Peter Cain’s departure from shadow cabinet will hurt the Liberals. Photos: Thomas Lucraft.
The timing of Peter Cain’s decision to quit the ACT shadow cabinet and take a parting shot at Leanne Castley’s leadership is terrible.
Next Tuesday, Treasurer Chris Steel is likely to hand down a horror ACT Budget that should slash spending and increase taxes to arrest the Territory’s deteriorating bottom line and stave off another downgrading from the ratings agencies.
Or not.
Either way, the Canberra Liberals are in a position to bury the notion that Labor is a good economic manager because there will not be many winners on Tuesday.
They need to be focused, united and on message.
But now they again seem focused on themselves, far from united and lacking the credibility that can be so hard to build in opposition.
Many in the ACT will be just bored with their ongoing dramas, and the collapse of their vote in the recent Federal election, particularly in the Senate race, reflects a disturbing antipathy towards the local party.
Ms Castley says the loss of Mr Cain won’t distract the party from holding the government to account but will anyone be listening?
The Ginninderra MLA wasn’t answering his phone to elaborate on his differences with the leadership direction or the suggestion of an unsafe working environment.
He must have kept his views to himself and trusted colleagues because Ms Castley seemed blindsided by the resignation.
Are we talking bullying and harassment, personality clashes among staff or a simple misunderstanding of ‘robust exchanges’?
Who knows. There were complaints about Elizabeth Lee’s leadership style too.
Opposition Leader Leanne Castley seemed blindsided by the move.
Mr Cain says he did not take the decision to leave lightly, so something must be going on.
Labor likes to point to deep ideological rifts but, if they exist, it would be futile to fight those kinds of battles in such a small party room when the common enemy is so exposed.
The Budget will be delivered by a rookie Treasurer, the deficit will still be a big one, debt is likely to be greater and the demands of a growing city are outpacing its capacity to deliver the services its citizens expect.
While the debt and deficit mantra has lost some of its power, if Mr Steel doesn’t meet the ratings agencies’ parameters, another credit rating downgrade will be very costly for everyone.
Canberrans need an Opposition that can dissect the Budget and provide a credible alternative economic narrative.
Mr Cain’s departure is also a blow to the Liberals’ ability to match the government in the key planning portfolio that Mr Cain occupied.
He has carried the role since being elected in 2020 and would have valuable expertise that may not be utilised on the backbench at a time when the government is making big planning changes to encourage missing middle housing in established suburbs.
A lawyer, Mr Cain has also been shadow attorney-general since 2020.
It could be a challenge for Ms Castley to cover both portfolios from within the shadow cabinet team.
Former frontbencher Mark Parton is relishing the role of Assembly Speaker and unlikely to give it up to go back into the fraught world of shadow cabinet, while Ms Lee refused portfolios when she lost the leadership to Ms Castley, a loss that still rankles.
There are only nine Liberal MLAs. Having three of its most senior members sitting on the sidelines is a luxury the party, and the ACT, can ill afford.
Ms Castley also can’t afford to have a clutch of MLAs with time on their hands sniping at her leadership.
Labor must not believe its luck.
