With the ACT election campaign officially beginning on Friday, Chief Minister Andrew Barr chose to draw attention to the controversial appointment of Liberal Brendan Smyth as International Engagement Commissioner in his final public appearance before the caretaker period begins.
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Mr Barr appeared with Mr Smyth at the airport to promote the beginning of international flights in two weeks and tout the government's efforts to raise Canberra's international profile.
He batted aways questions about how he felt entering his first campaign as chief minister, insisting "this is not about me".
His message was firmly on economic growth, job opportunities and international engagement, and he said he was confident voters would "assess not only what's being promised but also past performance and delivery and that Canberrans will be very pleased with our economic performance".
Mr Smyth was in the ACT parliament for 18 years until his sudden resignation in July, and said on Thursday he was relieved not to be launching into another campaign for election.
"I'm not doorknocking, I'm not going to shopping centres and I'm not handing our leaflets. It's kind of a relief, I have to tell you."
He did, however, find himself having to speak well of Labor's light rail network which is promoted in the international engagement strategy that he and Mr Barr launched on Thursday.
"As a public servant you sell the policies of the government of the day and I do remind you that in 2008 the Canberra Liberals had a policy concerning light rail," he said, in a reference that won't please his former Liberal boss.
"There are many advantages of light rail ... The point about light rail is making sure that you connect people, you connect them quickly so that they have options. For some people buses don't work, For others, they will only use the car, but it's about having a series of options ...
"Great cities have good public transport and the government is delivering it thorough their light rail initiatives."
But he said the focus was on more than light rail, and was about ensuring Canberra had accommodation from hostels to six- and seven-star hotels, a place for business and education officials to meet, and Mr Barr's "long-held ambition for a stadium in the city".
"That sort of vitality that those buildings and that infrastructure and it's right down to ... the look of the city that makes it an attractive place," Mr Smyth said.
Former Labor chief minister Jon Stanhope wrote last week that he expected Mr Smyth's job would be gone by Christmas if the Liberals won government. Asked whether Liberal leader Jeremy Hanson had reassured him about the future of his job, Mr Smyth would only say, "I have had a number of conversations with him since I left the Assembly, but they're between Jeremy and I.
"... He said on the day [the appointment was announced] that the job would continue so I see no reason to doubt his word."
Mr Smyth remains a member of the Liberal Party.
Mr Barr said given Canberra's small domestic market, it was crucial to become more nationally and internationally engaged
"At the heart of all of this is a fundamental premise and that is that cities are competing for talent and we want to attract the best students, the best researchers and we want the best entrepreneurs to set up in Canberra," Mr Barr said.
Mr Barr and Mr Smyth's international engagement strategy identifies seven priority cities for immediate focus: Wellington, San Francisco and Washington DC, Shenzhen and Guangzhou, Singapore and Tokyo. Next comes Austin and Denver, Beijing and Shanghai. And in the future, Auckland, Portland, Wuhan and Osaka.
