The territory ahead of the states: ACT streaks to the fore on progressive policy

To those who equate the ACT and federal governments as one and the same, it will come as a shock that, short of location-location, the two could not be further apart.

The ACT government achieved two national firsts this week with the opening of a fixed pill-testing site and an impending shutdown of all fossil-fuel-powered car and truck sales from 2035. It has, once again, scored itself the title of most progressive government to grace the nation.

So how does a territory bogged by the cement shoes of federal politics manage to be on the front foot of social policy innovation?

ACT Chief Minister Andrew Barr told Crikey it is a combination of its Murdoch-less media, strong parliamentary make-up, and Canberrans’ unabating appetite for a progressive agenda: “The Zed Seselja ejection and David Pocock election … sent a very clear signal about the median values of people in the ACT.”

For more than 20 years, the ACT has been Labor’s domain, with a sustained Labor-Greens coalition kicking off under Barr’s predecessor, Katy Gallagher, in 2012. Its political make-up has long lent itself to progressive policymaking, but Barr is clear that the collective Parliament is ahead of the curve: “Even the agendas pursued when the ACT had a Liberal government indicated a more progressive stance under all political parties.”

That said, internal splits between progressive and conservative wings of the ACT’s Liberal Party after a federal Senate reshuffle have made it easier for the Labor-Greens coalition to plough ahead on policy reforms.

The federal election result has affected ACT politics in more ways than one. Barr anticipates that the Albanese government will take the edge off policy points of difference and lingering perceptions that “ACT equals federal”.

“The political environment is less ripe for massive product differentiation between state and federal,” he said. “There will be a bit of a convergence around middle-of-the-road, centre-left politics, so the opportunity to stand out from the crowd is based on the first mover.”

And first mover the ACT continues to be.