The ACT Labor-Greens Government is out of touch, focusing on the wrong priorities and are leaving Canberrans behind.

Canberra Liberals Leader Elizabeth Lee said the government has shown no desire to address serious problems affecting Canberrans.

“Since the election my colleagues and I have knocked on thousands of doors and spoken to hundreds of people at local shops,” said Ms Lee.

“The message we are hearing is that people are fed up and the government is focused on the wrong priorities.

“Take a look at their record:

• the longest Emergency Department wait times in the country, with patients being treated in hallways at the Canberra Hospital;
• overcrowded and crumbling school infrastructure with declining academic results;
• rising rates and cost of living;
• skyrocketing electricity prices;
• the highest rental costs of any city in Australia;
• thousands of Canberrans on public housing waiting list while hundreds of properties sit empty;
• Nearly 40,000 Canberrans living in poverty
• a failing prison with the highest rate of Indigenous incarceration in Australia;
• the lowest police per capita in Australia; and
• a growing list of broken and neglected footpaths, roads, and streetlights.

“During last week’s sitting, the government failed to fill the programme despite all these significant issues plaguing Canberrans,” said Ms Lee.

“Instead, Labor and the Greens focused on ‘divorcing Parliament House’, backflipped on an important motion for the people of Gungahlin and, as usual, ignored those most vulnerable in our community.

“If this is the ‘new normal’ we were promised at the last election the next three and a half years will see a lot of Canberrans left behind.

“The government needs to get back to basics and ensure they are addressing significant problems affecting the community.

“By contrast, the Canberra Liberals have raised with government a number of community issues and proposed solutions.

“The Canberra Liberals will continue to stand up for Canberrans against an out of touch government that is leaving so many behind. We will hold Labor and the Greens to account on their failures and look forward to sharing our positive, fresh vision for the future of Canberra,” Ms Lee concluded.