“The opposition owes it to the community to hold the government fearlessly and ferociously to account. It’s not that hard, they are the gift that keeps on giving and we do it every week.” It’s IAN MEIKLE’s “Seven Days” with a dollop of gratuitous advice for Elizabeth Lee. 

I DO hope the Canberra Liberals have had a quiet couple of long weekends. No, I don’t, I know they have; we’ve heard little more than a peep from them since April 13. 

In fact it’s arguable they haven’t made enough noise since Saturday night, October 20, 2001, when Gary Humphries led them into opposition having been flogged by Labor’s Jon Stanhope. 

Since then, 7496 days ago (to April 28), the perpetual world of opposition has become normal work for the Libs; still, the money’s good, the hours are family friendly and everyone’s got a word for you wherever you go. Who needs all the stress of government?

To be fair, former Canberra Liberals Leader Alistair Coe was driven by the maxim, “you don’t go into politics to be in opposition”. He at least had the strength of character to stop banging his head against the ideological brick wall after 4518 days, oh, and the car-crash 2020 election.

Earlier this month colleague columnist Michael Moore wondered aloud how effective the party’s relatively new leader Elizabeth Lee was after a year in the job. 

“Criticisms have been levelled at the ACT government for being ‘stale’ and ‘complacent’ after more than two decades in power. However, there are also accountability questions when the focus of the lens is the Canberra Liberal opposition,” he wrote, bemoaning the opposition’s lack of attack strategies where the flaccid, geriatric Labor government was vulnerable. 

“It is difficult to judge, as an outsider, what is retarding the efforts of the Liberal opposition. No doubt they work hard on constituency and other issues. However, where they are focused and how they present to the public does not provide enough confidence as yet to see them as an effective alternative government.”

Ouch! And that’s from someone who welcomed Lee’s elevation as a “breath of fresh air”.

And so to April 13 when an indignant Lee popped up with a pre-Easter list of issues beleaguering the Labor/Greens government. It’s a familiar roll call of failure to “CityNews” readers because our columnists have been empirically highlighting these issues for weeks, months, years while our unelectable friends on the opposition benches sit seemingly sucking their thumbs. 

Lee recited the shocking state of Calwell High (see “Seven Days”, April 14) and violence against nurses at the Dhulwa mental health facility.

And the housing affordability crisis (see Jon Stanhope’s columns); lack of probity in procurement processes (Michael Moore); failure to properly communicate and relocate public housing tenants (Stanhope and Paul Costigan); a failing prison system (Stanhope); the longest emergency department wait times and elective surgery shortfalls (Stanhope and Moore) and a broken planning system (Costigan).

However, she did say this: “It is clear, this is a government governing for themselves, not for Canberrans and as a result the list of significant failures continues to pile up.” 

And it resonated with me. I usually approve the comments on our busy website (citynews.com.au) and over recent weeks there’s been a steady stream of readers particularly complaining at the way the government is treating them. Here’s a few of their comments: 

• “This government replies to nobody and acknowledges nothing. I’m not really sure why we have a government at all. I suppose it is the one party state of Canberra.”

• “You could easily do an encyclopaedia’s worth of words in pictures to illustrate the dilapidated and neglected state of Canberra under the Barr government. There are no longer any resources put into basic civic services… If only we had an electable opposition so we can be rid of this circus, Barr as ring-master and his bunch of clowns.”

• “The signage at the Marion Mahony Griffin View on Mt Ainslie is sun-bleached and vandalised. It needs replacing and I’ve had no response from two approaches to the Chief Minister’s Department.”

• “The voter movement to the Greens at this most recent election was part of a protest vote against sitting Labor, but voters could not stomach the under performing Libs nor the other Rightist groups on offer… It is fair to say there have been no real surprises in their performance to date. Some wacky off-the-wall statements about under-18 voters are about the only sound bites that spring readily to mind. Beyond that, there have been no attempts to rein in the ever increasing pomposity of the current CM.”

• “I have had one discussion with the housing relocation officers six weeks ago, when they told me as they were leaving that I would receive a phone call from one of them or their supervisor within a few days, and as yet I have heard nothing. So I live every day with this axe hanging over my head, in limbo, with no clear way to move forward.”

• “The Labor politicians treat their constituency with contempt. The public service is no better.”

• “I’m personally aware that Calwell High has been combining classes for two years now. It took the union far too long to respond, and, of course, the current government doesn’t give a damn.”

So, where are we? We have an arrogant, indifferent and often cruel government constantly exposed and shamed by the incredible work of our writers. And we have a string of unhappy voters bruised by the indifference of the government. 

The opposition owes it to the community to hold the government fearlessly and ferociously to account. It’s not that hard, they are the gift that keeps on giving and we do it every week. Time to step up and lead, Elizabeth Lee. Only 906 days to the 2024 polls. 

Ian Meikle is the editor of “CityNews” and can be heard on the “CityNews Sunday Roast” news and interview program, 2CC, 9am-noon. There are more of his columns on citynews.com.au