2025 – that was the year that was… and here it is, month by month, through the bright eyes of the CityNews columnists – a quirky, serious, funny and sad look at the 12 months just gone. CLIVE WILLIAMS remembers February.

Some of the global constants in February 2025 were the war in Ukraine, genocide in Gaza, Donald Trump throwing his overweight around, more Jeffrey Epstein fallout, and so on.

Global issues specific to the month included:

• The 61st Munich Security Conference (February 14-16), where Europe and the US clashed over defence, values and the war in Ukraine.
• The February 18 US-Russia summit in Saudi Arabia, held without Ukraine or its allies.
• Rebel group M23’s advance in eastern Congo, seizing key territory and reportedly massacring thousands while the UN condemned Rwanda’s backing, but did little else.
• Global worry spiking over inflation and violent crime, topping a 29-country Ipsos survey.
• The COP 16 biodiversity conference opening in late February, constrained by funding shortfalls as governments again delayed decisive action on species loss.

Canberra: a local economy under pressure

Meanwhile, back in the bush capital our unwanted self-government faced its own reckoning. The ACT budget, unveiled with much ceremony, appeared to have broken the bank before the ink was dry.

In CityNews February 13, the lead story was blunt: “Andrew Barr broke the bank”. The piece questioned the ACT government’s mounting debt, its fragile reliance on property rates and land sales, and the political arithmetic behind its spending priorities.

A week later, the February 20 edition asked, “Why do senior public servants earn more than pollies?” in an article that highlighted widening salary gaps between ministers and their departmental heads.

For taxpayers, it added another layer of disbelief: how could austerity co-exist with executive affluence?

The same edition carried “Unsustainable health budget a surprise to no one”. Health costs were rising faster than revenue, and the government’s own advisers conceded that systemic reform – not temporary savings – was needed. Yet cuts to middle-tier public-service positions were again floated as the first response.

The contradiction was striking. While the chief minister urged restraint, executive salaries continued to climb, and agencies hired consultants to find “efficiencies”. It raised the same old question – efficiencies for whom?

Light rail and the mandate question

By February 25, CityNews turned its attention to another perennial debate: the cost and mandate of light rail. The opinion piece “Who ‘voted’ for light rail? Less than half of us” reminded readers that fewer than half of Canberrans had supported parties explicitly backing stage 2 of the project at the last election.

Yet construction planning rolled on, costs escalated, and the government insisted it remained “core infrastructure”.

The article captured the mood: big infrastructure, big cost, uncertain consent. The tram, like the budget, had become a symbol of political persistence over public consensus.

Health, housing, and cost of living

Beyond the light rail and salaries debate, February’s local coverage noted deep unease about the ACT’s social foundations.

Health waiting lists were growing, rates continued to climb (to five times what was paid elsewhere in Australia for comparable properties), and housing affordability reached breaking point.

Residents faced an uncomfortable reality: higher taxes, rising service fees, but a thinning delivery network.

The February 20 CityNews editorial summarised the frustration neatly – acknowledging that the territory’s small tax base and rapid population growth left few easy options, but urging more candour from leaders about what could and could not be afforded.

The politics of perception

If February’s international headlines reflected global disorder, Canberra’s mirrored the same pattern in miniature – strained alliances, contested priorities, and a public struggling to see where authority and accountability actually rested.

Ministers spoke of prudence and sustainability while public trust eroded under the weight of contradictory signals: cuts here, bonuses there, and a tram system that remained both flagship and flashpoint.

Residents were left to weigh rhetoric against experience – paying record rates, watching services tighten, and wondering whether fiscal repair was being applied fairly.

A reminder from the newsroom

Across those February editions, CityNews maintained its trademark independence – its commentaries by long-time respected observers like Jon Stanhope and Michael Moore offered both critique and continuity. They reminded readers that local journalism’s task is not cynicism but clarity: to hold government to account in a city where politics and bureaucracy often blur.

“In a world of spin and confusion,” one CityNews tagline noted, “there’s never been a more important time to support independent journalism in Canberra.”

That message felt particularly apt. The ACT’s February budget debate revealed a government confident in its course but wary of scrutiny, a bureaucracy fluent in process but less sure about its purpose, and a community increasingly aware that prosperity and prudence can’t just be promised – they have to be earned.

Clive Williams is the CityNews fortnightly Whimsy columnist