Almost a year to the day from the next ACT election, Liberal Opposition Leader ZED SESELJA gave a personal speech at the National Press Club outlining his vision for Canberra and how his humble start in life influences it. This is an edited glimpse of his push to lead ‘the best local government in Australia’.

VALUES are such an integral part of who I am and what I stand for that to understand my values today you need to understand the values I was brought up with, and the lessons I have learnt on my journey.
I’m the son of immigrant parents. My family was neither wealthy nor privileged.

My parents raised six kids on one very modest income and, for that, I am eternally grateful.

This meant that we didn’t have a lot, but we didn’t waste a lot, either. We made every decision, every activity and every achievement count.

Despite my parents’ tough circumstances, one of the great things about Canberra has always been that housing was not out of our reach.

For around twice my father’s modest annual income, my parents were able to get a perfectly acceptable house and land package in Wanniassa in 1982.

This, as well as being part of my family’s path to home ownership, gave me one of my abiding principles: I value the pride and prosperity of home ownership.

Last week, we found out that the average cost for a first home in Canberra is now more than $400,000. That’s gone up over $20,000 in the last 12 months alone.

An average house in Canberra is now well over half a million dollars. That’s a far cry from twice the average wage my parents could buy for – it’s closer to eight times an average income. Eight times the deposit, and eight times the mortgage.

I was lucky to study at one of the best universities in the world, the ANU.

It was here that I developed another defining value: I value the rule of law and the lessons of the past.

My study and my work as a senior government lawyer taught me respect for the rule of law, and that many of the freedoms we enjoy are the fruits of centuries of careful thought and consideration.

But it has led me to another important principle: I value government as a tool to support the freedoms of individuals, not impose an ideology.

I have seen, this term, a raft of legislation that is not about curtailing the worst behaviours, but trying to enforce a preferred world view by making any “unapproved” conduct illegal.

Fireworks are banned, plastic bags are banned, shopping trolleys are regulated – the Greens even tried banning the sale of puppies, this is not the hallmark of a free society – it is using the law as a tool for social engineering, and it is not a position I or my party support.

Examples like this show to me a government that has completely lost its sense of what’s important.

From my background of growing up in a single-income home with six kids, I learned the value of money and the importance of making wise spending decisions.

I value endeavour and enterprise. My family often took second jobs and friends and family members have all made their way in the world as self employed or in small business.

To me, small business is a big deal. Tens of thousands of Canberrans run a small business. Most are not wealthy.

We believe that their contribution should be valued, rather than them being seen as just another tax opportunity.

We respect people who go to work and pay their taxes by spending their money carefully.

We value families and understand the cost pressures which families face, so all of our decisions in Government will look to put downward pressure on taxes and charges.

Finally, we value integrity and competence, and I no longer see either in this government.

An analysis shows we are worse off now than when Labor took to power in almost every important aspect of governance.

Rates have increased by more than 100 per cent in many suburbs. Electricity has risen 75 per cent.

Water is up 200 per cent. Taxation per capita is up 76 per cent in real terms. First homes now start at an average of over $400,000.

Our school teachers have become amongst the lowest paid in the country, and their ability to deal with this government has become so toxic that they have been on strike – twice.

Our hospital system has become the worst in the country on many measures; we have the lowest number of GPs per capita in the country; we have the lowest bulk billing rates in the country; we have the longest elective surgery waits in the country and some of the longest emergency departments waiting times in the country – and they’re getting worse.

But the mother of them all is that great swathe of congestion that has clogged Canberra for a decade: the Gungahlin Drive Extension.

This is a road that took longer to build than the Sydney Harbour Bridge, and that ACT Labor – after 10 years and $200 million – went out and said was delivered early!

I’d like to suggest that we might just be able to do things better.

This is my vision for government – to be the best local government in Australia.
Being the best local government means concentrating on basics – delivering basic services and lowering cost of living. It means:

• realising that services are suffering and we need to do better in hospital waiting times, in GP services, in education, in roads.
• not trying to save the world out of the Legislative Assembly, but getting back to basics in the community.
• recognising cost of living is a real issue for many people and that housing affordability is at a genuine crisis point.

My plan starts with infrastructure reform.

I determined very early on that one of the main reasons that infrastructure delivery was failing so spectacularly was because of the short-term thinking of the Government.

I therefore developed a comprehensive legislative solution with the Infrastructure Canberra Bill, which makes those structural changes through a more professional, forward thinking and independent approach.

This gathered great support from organisations such as Engineers Australia and Infrastructure Partnerships Australia.

Infrastructure Canberra establishes an Independent Infrastructure Commissioner, backed by an industry expert board, to advise, develop and implement a long term, holistic plan for infrastructure in the Territory.

Through Infrastructure Canberra – a plan that has been on the books for over a year now – we could ensure that infrastructure delays don’t continue to hold back the supply of land.

This necessarily also involves multiple development fronts and getting the private sector to do more, rather than less as is the current direction of this government.
Finally, it involves tax reform to ease the massive taxation burden on first home buyers.
Recently it was reported that over 30 per cent – or $189,000 of an average home price – is taxes. Not all of these are local taxes, but a fair few of them are.

From now until the election you will continue to see more ideas come from the Canberra Liberals.
Our ideas will all be based around the very simple vision of being the best local government in Australia, and based on the core values that have formed my life and my political development.

I am very proud of what my team has achieved over the past three years, but I will be even prouder when I can say that our core services are not just matching national averages, but leading the way; when ordinary Canberrans can once again afford to get in a house and stay in a house; when everyone can see a doctor they need and get the education they want; when the streets are safe and clean; when businesses are opening up instead of shutting down; when the government is once again a place of frank and fearless advice: and when Canberra becomes the city it is capable of becoming, then I will have achieved my vision, and it will be built on my values.

Then we can all say that the best city in Australia has the best local government in Australia.

[box] Early promises

SESELJA announced that, if elected, the Liberals will:

• Provide a series of one-off grants to upgrade regional ovals and associated facilities.
• Help sports clubs maintain affordable player registration fees by reducing the cost of ground training and match fees by 50 per cent.

• Introduce Infrastructure Canberra to save the Territory millions in overruns and late deliveries.

• Support and protect the public service with a genuinely independent Public Service Commissioner.

• Introduce a system where all suppliers for contracts up to $1 million would be paid within 45 days.

• Remove the penalties for paying car registration by instalments. [/box]