澳大利亚首都地区 2023 年 7 月至 12 月

IF 0.6 4区 社会学 Q1 HISTORY Australian Journal of Politics and History Pub Date : 2024-05-05 DOI:10.1111/ajph.12990
Chris Monnox
{"title":"澳大利亚首都地区 2023 年 7 月至 12 月","authors":"Chris Monnox","doi":"10.1111/ajph.12990","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<p>The second half of 2023 saw the government progress several long-mooted reforms. It released a new Territory Plan and legislated an increased age of criminal responsibility, saw off a federal challenge to its drug decriminalisation laws, and introduced a voluntary assisted dying bill. Chief Minister and Treasurer Andrew Barr had to explain a reduced credit rating and changes to payroll tax, but the government seemed to be rolling out its program in an orderly fashion.</p><p>At the same time, however, a good deal of turmoil emerged from other sources. Most dramatically, Greens MLA Jonathan Davis resigned over allegations of sexual impropriety, but the fallout from Bruce Lehrmann's abortive trial also continued. The local Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice referendum campaign was relatively uneventful since few doubted the local result, but the Legislative Assembly's principal no campaigner later lost his position as Deputy Opposition Leader in December.</p><p>The Barr government has a history of urban reformism in the face of community opposition, and at midyear this looked set to continue. In February the YIMBY (yes in my back yard) group Greater Canberra launched a campaign to allow townhouses and duplexes in Residential Zone One (RZ1), the low density zone covering over eighty percent of Canberra, and it built considerable momentum in the intervening months (see my previous Chronicle in <i>AJPH</i> 69:4, 2023). In July the Labor Party's ACT conference amended its platform to reflect this demand, albeit with qualifications around timing (<i>Canberra Times</i>, 23 July 2023), and in August the ACT Greens Forum did likewise (<i>Canberra Times</i>, 26 August 2023).</p><p>This activity in the governing parties' organisational wings occurred as the government prepared to release a new Territory Plan, which would set out the ACT's zoning scheme and complement the new planning system introduced in June. In early September Barr signalled changes to RZ1 (<i>RiotAct</i>, 5 September 2023), but the plan revealed a week later was more restrictive than reform proponents had hoped. The proposed new rules permitted a second house of up to 120 square meters on RZ1 blocks over 800 square meters, which account for about forty percent of the total. These new dwelling could be unit titled, allowing the two houses to be sold separately, but they were subject to the potentially costly development application process (<i>Canberra Times</i>, 11 September 2023, 15–17 September 2023).</p><p>The “new” RZ1 drew criticism from Greater Canberra, as well as the Liberals, who opposed the 120 square meter size limit for second dwellings (<i>Canberra Times</i>, 15 September 2023; <i>RiotAct</i>, 11 September 2023). Both said the changes provided for granny flats, a description Barr and Planning Minister Mick Gentleman rejected (<i>Canberra Times</i>, 15 November 2023). The purpose of the size limit, the former said, was to ensure the new dwellings were affordable, with anything larger likely to sell for at least $700,000 (<i>RiotAct</i>, 10 November 2023).</p><p>As the ACT's politicians debated zoning the ratings agency S&amp;P Global downgraded its credit rating from AAA to AA plus. This, they said, reflected a “slower fiscal recovery from the pandemic than we expected” as well as the Territory's debt level (<i>Canberra Times</i>, 9 September). Opposition Leader Elizabeth Lee predicted “higher rates, land tax, car rego fees, levies and other hidden charges,” but Barr defended the Territory's debt level, saying “our debt has financed infrastructure, so the choice for Canberra was have no debt, but then we would have had no COVID support package, we would have built no infrastructure over the last fifteen years” (<i>RiotAct</i>, 11 October 2023).</p><p>The government also faced criticism over payroll tax after the ACT Revenue Office followed a New South Wales Supreme Court ruling and began applying the tax to general practitioners. The Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) objected to what they termed a “sick tax” and sought an exemption (<i>Canberra Times</i>, 7 August 2023), but the government responded by exempting only GP practices that bulk bill more than 65 percent of their patients. The RCGP, knowing most of its Canberra members practise limited if any bulk billing, rejected this approach and continued its campaign (<i>Canberra Times</i>, 27 August 2023).</p><p>This peaked in early September, when the local chapters of the RCGP and Australian Medical Association predicted closed practices and $15–20 fee increases if the government did not broaden the exemption. The Opposition sided with the doctors, calling for all GPs to be exempt (<i>RiotAct</i>, 17 September 2023), while the chief executive of a local pharmacy group suggested pharmacists also deserved an exemption. The government was unmoved and, it seemed, unimpressed: “lobby groups who seek to minimise tax will make all sorts of wild accusations,” said Barr (<i>Canberra Times</i>, 5 September 2023).</p><p>There was further significant financial news in December when the government signed a $577 million contract for stage 2A of its signature light rail project, the Commonwealth covering half the cost. This built on the federal coalition's earlier commitment to support the project, but the local Liberals still approached the announcement with scepticism. Expecting such generous Commonwealth support for the rest of stage two was, they said, optimistic (<i>Canberra Times</i>, 8 December 2023). If so, Barr was an optimist: Commonwealth support for light rail had, he pointed out, increased to its current extent from a modest commitment under the Abbott government's asset recycling scheme in 2015 (<i>Canberra Times</i>, 30 December 2023).</p><p>That the ACT would legislate for voluntary assisted dying (VAD) was clear from late 2022, when the federal parliament lifted its 25-year-old ban on Territory euthanasia legislation. The most contentious outstanding question was around minors accessing VAD, which consultation suggested the community supported (<i>RiotAct</i>, 29 June 2023). In September, however, Human Rights Minister Tara Cheyne said the government would not allow minors to do so, in part because its projections suggested very few would seek it (<i>Canberra Times</i>, 28 September 2023). Cheyne introduced the government's <i>Voluntary Assisted Dying Bill</i> in late October (<i>Canberra Times</i>, 1 November 2023); it is expected to pass in 2024.</p><p>On drug decriminalisation, too, most of the arguments seemed settled: the Assembly passed Labor backbencher Michael Pettersson's bill decriminalising small amounts of illicit drugs in October 2022 and scheduled the law to come into effect a year later. But in September federal Shadow Attorney-General Michaelia Cash sought to overturn decriminalisation using the Commonwealth's power over territory laws (<i>Canberra Times</i>, 14 September 2023). Cash's bill had very little local support: Labor and the Greens called it an attack on the ACT's autonomy, while Lee said “when these laws were introduced, we opposed them … but I strongly believe in Territory rights” (<i>RiotAct</i>, 14 September 2023). Cash's bill was defeated in October, and decriminalisation came into effect as scheduled (<i>RiotAct</i>, 28 October 2023).</p><p>Attorney-General Shane Rattenbury's bill raising the age of criminal responsibility also emerged from a long process. All Australian governments had discussed the issue, but only Victoria and the Territories agreed to act. Where the Northern Territory's bill lifted the age from ten to twelve Rattenbury went further, scheduling a second increase to fourteen for 2025 (<i>Canberra Times</i>, 11 November 2023). It was passed in November with all parties supporting some aspects, but there was dissension over the detail: the Liberals believed the increase should be limited to twelve, while the Greens objected to exceptions covering young people charged with murder or sexual violence (<i>Canberra Times</i>, 2 November 2023).