Residents in the nation’s capital are casting their ballots in the ACT election. It will determine whether Labor is returned for a historic seventh term of government or if the Canberra Liberals will end their 23 years in opposition.
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TVTranscript
00:00Voting and barbecues are very much underway for those all-important democracy sausages
00:07here in Canberra.
00:09We're hearing that this year there's not only democracy sausages on offer, but democracy
00:13bacon and egg rolls and plenty of cakes as well.
00:17Even hearing that some people who have already pre-polled are coming down today to partake
00:21in that.
00:22And that's actually one of the things that's unique about the ACT.
00:26Pre-polling early voting is extremely popular.
00:28In 2020, less than a third of votes were actually cast on election day, and that was obviously
00:33a pandemic election.
00:34So this year hasn't been quite as popular, but still 40-50% of Canberrans have already
00:41cast their vote.
00:42But still tens of thousands to get through the doors today.
00:45It's difficult to measure.
00:47There's no scientific opinion polling here in the ACT, but we've spoken to a few voters
00:52and we are hearing that there is this mood for change.
00:55ACT Labor has now been in government for 23 years, most recently governing in a coalition
01:00with the Greens.
01:01And the Canberra Liberals certainly are pitching themselves as this force for change, and at
01:06the moment is now.
01:07On the other hand, ACT Labor is selling themselves to voters as the steady hand who's proven
01:12that they can guide the government.
01:14And what's also making this election unique is that for the first time in decades, a group
01:19of independents are pitching themselves as a real political force, hoping to replicate
01:24the success of independent Senator David Pocock at a federal level.
01:28What we don't know yet is just how much of that mood for change will actually translate
01:33into people changing their votes when they go into the polling booths today.
01:37Hopefully we'll know more this evening.
01:39Some of the defining moments, we've seen a couple of slip-ups from both sides.
01:43In the last week in particular, ACT Labor just yesterday were forced to retract one
01:49of its attack ads on the Canberra Liberals, as it was deemed to be in breach of its own
01:53electoral laws.
01:54And infamously, perhaps this week, Canberra Liberals leader Elizabeth Lee was caught on
01:59camera giving the finger to a journalist.
02:03We've also had issues with both the Greens and the Liberals with betting processes, where
02:08social media profiles and comments linked to some of their candidates have emerged,
02:13which perhaps have cast them in what the parties might consider to be an unfavourable light
02:18during the campaign.
02:19What we haven't seen, though, is a defining issue for the campaign.
02:25One place where we do see a major difference between the two major parties is on housing
02:30affordability and choice.
02:31ACT Labor are looking to unlock more of that medium-density missing middle, while the Liberals,
02:37also supporting a bit more density in the Bush capital, are also looking to develop
02:42previously undeveloped areas of Canberra.
02:45Whether any of those slip-ups will have an effect on voters, we will hopefully again
02:50find out this evening.