OPPOSITION Leader Elizabeth Lee has used her Budget reply to slam the Labor/Greens government for its shortcomings in its first 100 days of office.

During her speech this afternoon (February 11) she cited “record” hospital waiting times, a “lack of action” on housing affordability and “skyrocketing rates”.

“Just 100 days in and all this government has to show is broken promise after broken promise; declining services and more of the same that we have seen over the last 20 years,” Ms Lee said.

Despite earlier today, in a Budget reply excerpt seen by “CityNews”, claiming that she would be looking to find common ground with the government, Ms Lee was quick to criticise it for not using Tuesday’s Budget to “better” cater for the needs of Canberrans.

“This Budget embeds 20 years of under-resourcing the health system,” Ms Lee said.

“This Budget embeds the years of neglect of our tired and hazardous school infrastructure and this Budget embeds the same old thinking from this government of charging Canberrans more and delivering less.”

Ms Lee also wasted no time attacking the government over its handling of some of the community’s most vulnerable.

“The Canberra of today is a city which sees a real risk of becoming a two-tiered society with some of our most vulnerable being left behind and forgotten,” Ms Lee said.

“And it is clear from the treasurer’s Budget this week that there is no appetite, no leadership and no vision from this government to do anything about it.”

But regardless of all her criticisms of the government, Ms Lee said: “I stand here today not with criticisms and opposition for opposition’s sake but with a willingness, a preparedness, a commitment to work with the government to fix problems, to make our city a better place for all Canberrans.”

In solving the homelessness crisis facing the nation’s capital, Lee spoke of looking for a bipartisan approach.

“Let’s make the ‘poverty taskforce’ a tri-partisan reality,” she said.

“Let’s work together to make sure that the 38,000 Canberrans including 8000 children from low income households have the respect and dignity of leaders that will take an evidence-based, tripartisan approach to addressing the systemic and root causes of poverty across the territory.”

In her speech, she then called on the government to commit to removing hazardous material from Canberra schools by the end of the semester.

“Will you support my call today of a commitment that by the end of this semester, every school in Canberra is a safe learning environment to give our parents peace of mind; our teachers and school staff a safe place to work; and our children the best possible start in life,” she said. 

On climate change, Lee argued that more can be done involving industry and education institutions.

“As a former lecturer at both the ANU and UC, I had the privilege to see and work with some of the world’s best scientists and engineers at work right here in Canberra,” she said.

“Canberra can be a genuine leader in developing world leading solutions, led by science and technology… let’s work together to reach a sensible and sustainable solution to reducing our emissions and developing clean energy technologies.”

And, as the first Asian-Australian leader of a major political party, Ms Lee finished her speech by acknowledging her experience as a Korean migrant.

“To me, Canberra is a place of hope; a place where a young migrant girl could realise her dreams,” she said. 

She also drew inspiration from Robert Menzies – Australia’s longest serving Prime Minister’s vision for Canberra as a place the nation should be “proud” of.

“The Canberra that holds the hopes and dreams for my daughter and her generation is one that is befitting of this spirit,” she said. 

“A place with a world class health system where trainee doctors and nurses and health professionals from all over the world want to come and train.”

Lee seeks common ground on climate