</p><p>October's Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice referendum also bolstered the ACT's progressive reputation, although local supporters were disappointed by its national defeat. Canberra's MLAs had already declared their positions, with Labor, the Greens, Lee, and Shadow Minister for Housing and Transport Mark Parton all supporting yes (<i>Canberra Times</i>, 19 April 2023, 5 June 2023). Deputy Opposition Leader Jeremy Hanson, who characterised the voice as “some utopian panacea to solve the great disadvantage faced by Indigenous Australians,” was the Assembly's foremost no supporter (<i>Canberra Times</i>, 18 April 2023).</p><p>Others were more reticent about taking positions, especially federal public servants subject to impartiality guideline (<i>Canberra Times</i>, 21 August 2023). But the local yes campaign still managed to recruit one thousand volunteers by the end of August and turnout 5000 for a “Walk for Yes” event in September (<i>Canberra Times</i>, 27 August 2023, 19 September 2023). The no campaign was less visible, in part because its leaders regarded a local yes victory as inevitable: Bill Stefaniak, a former Liberal MLA prominent in the no campaign, said he would view forty percent as a good local no vote (<i>RiotAct</i>, 13 September).</p><p>Canberrans almost fulfilled Stefaniak's hopes, returning a 61.3 percent yes vote, but with substantial variation across the city. At polling places in the inner north, where the Greens outpolled the Liberals at 2020's Territory elections, some 76.5 percent of voters favoured yes. The result was much closer in Tuggeranong (50.3 percent yes) and Gungahlin (55.5 percent yes), which are generally regarded as Canberra's more conservative districts. Probably the most interesting result, however, came from the inner south. This is a wealthy area where the Canberra Liberals enjoy strong support, but its polling booths gave yes 68.8 percent.</p><p>The fallout from Bruce Lehrmann's abortive trial in the ACT Supreme Court continued to involve the Territory government, which appointed retired Queensland judge Walter Sofronoff to head a board of inquiry into the affair in February and received his report in late July. They expected to release it shortly after, but the report's findings instead appeared in the <i>Australian</i>, Sofronoff himself having provided columnist Janet Albrechtsen with a copy (<i>Canberra Times</i>, 2 February 2023, 29 July 2023, 12 August 2023). Formally releasing the report five days later, Barr was critical of Sofronoff, who he said “breached his good faith to me by releasing that report ahead of giving it to who he was meant to under the legislation” (<i>Canberra Times</i>, 8 August 2023).</p><p>Critical though the government was about Sofronoff's contact with the media, it did not dispute his report's finding, which were highly critical of ACT Director of Public Prosecutions Shane Drumgold. Rattenbury provided Drumgold with a copy of the report soon after its release, and on 4 August the DPP tendered his resignation (<i>Canberra Times</i>, 12 August 2023). At the end of August Drumgold challenged Sofronoff's findings against him in the ACT Supreme Court (<i>Canberra Times</i>, 30 August 2023); in March 2024 the court upheld most of these but found Sofronoff's frequent communications with Albrechtsen gave rise to a reasonable apprehension of bias (<i>Canberra Times</i>, 5 March 2024).</p><p>The biggest shock of the year, and probably the term, came on 10 November when the <i>Canberra Times</i> revealed allegations that Greens MLA Jonathan Davis “had separately engaged in a relationship with a seventeen year old boy and had sex with a fifteen year old boy.” Greens leader Rattenbury had been apprised of these matters and ordered an internal party investigation on 6 November, but he did not inform his Labor coalition partners until 10 November (<i>Canberra Times</i>, 11 November 2023). This sparked serious tension within the coalition, as Acting Chief Minister Yvette Berry spoke of questions to be answered and Rattenbury accused Labor of “trying to create a political advantage out of the most difficult and sensitive issue my party has ever faced” (<i>Canberra Times</i>, 14 November 2023).</p><p>On 12 November Davis resigned from both the Assembly and the Greens (<i>Canberra Times</i>, 13 November 2023), but the matter was far from closed. The party's internal review, prepared by Rattenbury's Chief of Staff and released the next day, found Davis had “undertaken activity which may be considered unethical and inappropriate.” It also revealed Greens Minister Emma Davidson knew of rumours about Davis a week ahead of Rattenbury, although no specific complaint emerged until 7 November (ACT Greens, 10 November 2023).</p><p>Berry, Rattenbury, and Opposition Leader Lee agreed the issue merited an independent inquiry (<i>ABC Canberra</i>, 14 November 2023) and the Assembly commissioned one in late November, but the parties disagreed on the terms of reference. Rattenbury sought a wide-ranging inquiry into the culture of the Assembly, but Labor and the Liberals insisted on terms of reference related specifically to Davis and the Greens. Rattenbury called this “an attempt by the Labor and Liberal parties to drag us back over the coals,” but the terms the Assembly passed reflected the two larger parties' preferences (<i>RiotAct</i>, 28 November 2023).</p><p>Davis' resignation created a vacancy in the Assembly, which was filled by countback. Laura Nuttall, a former Greens staffer, was elected on 27 November (<i>Canberra Times</i>, 28 November 2023). For Labor and the Liberals, meanwhile, December brought new roles rather than new faces as both parties reshuffled their frontbenches. Only in the Liberals' case, however, was the change contested.</p><p>For the Liberals, the major change was Leanne Castley's election over Jeremy Hanson in a snap ballot for Deputy Leader and Hanson's subsequent demotion to the backbench (<i>RiotAct</i>, 7 December 2023). A former Opposition Leader, Hanson returned to the role in a temporary capacity while Lee took maternity between April and the beginning of August. According to <i>Canberra Times</i> journalist Jasper Lindell, these months “left a deep impression on his colleagues [and] for most, it wasn't a good one.” Though not always regarded as a hardliner, Hanson's support for the federal coalition's forays into ACT politics and opposition to the voice were potential electoral liabilities (<i>Canberra Times</i>, 5 December).</p><p>The major winner from Barr's Cabinet reshuffle was Transport Minister Chris Steel, who added planning to his existing responsibilities. Planning and transport are closely linked, and election debates over light rail and transport oriented development are likely to emphasise those links. Cheyne gained city services, formerly one of Steel's portfolios, while Gentleman lost planning and corrections but gained business from Cheyne and disabilities from Davidson, who in turn took on corrections. There were no new additions to Cabinet, although Barr said he discussed the option with Rattenbury (<i>Canberra Times</i>, 15 December 2023).</p>","PeriodicalId":45431,"journal":{"name":"Australian Journal of Politics and History","volume":"70 2","pages":"347-351"},"PeriodicalIF":0.6000,"publicationDate":"2024-05-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/ajph.12990","citationCount":"0","resultStr":"{\"title\":\"Australian Capital Territory July to December 2023\",\"authors\":\"Chris Monnox\",\"doi\":\"10.1111/ajph.12990\",\"DOIUrl\":null,\"url\":null,\"abstract\":\"<p>The second half of 2023 saw the government progress several long-mooted reforms. It released a new Territory Plan and legislated an increased age of criminal responsibility, saw off a federal challenge to its drug decriminalisation laws, and introduced a voluntary assisted dying bill. Chief Minister and Treasurer Andrew Barr had to explain a reduced credit rating and changes to payroll tax, but the government seemed to be rolling out its program in an orderly fashion.