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The Canberra Times
The Canberra Times
National
Lucy Bladen

Elizabeth Lee poised to be highest ACT Liberal in electoral office

ACT Opposition Leader Elizabeth Lee. Picture: Keegan Carroll

ACT Opposition Leader Elizabeth Lee said the potential loss of a Canberra Liberal voice at the federal level would be a huge blow.

But the loss of Senator Seselja would mean Ms Lee would be the most senior Liberal to hold office in the territory.

Senator Zed Seselja is facing a historic upset, with David Pocock well placed to take the ACT's second Senate spot.

Ms Lee said the Liberal Party was a broad church and while she and Senator Seselja had different views, they were able to work together.

"One of the greatest things about our [party] is that it is representative of the broader views that we have in the community," she said.

Ms Lee said the result of the federal election was extremely disappointing and she was heartbroken to see some Liberals lose their seats. She pointed to the loss of Josh Frydenberg, which she said was crushing.

But she believed the underlying issue wasn't as simple as the left-right divide, and the party needed to take some time to review the results.

"I think it's too early to say. Obviously there'll be a lot of dissecting of by all parties, I would say, about their own electoral fortunes, and for the Liberal Party having suffered a lot of votes against us it is going to take a lot of reviewing - but that's natural after any party loss," Ms Lee said.

"And I don't know that if you can put it as simplistic as you know, whether you should go to the left to the right, or, you know, to the centre or anything like that. I think that I think with most electoral results, it comes down to a number of complex reasons."

But Ms Lee said the results showed the major parties needed to do more to attract more women and more diverse candidates.

"If you have a look at the way the votes have gone, for the major parties - it's not just limited to the Liberal Party - I think there was certainly a feeling within the community that we do need more diversity in terms of representation in federal politics, and more women in these roles is certainly going to help," she said.

"There's no doubt that every party I think could do better when it comes to having more women representatives at the federal level."

Elizabeth Lee said the results showed people wanted more diverse candidates in political parties. Picture: Keegan Carroll

When asked what a potential Senator Seselja loss would mean for her leadership and whether she would be able to take the Canberra Liberals in a more moderate direction, Ms Lee said her platforms since she became leader in 2020 had showed Canberra who she was.

"I think that as any leader who is elected by their peers, it's a very privileged position ... Any leader who is elected on behalf of a party has very firm views on how they want to take the party and I'm no different," she said.

"And I think that when you have a look at the issues that I have raised in the last 18 months, it gives a very clear indication to the people of Canberra what I think are important in terms of advocating for on behalf of the community.

"We're talking about the huge cost-of-living issues, the housing crisis that we find ourselves in, you know, I brought some nation-leading reforms when it comes when it came to stealthing.

"I was actually the only representative from the ACT that attended the COP26 climate summit in Glasgow, so I think the community is starting to get a good feel for the issues that I think are important for Canberrans."

ACT Greens leader Shane Rattenbury said the federal election was a great result for his party. He said the results showed a huge number of Austrailans wanted to move away from the major parties and want strong action on climate change and more integrity in politics.

The Greens could win up to four new seats and Mr Rattenbury said this put the party in a great position to negotiate.

"With Greens in a strong position to negotiate and collaborate with Labor federally, I am hopeful our Greens ministers here in the ACT government will be able to achieve even more," he said.

"I hope to see much stronger national action on climate under this government. In particular I would like to see strong national policy for electric vehicles and higher fuel efficiency standards for vehicles.

"I will also be pushing to restore territory rights in order for the ACT to consider voluntary assisted dying, seeking to have the territory's historical housing debt wiped and ensuring support for light rail stage two."

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