GST windfall arising from higher-than-expected local population growth for deficit reduction (Canberra Times, 3 August 2022). Rather, it was the Greens who drew attention by seeking to remove a $41 million horseracing subsidy from the budget. They made no mention of opposing the broader budget or ending the coalition, but the Liberals still launched a no confidence motion (RiotAct, 3 August 2022). Greens leader Rattenbury dismissed this exercise, saying “no one wants or expects the government to dissolve just because the two parties disagree on any singular issue”, but Lee insisted “this fractured government is falling apart” (RiotAct, 15 August 2022).

The Labor-Greens coalition was plainly not falling apart, and Lee's motion was easily defeated, but the next five months would not be easy for Rattenbury. In his capacity as Attorney-General he first faced an emotive campaign around sentences for dangerous drivers fronted by affected community members as well as the government's usual opponents. Then, as the year drew to a close, he was called on to address the fallout from the trial of Bruce Lehrmann, a federal Liberal staffer charged with the rape of fellow staffer Brittany Higgins.

Community feeling ran high over dangerous driving, with reason: the Territory's 2022 road toll of eighteen was its worst since 2010, and several of the victims were young (RiotAct, 26 October 2022). Among them was twenty-year-old Matthew McLuckie, whose father, Tom, responded with a Facebook campaign aimed at “bring[ing] about harsher laws” and raising awareness of dangerous driving (Canberra Times, 6 July 2022). McLuckie quickly achieved the latter aim, his campaign gathering significant support, and in August he joined with Deputy Opposition Leader Jeremy Hanson to launch three petitions calling for reviews of the ACT judiciary's sentencing practices, judicial appointment processes, and the merits of sentencing guidelines (Canberra Times, 19 August 2022).

Of McLuckie's petitions, the last proved the most popular: by early October it had the support of 3,000 signatories, as well as Labor MLA Marisa Paterson (RiotAct, 28 September, 11 October 2022). Rattenbury was resistant, and Barr rejected anything resembling mandatory sentencing (RiotAct, 7 November 2022), but the government did attempt to meet the petitioners' concerns by establishing a Law and Sentencing Advisory Council and increasing penalties for some driving offences (RiotAct, 7 October 2022). Launching the latter reform Rattenbury said the law should provide a punishment as well as a deterrent, but reiterated the government's support for judicial discretion in sentencing (RiotAct, 23 November 2022).

Lehrmann's trial and the issues it raised were no less fraught, but it was a national rather than local story. Still, Lehrmann faced the ACT Supreme Court and the prosecution was overseen by ACT Director of Public Prosecutions Shane Drumgold who, in mid-December, announced that the prosecution was dropping its charges over concerns for Higgins' health. Shortly afterward a freedom of information request provided some context, revealing correspondence in which Drumgold charged ACT police with waging “a very clear campaign to pressure me to agree with investigators' desire not to charge”. His correspondence also called for a public inquiry, a suggestion Territory Chief Police Officer Neil Gaughan (in an email to officers that quickly found its way to the media) said he welcomed (Guardian, 8 December 2022; Canberra Times, 9 December 2022).

Rattenbury initially played down the significance of any breach between Drumgold and the police, but Lee and the Australian Federal Police Association issued their own calls for a public inquiry (Canberra Times, 12 December 2022). This posed some difficulties since ACT Policing, an arm of the Federal Police, falls outside the jurisdiction of the ACT Integrity Commission. But the government sought a resolution through establishing a board of inquiry, the Territory's equivalent to a Royal Commission, and both ACT Policing and Drumgold pledged to cooperate (Canberra Times, 22 December 2022).

The government dealt with constitutional and legal issues as they arose, but it also worked to extend and defend its long-term light rail project. Light rail was popular – a uComms/Australia Institute poll taken in 2021 placed support at 63 per cent (Canberra Times, 19 September 2021) – but with construction proceeding slowly and entering one of its more disruptive phases its opponents saw an opportunity. The arguments were well-traversed, but the stakes were significant: new tramlines, as Canberra Times journalist Jasper Lindell pointed out, were intended to support “medium-to-high density housing in corridors that offer easy access to rapid public transport for work and recreation”, while light rail's opponents preferred the low-density vision of Canberra's mid-twentieth-century planners (Canberra Times, 10 December 2022).

David Pocock, the independent Senator elected in May, was not among light rail's long-term opponents, but he helped revive debate on the project when, in September, he said, “we don't have a clear picture around costs, people are anxious about the disruption the project will cause in the city and there is a live question about priorities” (RiotAct, 20 September 2022). Pocock's reference to priorities, and perhaps his broader criticism, related to Barr's earlier reversal of his support for a stadium in central Canberra (Canberra Times, 1 September 2022). Having campaigned in favour of a new stadium, the Senator was clearly unhappy with the Chief Minister criticising the plan on cost grounds while proceeding with his own signature project.

Debate resumed a month later when, during a Senate estimates hearing, federal infrastructure officials revealed that the Albanese government had cancelled funding for three ACT road projects promised by the Morrison government. The cancelled projects were worth a total of $85.9 million, the exact amount allocated to light rail in Albanese's first budget. Katy Gallagher, the federal Finance Minister and a former ACT Chief Minister, defended the decision, saying it was made in consultation with the ACT government. But the Territory Liberals were highly critical, Lee decrying the “millions of taxpayer dollars pulled out of our health system, public housing, and important road upgrades to pay for the tram” (Canberra Times, 28 October 2022).

These arguments likely passed many Canberrans by, but most noticed when, early in December, the government closed London Circuit for works to allow it to carry light rail. The road was a major one, abutting the central business district, and the works were highly visible. They involved some delays for commuters and prompted some complaints, especially when they were linked to reduced services on popular bus routes (RiotAct, 14 December 2022), but the disruption fell short of the traffic chaos some predicted.

Perhaps anticipating worse traffic problems than eventuated, the Liberals chose 5 December to announce their opposition to the next stage of light rail, which would extend the line south from London Circuit to Woden. Critics responded harshly, reminding the party of its poor electoral performance when opposing light rail's first leg in 2016. Lindell warned that, because light rail opponents were vocal, “the trap the party risks falling into is one of confirmation bias as it seeks to prosecute a debate many in the city thought had been won” (Canberra Times, 5 December 2022), while the Public Transport Association of Canberra issued a one-sentence press release reading “good luck with that” (RiotAct, 5 December 2022).

Lee suggested the Liberals' position was driven by transparency rather than expediency, noting that the party was declaring its policy more than eighteen months out from the next election. Moreover, she had several lines of argument, with a paid piece appearing under her name in local media outlets linking light rail to deficiencies in other services, emphasising the cost of the project, and warning of “high-rises on every available inch of Adelaide Avenue – the same developments now lining [existing light rail route] Northbourne Avenue” (Canberra Times, 5 December 2022). It seemed this latest light rail debate would be wide-ranging, even if it was far from novel.