</p><p>At the same time, however, a good deal of turmoil emerged from other sources. Most dramatically, Greens MLA Jonathan Davis resigned over allegations of sexual impropriety, but the fallout from Bruce Lehrmann's abortive trial also continued. The local Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice referendum campaign was relatively uneventful since few doubted the local result, but the Legislative Assembly's principal no campaigner later lost his position as Deputy Opposition Leader in December.</p><p>The Barr government has a history of urban reformism in the face of community opposition, and at midyear this looked set to continue. In February the YIMBY (yes in my back yard) group Greater Canberra launched a campaign to allow townhouses and duplexes in Residential Zone One (RZ1), the low density zone covering over eighty percent of Canberra, and it built considerable momentum in the intervening months (see my previous Chronicle in <i>AJPH</i> 69:4, 2023). In July the Labor Party's ACT conference amended its platform to reflect this demand, albeit with qualifications around timing (<i>Canberra Times</i>, 23 July 2023), and in August the ACT Greens Forum did likewise (<i>Canberra Times</i>, 26 August 2023).</p><p>This activity in the governing parties' organisational wings occurred as the government prepared to release a new Territory Plan, which would set out the ACT's zoning scheme and complement the new planning system introduced in June. In early September Barr signalled changes to RZ1 (<i>RiotAct</i>, 5 September 2023), but the plan revealed a week later was more restrictive than reform proponents had hoped. The proposed new rules permitted a second house of up to 120 square meters on RZ1 blocks over 800 square meters, which account for about forty percent of the total. These new dwelling could be unit titled, allowing the two houses to be sold separately, but they were subject to the potentially costly development application process (<i>Canberra Times</i>, 11 September 2023, 15–17 September 2023).</p><p>The “new” RZ1 drew criticism from Greater Canberra, as well as the Liberals, who opposed the 120 square meter size limit for second dwellings (<i>Canberra Times</i>, 15 September 2023; <i>RiotAct</i>, 11 September 2023). Both said the changes provided for granny flats, a description Barr and Planning Minister Mick Gentleman rejected (<i>Canberra Times</i>, 15 November 2023). The purpose of the size limit, the former said, was to ensure the new dwellings were affordable, with anything larger likely to sell for at least $700,000 (<i>RiotAct</i>, 10 November 2023).</p><p>As the ACT's politicians debated zoning the ratings agency S&amp;P Global downgraded its credit rating from AAA to AA plus. This, they said, reflected a “slower fiscal recovery from the pandemic than we expected” as well as the Territory's debt level (<i>Canberra Times</i>, 9 September). Opposition Leader Elizabeth Lee predicted “higher rates, land tax, car rego fees, levies and other hidden charges,” but Barr defended the Territory's debt level, saying “our debt has financed infrastructure, so the choice for Canberra was have no debt, but then we would have had no COVID support package, we would have built no infrastructure over the last fifteen years” (<i>RiotAct</i>, 11 October 2023).</p><p>The government also faced criticism over payroll tax after the ACT Revenue Office followed a New South Wales Supreme Court ruling and began applying the tax to general practitioners. The Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) objected to what they termed a “sick tax” and sought an exemption (<i>Canberra Times</i>, 7 August 2023), but the government responded by exempting only GP practices that bulk bill more than 65 percent of their patients. The RCGP, knowing most of its Canberra members practise limited if any bulk billing, rejected this approach and continued its campaign (<i>Canberra Times</i>, 27 August 2023).</p><p>This peaked in early September, when the local chapters of the RCGP and Australian Medical Association predicted closed practices and $15–20 fee increases if the government did not broaden the exemption. The Opposition sided with the doctors, calling for all GPs to be exempt (<i>RiotAct</i>, 17 September 2023), while the chief executive of a local pharmacy group suggested pharmacists also deserved an exemption. The government was unmoved and, it seemed, unimpressed: “lobby groups who seek to minimise tax will make all sorts of wild accusations,” said Barr (<i>Canberra Times</i>, 5 September 2023).</p><p>There was further significant financial news in December when the government signed a $577 million contract for stage 2A of its signature light rail project, the Commonwealth covering half the cost. This built on the federal coalition's earlier commitment to support the project, but the local Liberals still approached the announcement with scepticism. Expecting such generous Commonwealth support for the rest of stage two was, they said, optimistic (<i>Canberra Times</i>, 8 December 2023). If so, Barr was an optimist: Commonwealth support for light rail had, he pointed out, increased to its current extent from a modest commitment under the Abbott government's asset recycling scheme in 2015 (<i>Canberra Times</i>, 30 December 2023).</p><p>That the ACT would legislate for voluntary assisted dying (VAD) was clear from late 2022, when the federal parliament lifted its 25-year-old ban on Territory euthanasia legislation. The most contentious outstanding question was around minors accessing VAD, which consultation suggested the community supported (<i>RiotAct</i>, 29 June 2023). In September, however, Human Rights Minister Tara Cheyne said the government would not allow minors to do so, in part because its projections suggested very few would seek it (<i>Canberra Times</i>, 28 September 2023). Cheyne introduced the government's <i>Voluntary Assisted Dying Bill</i> in late October (<i>Canberra Times</i>, 1 November 2023); it is expected to pass in 2024.</p><p>On drug decriminalisation, too, most of the arguments seemed settled: the Assembly passed Labor backbencher Michael Pettersson's bill decriminalising small amounts of illicit drugs in October 2022 and scheduled the law to come into effect a year later. But in September federal Shadow Attorney-General Michaelia Cash sought to overturn decriminalisation using the Commonwealth's power over territory laws (<i>Canberra Times</i>, 14 September 2023). Cash's bill had very little local support: Labor and the Greens called it an attack on the ACT's autonomy, while Lee said “when these laws were introduced, we opposed them … but I strongly believe in Territory rights” (<i>RiotAct</i>, 14 September 2023). Cash's bill was defeated in October, and decriminalisation came into effect as scheduled (<i>RiotAct</i>, 28 October 2023).</p><p>Attorney-General Shane Rattenbury's bill raising the age of criminal responsibility also emerged from a long process. All Australian governments had discussed the issue, but only Victoria and the Territories agreed to act. Where the Northern Territory's bill lifted the age from ten to twelve Rattenbury went further, scheduling a second increase to fourteen for 2025 (<i>Canberra Times</i>, 11 November 2023). It was passed in November with all parties supporting some aspects, but there was dissension over the detail: the Liberals believed the increase should be limited to twelve, while the Greens objected to exceptions covering young people charged with murder or sexual violence (<i>Canberra Times</i>, 2 November 2023).