It was the question of the week: why were we closing schools and no one else was? Why did other states think it fine to follow federal government advice and simply bag up and safely dispose of the potentially contaminated sand, while we went full Chernobyl and sent in the teams in hazmat suits? (A hat tip by the way to our print producer Ben for the "Enter Sand Men" front page on Tuesday).

The answer, our editorial argued , was a good old case of ACT exceptionalism.

Much more than the other small jurisdictions, