ACT Chief Minister Andrew Barr is the problem when it comes to housing, ACT Liberal senator Zed Seselja said on Thursday, in the midst of the election campaign.
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Never mind that Mr Barr is not a candidate for Federal Parliament and has a different set of responsibilities to Senator Seselja.
Senator Seselja repeatedly talks about the ACT government, a coalition of Labor and the Greens in a Legislative Assembly he once sat in.
Mr Barr last week suggested Senator Seselja was campaigning against him. The local focus is a deliberate strategy, rather than just settling a few old local political scores.
Senator Seselja has a campaign ad that knocks the Labor-Greens ACT government and he has talked repeatedly about the local issue of land supply.
MORE A.C.T. POLITICS NEWS:
Polling suggests Senator Seselja is facing a fight to hang on to the seat he has held since 2013.
Tapping into general frustration with local government to fuel a Senate campaign is a smart move for a Liberal senator whose delivery record for a staunch Labor city is mixed.
At the last minute, the senator who voted against restoring the territories right to legislate on voluntary assisted dying and abstained on same-sex marriage - issues Canberrans support - is making himself out as a good local member.
The success of this strategy might rely on a bit of public confusion: what's the difference between local and federal government anyway?
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