</p><p>October's Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice referendum also bolstered the ACT's progressive reputation, although local supporters were disappointed by its national defeat. Canberra's MLAs had already declared their positions, with Labor, the Greens, Lee, and Shadow Minister for Housing and Transport Mark Parton all supporting yes (<i>Canberra Times</i>, 19 April 2023, 5 June 2023). Deputy Opposition Leader Jeremy Hanson, who characterised the voice as “some utopian panacea to solve the great disadvantage faced by Indigenous Australians,” was the Assembly's foremost no supporter (<i>Canberra Times</i>, 18 April 2023).</p><p>Others were more reticent about taking positions, especially federal public servants subject to impartiality guideline (<i>Canberra Times</i>, 21 August 2023). But the local yes campaign still managed to recruit one thousand volunteers by the end of August and turnout 5000 for a “Walk for Yes” event in September (<i>Canberra Times</i>, 27 August 2023, 19 September 2023). The no campaign was less visible, in part because its leaders regarded a local yes victory as inevitable: Bill Stefaniak, a former Liberal MLA prominent in the no campaign, said he would view forty percent as a good local no vote (<i>RiotAct</i>, 13 September).</p><p>Canberrans almost fulfilled Stefaniak's hopes, returning a 61.3 percent yes vote, but with substantial variation across the city. At polling places in the inner north, where the Greens outpolled the Liberals at 2020's Territory elections, some 76.5 percent of voters favoured yes. The result was much closer in Tuggeranong (50.3 percent yes) and Gungahlin (55.5 percent yes), which are generally regarded as Canberra's more conservative districts. Probably the most interesting result, however, came from the inner south. This is a wealthy area where the Canberra Liberals enjoy strong support, but its polling booths gave yes 68.8 percent.</p><p>The fallout from Bruce Lehrmann's abortive trial in the ACT Supreme Court continued to involve the Territory government, which appointed retired Queensland judge Walter Sofronoff to head a board of inquiry into the affair in February and received his report in late July. They expected to release it shortly after, but the report's findings instead appeared in the <i>Australian</i>, Sofronoff himself having provided columnist Janet Albrechtsen with a copy (<i>Canberra Times</i>, 2 February 2023, 29 July 2023, 12 August 2023). Formally releasing the report five days later, Barr was critical of Sofronoff, who he said “breached his good faith to me by releasing that report ahead of giving it to who he was meant to under the legislation” (<i>Canberra Times</i>, 8 August 2023).</p><p>Critical though the government was about Sofronoff's contact with the media, it did not dispute his report's finding, which were highly critical of ACT Director of Public Prosecutions Shane Drumgold. Rattenbury provided Drumgold with a copy of the report soon after its release, and on 4 August the DPP tendered his resignation (<i>Canberra Times</i>, 12 August 2023). At the end of August Drumgold challenged Sofronoff's findings against him in the ACT Supreme Court (<i>Canberra Times</i>, 30 August 2023); in March 2024 the court upheld most of these but found Sofronoff's frequent communications with Albrechtsen gave rise to a reasonable apprehension of bias (<i>Canberra Times</i>, 5 March 2024).</p><p>The biggest shock of the year, and probably the term, came on 10 November when the <i>Canberra Times</i> revealed allegations that Greens MLA Jonathan Davis “had separately engaged in a relationship with a seventeen year old boy and had sex with a fifteen year old boy.” Greens leader Rattenbury had been apprised of these matters and ordered an internal party investigation on 6 November, but he did not inform his Labor coalition partners until 10 November (<i>Canberra Times</i>, 11 November 2023). This sparked serious tension within the coalition, as Acting Chief Minister Yvette Berry spoke of questions to be answered and Rattenbury accused Labor of “trying to create a political advantage out of the most difficult and sensitive issue my party has ever faced” (<i>Canberra Times</i>, 14 November 2023).</p><p>On 12 November Davis resigned from both the Assembly and the Greens (<i>Canberra Times</i>, 13 November 2023), but the matter was far from closed. The party's internal review, prepared by Rattenbury's Chief of Staff and released the next day, found Davis had “undertaken activity which may be considered unethical and inappropriate.” It also revealed Greens Minister Emma Davidson knew of rumours about Davis a week ahead of Rattenbury, although no specific complaint emerged until 7 November (ACT Greens, 10 November 2023).</p><p>Berry, Rattenbury, and Opposition Leader Lee agreed the issue merited an independent inquiry (<i>ABC Canberra</i>, 14 November 2023) and the Assembly commissioned one in late November, but the parties disagreed on the terms of reference. Rattenbury sought a wide-ranging inquiry into the culture of the Assembly, but Labor and the Liberals insisted on terms of reference related specifically to Davis and the Greens. Rattenbury called this “an attempt by the Labor and Liberal parties to drag us back over the coals,” but the terms the Assembly passed reflected the two larger parties' preferences (<i>RiotAct</i>, 28 November 2023).</p><p>Davis' resignation created a vacancy in the Assembly, which was filled by countback. Laura Nuttall, a former Greens staffer, was elected on 27 November (<i>Canberra Times</i>, 28 November 2023). For Labor and the Liberals, meanwhile, December brought new roles rather than new faces as both parties reshuffled their frontbenches. Only in the Liberals' case, however, was the change contested.</p><p>For the Liberals, the major change was Leanne Castley's election over Jeremy Hanson in a snap ballot for Deputy Leader and Hanson's subsequent demotion to the backbench (<i>RiotAct</i>, 7 December 2023). A former Opposition Leader, Hanson returned to the role in a temporary capacity while Lee took maternity between April and the beginning of August. According to <i>Canberra Times</i> journalist Jasper Lindell, these months “left a deep impression on his colleagues [and] for most, it wasn't a good one.” Though not always regarded as a hardliner, Hanson's support for the federal coalition's forays into ACT politics and opposition to the voice were potential electoral liabilities (<i>Canberra Times</i>, 5 December).</p><p>The major winner from Barr's Cabinet reshuffle was Transport Minister Chris Steel, who added planning to his existing responsibilities. Planning and transport are closely linked, and election debates over light rail and transport oriented development are likely to emphasise those links. Cheyne gained city services, formerly one of Steel's portfolios, while Gentleman lost planning and corrections but gained business from Cheyne and disabilities from Davidson, who in turn took on corrections. There were no new additions to Cabinet, although Barr said he discussed the option with Rattenbury (<i>Canberra Times</i>, 15 December 2023).</p>\",\"PeriodicalId\":45431,\"journal\":{\"name\":\"Australian Journal of Politics and History\",\"volume\":\"70 2\",\"pages\":\"347-351\"},\"PeriodicalIF\":0.6000,\"publicationDate\":\"2024-05-05\",\"publicationTypes\":\"Journal Article\",\"fieldsOfStudy\":null,\"isOpenAccess\":false,\"openAccessPdf\":\"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/ajph.12990\",\"citationCount\":\"0\",\"resultStr\":null,\"platform\":\"Semanticscholar\",\"paperid\":null,\"PeriodicalName\":\"Australian Journal of Politics and History\",\"FirstCategoryId\":\"98\",\"ListUrlMain\":\"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/ajph.12990\",\"RegionNum\":4,\"RegionCategory\":\"社会学\",\"ArticlePicture\":[],\"TitleCN\":null,\"AbstractTextCN\":null,\"PMCID\":null,\"EPubDate\":\"\",\"PubModel\":\"\",\"JCR\":\"Q1\",\"JCRName\":\"HISTORY\",\"Score\":null,\"Total\":0}","platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Australian Journal of Politics and History","FirstCategoryId":"98","ListUrlMain":"https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/ajph.12990","RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q1","JCRName":"HISTORY","Score":null,"Total":0}
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摘要

