ACT Election 2020: Andrew Bar, Alistair Coe face off in leaders' debate

In the only televised debate in the lead up to the territory's October election, the leaders faced off on hot topics including the cost of living, health and housing.

There were fiery moments as Mr Coe suggested the chief health officer didn't have all the information she needed to determine coronavirus restrictions, while Mr Barr claimed the Opposition Leader was undermining the public health response.

Mr Barr accused his opponent of wanting to go on a "reckless spending spree", while Mr Coe said the government had a shameful record on housing affordability.

Mr Coe was immediately asked how he was going to pay for his policies, which have included slashing car registration fees, expanding the bus network, thousands more elective surgeries and a bigger hospital expansion.

He jumped straight into prepared lines about how the Canberra Liberals would cut the cost of living.

When pressed by the moderator, ABC presenter Adam Shirley, Mr Coe repeated his explanation he would get people back from surrounding towns in NSW.

He claimed the ACT had lost more than $400 million in revenue in land sales and stamp duty to the nearby NSW Googong development.

"We unashamedly want to grow the pie and have more economic activity," he said.

Mr Barr said his counterpart had continued to avoid answering how he would pay for his promises.

"He's simultaneously proposing to slash taxes ... and at the same time going on a reckless spending spree," he said.

"People know it doesn't add up and the fact he so willfully avoids answering the question every time he is asked demonstrates that he doesn't have an answer to that question."

Canberra's public hospital wait times have consistently been among the country's worst over the last term of government.

Mr Barr was asked if he would commit to an elective surgery waitlist guarantee, or a maximum wait time for patients.

He said he would not, instead committing to completing 60,000 surgeries over the next four years.

"What we're seeking to do is to continue to invest in the health infrastructure that a growing city needs," Mr Barr said.

"We're looking to ... build an elective surgery centre on the north side of the University of Canberra.

"We're not providing a wait list guarantee, what we're providing is a commitment to deliver more elective surgeries."

Mr Coe said the Liberals would halve elective surgery and emergency department wait times.

"Unlike Andrew that makes the same commitment every single election, we will actually deliver the expanded Canberra Hospital that is so desperately needed," he said.

"Andrew promised this alongside his Labor colleagues more than 10 years ago, and still there is no progress."

It was put to Mr Coe that no state or territory had managed to halve waiting times.

He was pressed on what modelling he had to suggest he could do so, but did not provide any.

The Liberals have promised to complete 70,000 surgeries in the next four years if elected - 10,000 more than what Labor has promised.

Mr Coe was asked how he would find and attract the necessary staff to complete the pledge.

"We'll start by providing genuine health leadership, which has sadly been lacking in the ACT in recent years," he said

"We know about the bullying and the war that has existed at Canberra Hospital.

"This has been happening for years, yet Andrew and ACT Labor only seem to make commitments, only seem to make changes, when there is an election around the corner."

The two leaders clashed over the government's handling of coronavirus restrictions.

Mr Coe last week told an Australian Hotels Association forum some of the territory's restrictions were absurd, and suggested some were not based on legitimate risk.

Using his one question he could direct towards his opponent, Mr Barr asked why Mr Coe "continued to undermine our public health officials and our efforts to contain the coronavirus".

"I want to make sure we have a genuine risk based approached to managing the COVID-19 pandemic," Mr Coe said.

"Over recent months, I have campaigned for the people who have been doing it tough in this city.

"I've had people call me up in tears, that they'd had to let go 50 or 60 staff."

He said the Liberals would keep advocating for a reasonable, risk based approach to managing the COVID crisis.

"We'll do what you didn't do, and that is consult and make sure that the chief health officer has all the information at her disposal from on the ground," he said.

"Because if you were on the ground, and you were hearing what I was hearing you would know that there were some improvements that could be made to those restrictions that would have a real impact on the quality of life of Canberrans."

Mr Barr was asked why he'd failed to improve housing affordability in the ACT.

"Well it's a supply and demand issue," he said

He suggested supply will increase as a result of the pandemic, with the rate of population growth to decline.

"But in order to put downward pressure on house prices and rents you need to increase supply and you need to abolish stamp duty, and that's what we've been focused on in the last seven years."

Mr Coe said the government had a shameful record when it came to the cost of housing.

"We know that tripling of rates that Andrew has imposed on Canberra families has hurt," he said.

"It's driven up the cost of housing and its driven up the cost of rent."

Mr Coe was asked what evidence he had that people who were moving to nearby NSW regions were doing so because of the cost of living in Canberra.

"Well there's no doubt if you go to the Googong display office just a few kilometres from where we are ... you'll see a lot of Canberra number plates there on a Saturday of people who are looking to buy a block of land there that they simply can't afford here in the territory," he said.

The Liberals say they will release new land in the territory to make housing more affordable, including in Molonglo Valley and west of the Molonglo Valley.

Mr Barr said the Liberals were not prepared to say if they would bulldoze Kowen forest to supply land.

"You do know it's a commercial pine plantation that you're currently logging?" Coe responded.

Mr Barr responded: "It's a commercial pine plantation, it's not suitable for residential development ... it would be incredibly expensive to develop and would not be a solution to affordable housing."

Mr Coe maintained the Liberals were committed to the next stage of light rail.

But he said he would release the business case immediately and have a competitive tender for the project.

"We can't make a blind commitment on the basis of Andrew's secret negotiations," he said.

Mr Barr said it showed Mr Coe did not support light rail.

"He led the campaign against it in 2016," he said.

"We are in the middle of commercial negotiations.

"We are not going to reveal our hand to the market."

Voting for election opened on Monday, with polls to stay open until election day.

Elections ACT have encouraged people to vote early to keep it a COVID safe event.

It is predicted up to 80 per cent of Canberrans could vote before election day on October 17.