The ACT's Opposition Leader has put suburban Canberra at the heart of an opening gambit for the 2024 territory election.
Elizabeth Lee has foreshadowed a campaign focusing on housing, cost-of-living, crime and decline under a long-serving government.
"What is abundantly clear is that this is a government that does not care about the basic local services that Canberrans should and deserve to expect. That this is a government that does not prioritise the suburbs, but we care and we will focus on getting this right," Ms Lee said.
The Canberra Liberals also released a list of 35 commitments the party claims to have already made, including overturning bans on woodfire heaters, gas and internal combustion engine powered cars.
The party would also commission an audit of the territory's budget, reduce the "tax and regulatory burden" on rental properties and release more land for standalone houses.
"We know that this Labor-Greens government is wedded to an infill policy that is not meeting the needs or the wants of the Canberra community," Ms Lee said.
A Canberra Liberals government would also commission a feasibility study for housing west of the Murrumbidgee at Tuggeranong, a move which the ACT government has previously warned faces significant economic and environmental constraints.
Ms Lee said looking after the environment was both the right thing to do and the economically responsible thing to do, but banning everything was not the solution.
"At the end of the day, it's about making sure that we put forward our vision. ... There's no doubt ... that we have a role to play in making sure that we leave a more sustainable, healthy environment for the future generation," Ms Lee said.
"But does that mean that we want to embark on a journey where it's banning everything that is going to have the most impact on the people who can least afford it? No, it's about making sure that we take real steps.
"We will explore innovation and new technology in clean energy and we will play our part in making our world healthier and more sustainable for the future generation."
The Canberra Liberals on Monday promised they would spend $100 million on Canberra's suburbs if they won the next election, dividing up the money based on the number of rateable properties.
Suburbs would receive a minimum of $500,000 and the funding would be capped at $2 million, with projects to be determined by an assessment team.
Ms Lee used a Canberra Liberals function at the National Press Club to outline her party's plan before the October 2024 election, pitching herself as the party leader to end more than two consecutive decades of Labor and Labor-Green coalition rule.
The Canberra Liberals would repeal drug decriminalisation laws "brought in by stealth" and boost the territory's police force. The party would "make sure that our laws reflect community expectations when it comes to bail and sentencing".
Ms Lee said the Canberra Liberals would work to bring world-class events to Canberra, while the party said it would "explore options for a city stadium and convention centre", which the ACT government has largely abandoned, citing costs and site constraints.
"We will strive to put Canberra on the map because people from around the world should also be able to see what a great city we are," she said.
"We will keep our city moving by adopting a public transport agenda that will get people where they want to go when they want to get there.
"And we will do this without spending billions of dollars on a tram that will serve a fraction of Canberra and be slower than the existing bus."
Ms Lee accused ACT Chief Minister Andrew Barr of mismanaging the budget, pointing to the loss of a AAA+ credit rating. S&P Global in September said the ACT's slower-than-expected budget repair after the COVID-19 pandemic, while growing expenses and infrastructure spending, contributed to the downgrade. The agency noted the ACT's prospects for growth and prudent management of public debt.
Ms Lee said: "We're talking about a Treasurer who has promised almost every year to deliver a surplus and has failed miserably every year at the moment. Canberrans are paying over a million dollars a day in interest repayments alone.
"There is no doubt that despite his experience - so-called experience - Canberrans are not getting the credible and responsible economic management that they deserve."
The Canberra Liberals would release costings before the election but Ms Lee rejected suggestions a government under her leadership would need to cut spending.
"We will overhaul the broken government procurement system that has seen literally hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars wasted on dodgy contracts and abandoned projects," she said.
City Services Minister Chris Steel on Monday said Ms Lee's announcement of $100 million for suburban infrastructure was the first of a range of "Trojan horse announcements that seek to disguise the cuts that they would make to major infrastructure like the northside hospital and light rail".
"Well, after three years, this is all that Elizabeth Lee has got: no specific project or specific plan. Just a Dutton-style headline grab," Mr Steel said.
"Five-hundred thousand dollars won't even deliver a new toilet for a suburb."