12 月,政府签署了一项价值 5.77 亿美元的轻轨项目第二阶段 A 的合同,联邦承担了一半的费用,从而进一步带来了重大的财政消息。这是在联邦联盟早些时候承诺支持该项目的基础上做出的,但当地自由党对这一宣布仍持怀疑态度。他们认为,期望联邦为第二阶段的其余部分提供如此慷慨的支持,未免过于乐观(《堪培拉时报》,2023 年 12 月 8 日)。巴尔是个乐观主义者:他指出,联邦对轻轨的支持已经从 2015 年阿博特政府资产回收计划中的微薄承诺增加到了现在的程度(《堪培拉时报》,2023 年 12 月 30 日)。2022 年末,联邦议会解除了长达 25 年之久的地区安乐死立法禁令,澳大利亚首都直辖区将为自愿协助死亡(VAD)立法这一点显而易见。最有争议的悬而未决问题是关于未成年人获得自愿协助死亡的问题,咨询结果表明社区对此表示支持(RiotAct,2023 年 6 月 29 日)。然而,人权部长塔拉-切恩(Tara Cheyne)于 9 月表示,政府不会允许未成年人使用自愿安乐死,部分原因是政府的预测显示很少有人会寻求自愿安乐死(《堪培拉时报》,2023 年 9 月 28 日)。切恩在 10 月下旬提出了政府的《自愿协助死亡法案》(Voluntary Assisted Dying Bill)(《堪培拉时报》,2023 年 11 月 1 日);该法案预计将于 2024 年通过。但 9 月份,联邦影子检察长米凯利娅-卡什(Michaelia Cash)试图利用联邦对地区法律的控制权推翻非刑罪化(《堪培拉时报》,2023 年 9 月 14 日)。卡什的法案在当地几乎得不到支持:工党和绿党称其为对首都领地自治的攻击,而李则表示 "当这些法律出台时,我们反对它们......但我坚信领地的权利"(RiotAct,2023 年 9 月 14 日)。卡什的法案于 10 月被否决,非刑罪化如期生效(《骚乱法案》,2023 年 10 月 28 日)。总检察长谢恩-拉滕伯里(Shane Rattenbury)提出的提高刑事责任年龄的法案也经过了漫长的过程。所有澳大利亚政府都讨论过这个问题,但只有维多利亚州和各领地同意采取行动。北方领土的法案将刑事责任年龄从 10 岁提高到了 12 岁,而拉滕伯里则更进一步,计划在 2025 年再次将刑事责任年龄提高到 14 岁(《堪培拉时报》,2023 年 11 月 11 日)。该法案于 11 月获得通过,所有党派都支持其中的某些方面,但在细节问题上存在分歧:自由党认为应将年龄提高至 12 岁,而绿党则反对将被控谋杀或性暴力的青少年作为例外情况(《堪培拉时报》,2023 年 11 月 2 日)。10 月份的土著居民和托雷斯海峡岛民之声公投也提高了澳大利亚首都地区的进步声誉,尽管当地支持者对其在全国范围内的失败感到失望。堪培拉的工作重点已经宣布了他们的立场,工党、绿党、李和住房与交通影子部长马克-帕顿(Mark Parton)都支持赞成(《堪培拉时报》,2023 年 4 月 19 日,2023 年 6 月 5 日)。反对党副领袖杰里米-汉森(Jeremy Hanson)将这一呼声形容为 "解决土著澳大利亚人所面临的巨大劣势的乌托邦式灵丹妙药",他是议会中最重要的反对支持者(《堪培拉时报》,2023 年 4 月 18 日)。但到 8 月底,当地的 "赞成 "运动仍招募了 1000 名志愿者,9 月的 "赞成步行 "活动吸引了 5000 人参加(《堪培拉时报》,2023 年 8 月 27 日,2023 年 9 月 19 日)。反对运动的影响力较小,部分原因是其领导人认为当地的赞成运动胜利不可避免:在反对运动中表现突出的前自由党议员比尔-斯特凡尼亚克(Bill Stefaniak)说,他会将百分之四十的赞成票视为良好的地方反对票(RiotAct,9 月 13 日)。堪培拉人几乎实现了斯特凡尼亚克的希望,61.3% 的赞成票获得通过,但全市各地的投票率差异很大。在绿党在 2020 年地区选举中击败自由党的内北部投票站,约 76.5% 的选民投了赞成票。在通常被认为是堪培拉较为保守的地区塔格拉农(Tuggeranong,支持率为 50.3%)和贡格林(Gungahlin,支持率为 55.5%),投票结果则更为接近。不过,最有趣的结果可能来自内南部。这是一个富裕地区,堪培拉自由党在此获得了强有力的支持,但其投票站的支持率却高达 68.8%。 布鲁斯-莱尔曼在澳大利亚首都地区最高法院的审判流产所造成的影响继续牵涉到地区政府,政府于 2 月任命昆士兰州退休法官沃尔特-索夫诺夫(Walter Sofronoff)领导一个调查委员会调查此事,并于 7 月底收到了他的报告。