Australian Capital Territory January to June 2019

The biggest news in Territory politics in the first half of 2019 was unquestionably the much‐awaited delivery of the Light Rail project. As successful as its first two months of operation were, however, the political debate over the future of the project and particularly whether its planned second stage is feasible, means that this issue will continue to be one of the major debates leading up to the 2020 Territory election. Other perennial issues like rates rises for home and business owners as part of the long‐term tax reforms continue to demand significant attention. Relatedly, this issue increasingly appears to exist alongside questions not just of the equity of these arrangements, but of the fundamentals of Labor's budget management, with commentators querying the simultaneous increase in residents' tax burden and in the Territory's net debt.