Given the ACT government won't be able to hand down an election budget this year, Chief Minister and Treasurer Andrew Barr has done the next best thing by using Wednesday's "State of the ACT address" to fire the opening shots in Labor's campaign.
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That campaign will, if it is successful, deliver the ALP a historic sixth term and keep it in office, in conjunction with the Greens, until October 2024; 23 years after Jon Stanhope defeated Gary Humphries in 2001.
Mr Barr, who has been generally praised for the way in which he and his government have responded to both the "black summer" bushfire crisis and the coronavirus crisis, is clearly of the view incumbency is an asset in challenging times.
Wednesday's message was very much about telling voters this is no time to elect a government whose prospective chief minister was still in high school the last time conservatives were in government in the ACT.
"Throughout modern history, it is times like these when actions taken by government really count," Mr Barr told the members of the Canberra Business Chamber.
He also warned, albeit indirectly, against the possibility an incoming Liberal government - which would likely have to frame its 2020-21 budget on the fly - could be more concerned about deficits than supporting Canberrans.
"Of course, like every other government around Australia and around the world, our fiscal position will deteriorate and net debt will rise," he said.
"[But] in times of economic contraction, a temporary increase in government spending is an important and powerful tool... economic support and growth is the priority, not chasing budget surpluses".
The speech, coming hot on the heels of reforms to the ACTION bus service, which included a 17 per cent increase in the number of trips, turned the spending dial up to 11.
ACT Labor has made good use of this week to present itself as a 'safe set of hands'.
It will be up the voters to decide whether or not these measures, which have been carefully targeted to address some of the government's most significant vulnerabilities, are much needed stimulus, pre-election sweeteners, or a combination of the two.
Arguably the biggest ticket item is the decision to cut rates for more than 110,000 households through the combination of a rate freeze and a $150 rate rebate. An estimated 4600 businesses will also benefit.
This move has the advantage of effectively cancelling out the Liberals' longstanding pledge to freeze rates for the whole of its first term in office.
It is highly strategic given the dramatic escalation in rates over the past eight years as a result of the move to phase out stamp duty from 2012 has made this a hot button issue with much of the electorate.
The bus reforms will also go down well, as will the separate news that a large number of blocks of land are expected to be released before the end of the month in order to meet the government's land release targets for the financial year.
The land shortage is often cited as one of the drivers behind the substantial increase in property prices the territory has experienced over the last decade.
With the October 17 election now just four months away ACT Labor has made good use of this week to present itself as a "safe set of hands" which is ready and able to steer Canberra through the stormy months and years to come.
It has also done much to neutralise the impact of ongoing issues such as the rate hikes, land availability, and the transport issues.
The onus is now on the ACT Liberals to tell voters why they should change horses in mid-crisis.