他们预计不久后就会公布报告,但报告的调查结果却出现在了《澳大利亚人报》上,索夫诺夫本人向专栏作家珍妮特-阿尔布雷希森(Janet Albrechtsen)提供了一份副本(《堪培拉时报》,2023 年 2 月 2 日、2023 年 7 月 29 日、2023 年 8 月 12 日)。巴尔在五天后正式公布了这份报告,并对索夫诺夫提出了批评,他说索夫诺夫 "违反了他对我的诚意,没有按照法律规定将报告交给他应该交给的人,就提前公布了报告"(《堪培拉时报》,2023 年 8 月 8 日)。尽管政府对索夫诺夫与媒体的接触提出了批评,但并没有对其报告的结论提出异议,报告对澳大利亚首都地区检察长谢恩-德鲁姆戈德(Shane Drumgold)提出了严厉批评。报告发布后不久,拉滕伯里就向德伦戈德提供了报告副本,8 月 4 日,检察长提出辞职(《堪培拉时报》,2023 年 8 月 12 日)。8 月底,德伦戈德在澳大利亚首都地区最高法院对索弗罗诺夫针对他的调查结果提出质疑(《堪培拉时报》,2023 年 8 月 30 日);2024 年 3 月,法院维持了大部分调查结果,但认为索弗罗诺夫与阿尔布雷希森的频繁沟通让人有理由担心其存在偏见(《堪培拉时报》,2024 年 3 月 5 日)。11 月 10 日,《堪培拉时报》披露了绿党议员乔纳森-戴维斯(Jonathan Davis)"分别与一名 17 岁的男孩发生关系,并与一名 15 岁的男孩发生性关系 "的指控,这是该年度,也可能是该任期内最令人震惊的事件。绿党领袖拉滕伯里已获悉此事,并于 11 月 6 日下令进行党内调查,但他直到 11 月 10 日才通知工党联盟伙伴(《堪培拉时报》,2023 年 11 月 11 日)。这在联盟内部引发了严重的紧张局势,代理首席部长伊薇特-贝里(Yvette Berry)谈到了需要回答的问题,拉滕伯里则指责工党 "试图从我党有史以来面临的最困难、最敏感的问题中制造政治优势"(《堪培拉时报》,2023 年 11 月 14 日)。11 月 12 日,戴维斯辞去了议会和绿党的职务(《堪培拉时报》,2023 年 11 月 13 日),但此事远未结束。由拉滕伯里的参谋长起草并在第二天公布的党内审查发现,戴维斯 "从事了可能被视为不道德和不适当的活动"。报告还显示,绿党部长艾玛-戴维森(Emma Davidson)比拉滕伯里早一周知道有关戴维斯的传言,但直到 11 月 7 日才出现具体投诉(澳大利亚首都地区绿党,2023 年 11 月 10 日)。贝里、拉滕伯里和反对党领袖李(Lee)一致认为该问题值得进行独立调查(澳大利亚广播公司堪培拉分台,2023 年 11 月 14 日),议会于 11 月下旬委托进行独立调查,但双方在职权范围上存在分歧。拉滕伯里寻求对议会文化进行广泛调查,但工党和自由党坚持要求调查范围专门针对戴维斯和绿党。拉滕伯里称这是 "工党和自由党试图将我们拖回火坑",但议会通过的职权范围反映了两个大党的倾向(《骚乱法案》,2023 年 11 月 28 日)。11 月 27 日,绿党前工作人员劳拉-纳托尔(Laura Nuttall)当选(《堪培拉时报》,2023 年 11 月 28 日)。而对于工党和自由党来说,12 月带来的是新角色而非新面孔,因为两党都对前台进行了改组。对自由党而言,主要的变化是莉安-卡斯特利(Leanne Castley)在副领袖的快速投票中击败杰里米-汉森(Jeremy Hanson)当选,随后汉森被降级为后座议员(《骚乱法案》,2023 年 12 月 7 日)。作为前反对党领袖,汉森在四月至八月初李在镕休产假期间以临时身份重返这一职位。据《堪培拉时报》记者贾斯珀-林德尔(Jasper Lindell)称,这几个月 "给他的同事们留下了深刻的印象,[而且]对大多数人来说,都不是什么好印象"。虽然汉森并不总是被视为强硬派,但他支持联邦联盟涉足澳大利亚首都地区的政治,并反对 "声音",这些都是潜在的选举不利因素(《堪培拉时报》,12 月 5 日)。巴尔内阁改组的主要赢家是交通部长克里斯-斯蒂尔(Chris Steel),他在原有职责的基础上增加了规划职责。规划与交通密切相关,有关轻轨和以交通为导向的发展的选举辩论很可能会强调这些联系。切恩获得了城市服务,这也是斯蒂尔以前的职责之一,而绅士则失去了规划和惩戒,但从切恩那里获得了商业,从戴维森那里获得了残疾人,而戴维森则负责惩戒。
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Australian Capital Territory July to December 2023

