October's ACT election is upon us.

When political parties start expressing "grave concerns" about projects or policies they've seldom spoken publicly about before, one can be assured the polls are opening soon (September 28, to be exact).

Labor has read the room - the room being Canberra's inner-southeast and Fyshwick - and made a judgement that there are political points to be scored in opposing Capital Recycling Solutions' plan to build a materials processing plant.

It can and will argue that its stance has been adopted entirely on the foundation of sound policy, not raw politics.

At first glance that appears, pardon the pun, complete rubbish.

Nothing Labor, Liberal or the Greens announce, propose, condemn or oppose in the next five weeks should be seen outside the prism of a singular, shared ambition - to win seats on October 17.

But Labor and Liberal, the parties of government, tread a fine line at election time. Policies which please or appease voters might not be the best policies after all. They might very well deliver a bump at the polls, but at what cost?

In this case, the political gains Labor could reap from threatening to block Capital Recycling Solutions' plant appear minor, at least compared to the long-term risks, particular economically.

With Chief Minister Andrew Barr and Health Minister Rachel Stephen-Smith at the top of their ticket, Labor is guaranteed to retain two seats in Kurrajong. If any party should be concerned about losing a seat in the inner-city electorate it is the Canberra Liberals, who face somewhat of a threat from Shane Rattenbury's Greens.

Labor was nevertheless wary of a backlash from a community not known for giving up on a fight, regardless of the size or strength of an opponent. It's worth remembering that Andrew Barr and Labor caved to a section of the same community before the 2016 election when it walked away from the proposed Manuka Oval precinct revamp.

But if the immediate reaction to Labor's new position on the Fyshwick recycling plant is any measure, the apparent attempt at quelling community angst might have had the opposite effect.

Fyshwick Business Association president Rob Evans, a vocal critic of Capital Recycling Solutions' proposal, has described Labor's stance as a cynical stunt which provides no clarity or certainty to anyone.

Labor's pledge also failed to appease the Inner South Canberra Community Council.

Even if those residents and businesses had warmly welcomed the plan, and rewarded Andrew Barr's team for it at the ballot box, Labor might have created a bigger - but not immediate - problem for itself.

Thought it's not their intention, Labor's stance sends a signal to Capital Recycling Solutions, and other potential private sector operators, that their ideas and their investment aren't welcome in the ACT.

It feeds into a broader narrative, pushed by Canberra's peak private sector industry groups and the Canberra Liberals, that the Barr government is no friend of business.

As Mr Evans asked on Wednesday: Why would anyone want to invest in Canberra?

The recycling firm's director Adam Perry, who declined to comment on Tuesday, has previously bemoaned his treatment at the hands of the ACT government, from their bungled handling of his planned rail terminal to the prolonged environmental approval assessment process.

It has, in Mr Perry's words, been a "bureaucratic nightmare", costing the company more than $3 million - and that's before it had even lodged a development application to redevelop the Ipswich Street site.

As he pleaded for a decision on the environmental impact statement earlier this year, Mr Perry argued the government's "slow-moving bureaucratic processes" was standing in the way of $30-million worth of investment and dozens of jobs - both of which would be crucial in Canberra's coronavirus recovery.

If Mr Perry chooses to abandon the project in light of Labor's threats, those jobs and that investment will be lost to the ACT.

Mr Barr and Labor have pitched themselves as the party which will protect and create jobs as the ACT economy recovers from the COVID-19 crisis.

As he mulls over this week's news, Mr Perry might be thinking their claim is, pardon the pun, complete rubbish.