The second half of 2023 saw the government progress several long-mooted reforms. It released a new Territory Plan and legislated an increased age of criminal responsibility, saw off a federal challenge to its drug decriminalisation laws, and introduced a voluntary assisted dying bill. Chief Minister and Treasurer Andrew Barr had to explain a reduced credit rating and changes to payroll tax, but the government seemed to be rolling out its program in an orderly fashion.

At the same time, however, a good deal of turmoil emerged from other sources. Most dramatically, Greens MLA Jonathan Davis resigned over allegations of sexual impropriety, but the fallout from Bruce Lehrmann's abortive trial also continued. The local Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice referendum campaign was relatively uneventful since few doubted the local result, but the Legislative Assembly's principal no campaigner later lost his position as Deputy Opposition Leader in December.

The Barr government has a history of urban reformism in the face of community opposition, and at midyear this looked set to continue. In February the YIMBY (yes in my back yard) group Greater Canberra launched a campaign to allow townhouses and duplexes in Residential Zone One (RZ1), the low density zone covering over eighty percent of Canberra, and it built considerable momentum in the intervening months (see my previous Chronicle in AJPH 69:4, 2023). In July the Labor Party's ACT conference amended its platform to reflect this demand, albeit with qualifications around timing (Canberra Times, 23 July 2023), and in August the ACT Greens Forum did likewise (Canberra Times, 26 August 2023).

This activity in the governing parties' organisational wings occurred as the government prepared to release a new Territory Plan, which would set out the ACT's zoning scheme and complement the new planning system introduced in June. In early September Barr signalled changes to RZ1 (RiotAct, 5 September 2023), but the plan revealed a week later was more restrictive than reform proponents had hoped. The proposed new rules permitted a second house of up to 120 square meters on RZ1 blocks over 800 square meters, which account for about forty percent of the total. These new dwelling could be unit titled, allowing the two houses to be sold separately, but they were subject to the potentially costly development application process (Canberra Times, 11 September 2023, 15–17 September 2023).

The “new” RZ1 drew criticism from Greater Canberra, as well as the Liberals, who opposed the 120 square meter size limit for second dwellings (Canberra Times, 15 September 2023; RiotAct, 11 September 2023). Both said the changes provided for granny flats, a description Barr and Planning Minister Mick Gentleman rejected (Canberra Times, 15 November 2023). The purpose of the size limit, the former said, was to ensure the new dwellings were affordable, with anything larger likely to sell for at least $700,000 (RiotAct, 10 November 2023).

As the ACT's politicians debated zoning the ratings agency S&P Global downgraded its credit rating from AAA to AA plus. This, they said, reflected a “slower fiscal recovery from the pandemic than we expected” as well as the Territory's debt level (Canberra Times, 9 September). Opposition Leader Elizabeth Lee predicted “higher rates, land tax, car rego fees, levies and other hidden charges,” but Barr defended the Territory's debt level, saying “our debt has financed infrastructure, so the choice for Canberra was have no debt, but then we would have had no COVID support package, we would have built no infrastructure over the last fifteen years” (RiotAct, 11 October 2023).

The government also faced criticism over payroll tax after the ACT Revenue Office followed a New South Wales Supreme Court ruling and began applying the tax to general practitioners. The Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) objected to what they termed a “sick tax” and sought an exemption (Canberra Times, 7 August 2023), but the government responded by exempting only GP practices that bulk bill more than 65 percent of their patients. The RCGP, knowing most of its Canberra members practise limited if any bulk billing, rejected this approach and continued its campaign (Canberra Times, 27 August 2023).

This peaked in early September, when the local chapters of the RCGP and Australian Medical Association predicted closed practices and $15–20 fee increases if the government did not broaden the exemption. The Opposition sided with the doctors, calling for all GPs to be exempt (RiotAct, 17 September 2023), while the chief executive of a local pharmacy group suggested pharmacists also deserved an exemption. The government was unmoved and, it seemed, unimpressed: “lobby groups who seek to minimise tax will make all sorts of wild accusations,” said Barr (Canberra Times, 5 September 2023).

There was further significant financial news in December when the government signed a $577 million contract for stage 2A of its signature light rail project, the Commonwealth covering half the cost. This built on the federal coalition's earlier commitment to support the project, but the local Liberals still approached the announcement with scepticism. Expecting such generous Commonwealth support for the rest of stage two was, they said, optimistic (Canberra Times, 8 December 2023). If so, Barr was an optimist: Commonwealth support for light rail had, he pointed out, increased to its current extent from a modest commitment under the Abbott government's asset recycling scheme in 2015 (Canberra Times, 30 December 2023).

That the ACT would legislate for voluntary assisted dying (VAD) was clear from late 2022, when the federal parliament lifted its 25-year-old ban on Territory euthanasia legislation. The most contentious outstanding question was around minors accessing VAD, which consultation suggested the community supported (RiotAct, 29 June 2023). In September, however, Human Rights Minister Tara Cheyne said the government would not allow minors to do so, in part because its projections suggested very few would seek it (Canberra Times, 28 September 2023). Cheyne introduced the government's Voluntary Assisted Dying Bill in late October (Canberra Times, 1 November 2023); it is expected to pass in 2024.

On drug decriminalisation, too, most of the arguments seemed settled: the Assembly passed Labor backbencher Michael Pettersson's bill decriminalising small amounts of illicit drugs in October 2022 and scheduled the law to come into effect a year later. But in September federal Shadow Attorney-General Michaelia Cash sought to overturn decriminalisation using the Commonwealth's power over territory laws (Canberra Times, 14 September 2023). Cash's bill had very little local support: Labor and the Greens called it an attack on the ACT's autonomy, while Lee said “when these laws were introduced, we opposed them … but I strongly believe in Territory rights” (RiotAct, 14 September 2023). Cash's bill was defeated in October, and decriminalisation came into effect as scheduled (RiotAct, 28 October 2023).

Attorney-General Shane Rattenbury's bill raising the age of criminal responsibility also emerged from a long process. All Australian governments had discussed the issue, but only Victoria and the Territories agreed to act. Where the Northern Territory's bill lifted the age from ten to twelve Rattenbury went further, scheduling a second increase to fourteen for 2025 (Canberra Times, 11 November 2023). It was passed in November with all parties supporting some aspects, but there was dissension over the detail: the Liberals believed the increase should be limited to twelve, while the Greens objected to exceptions covering young people charged with murder or sexual violence (Canberra Times, 2 November 2023).

October's Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice referendum also bolstered the ACT's progressive reputation, although local supporters were disappointed by its national defeat. Canberra's MLAs had already declared their positions, with Labor, the Greens, Lee, and Shadow Minister for Housing and Transport Mark Parton all supporting yes (Canberra Times, 19 April 2023, 5 June 2023). Deputy Opposition Leader Jeremy Hanson, who characterised the voice as “some utopian panacea to solve the great disadvantage faced by Indigenous Australians,” was the Assembly's foremost no supporter (Canberra Times, 18 April 2023).

Others were more reticent about taking positions, especially federal public servants subject to impartiality guideline (Canberra Times, 21 August 2023). But the local yes campaign still managed to recruit one thousand volunteers by the end of August and turnout 5000 for a “Walk for Yes” event in September (Canberra Times, 27 August 2023, 19 September 2023). The no campaign was less visible, in part because its leaders regarded a local yes victory as inevitable: Bill Stefaniak, a former Liberal MLA prominent in the no campaign, said he would view forty percent as a good local no vote (RiotAct, 13 September).

Canberrans almost fulfilled Stefaniak's hopes, returning a 61.3 percent yes vote, but with substantial variation across the city. At polling places in the inner north, where the Greens outpolled the Liberals at 2020's Territory elections, some 76.5 percent of voters favoured yes. The result was much closer in Tuggeranong (50.3 percent yes) and Gungahlin (55.5 percent yes), which are generally regarded as Canberra's more conservative districts. Probably the most interesting result, however, came from the inner south. This is a wealthy area where the Canberra Liberals enjoy strong support, but its polling booths gave yes 68.8 percent.

The fallout from Bruce Lehrmann's abortive trial in the ACT Supreme Court continued to involve the Territory government, which appointed retired Queensland judge Walter Sofronoff to head a board of inquiry into the affair in February and received his report in late July. They expected to release it shortly after, but the report's findings instead appeared in the Australian, Sofronoff himself having provided columnist Janet Albrechtsen with a copy (Canberra Times, 2 February 2023, 29 July 2023, 12 August 2023). Formally releasing the report five days later, Barr was critical of Sofronoff, who he said “breached his good faith to me by releasing that report ahead of giving it to who he was meant to under the legislation” (Canberra Times, 8 August 2023).

Critical though the government was about Sofronoff's contact with the media, it did not dispute his report's finding, which were highly critical of ACT Director of Public Prosecutions Shane Drumgold. Rattenbury provided Drumgold with a copy of the report soon after its release, and on 4 August the DPP tendered his resignation (Canberra Times, 12 August 2023). At the end of August Drumgold challenged Sofronoff's findings against him in the ACT Supreme Court (Canberra Times, 30 August 2023); in March 2024 the court upheld most of these but found Sofronoff's frequent communications with Albrechtsen gave rise to a reasonable apprehension of bias (Canberra Times, 5 March 2024).

The biggest shock of the year, and probably the term, came on 10 November when the Canberra Times revealed allegations that Greens MLA Jonathan Davis “had separately engaged in a relationship with a seventeen year old boy and had sex with a fifteen year old boy.” Greens leader Rattenbury had been apprised of these matters and ordered an internal party investigation on 6 November, but he did not inform his Labor coalition partners until 10 November (Canberra Times, 11 November 2023). This sparked serious tension within the coalition, as Acting Chief Minister Yvette Berry spoke of questions to be answered and Rattenbury accused Labor of “trying to create a political advantage out of the most difficult and sensitive issue my party has ever faced” (Canberra Times, 14 November 2023).

On 12 November Davis resigned from both the Assembly and the Greens (Canberra Times, 13 November 2023), but the matter was far from closed. The party's internal review, prepared by Rattenbury's Chief of Staff and released the next day, found Davis had “undertaken activity which may be considered unethical and inappropriate.” It also revealed Greens Minister Emma Davidson knew of rumours about Davis a week ahead of Rattenbury, although no specific complaint emerged until 7 November (ACT Greens, 10 November 2023).

Berry, Rattenbury, and Opposition Leader Lee agreed the issue merited an independent inquiry (ABC Canberra, 14 November 2023) and the Assembly commissioned one in late November, but the parties disagreed on the terms of reference. Rattenbury sought a wide-ranging inquiry into the culture of the Assembly, but Labor and the Liberals insisted on terms of reference related specifically to Davis and the Greens. Rattenbury called this “an attempt by the Labor and Liberal parties to drag us back over the coals,” but the terms the Assembly passed reflected the two larger parties' preferences (RiotAct, 28 November 2023).

Davis' resignation created a vacancy in the Assembly, which was filled by countback. Laura Nuttall, a former Greens staffer, was elected on 27 November (Canberra Times, 28 November 2023). For Labor and the Liberals, meanwhile, December brought new roles rather than new faces as both parties reshuffled their frontbenches. Only in the Liberals' case, however, was the change contested.

For the Liberals, the major change was Leanne Castley's election over Jeremy Hanson in a snap ballot for Deputy Leader and Hanson's subsequent demotion to the backbench (RiotAct, 7 December 2023). A former Opposition Leader, Hanson returned to the role in a temporary capacity while Lee took maternity between April and the beginning of August. According to Canberra Times journalist Jasper Lindell, these months “left a deep impression on his colleagues [and] for most, it wasn't a good one.” Though not always regarded as a hardliner, Hanson's support for the federal coalition's forays into ACT politics and opposition to the voice were potential electoral liabilities (Canberra Times, 5 December).

The major winner from Barr's Cabinet reshuffle was Transport Minister Chris Steel, who added planning to his existing responsibilities. Planning and transport are closely linked, and election debates over light rail and transport oriented development are likely to emphasise those links. Cheyne gained city services, formerly one of Steel's portfolios, while Gentleman lost planning and corrections but gained business from Cheyne and disabilities from Davidson, who in turn took on corrections. There were no new additions to Cabinet, although Barr said he discussed the option with Rattenbury (Canberra Times, 15 December 2023).

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来源期刊
CiteScore
0.60
自引率
12.50%
发文量
59
期刊介绍: The Australian Journal of Politics and History presents papers addressing significant problems of general interest to those working in the fields of history, political studies and international affairs. Articles explore the politics and history of Australia and modern Europe, intellectual history, political history, and the history of political thought. The journal also publishes articles in the fields of international politics, Australian foreign policy, and Australia relations with the countries of the Asia-Pacific region.
期刊最新文献
Issue Information Issue Information Western Australia July to December 2023 Commonwealth of Australia July to December 2023 Issues in Australian Foreign Policy July to December 2023
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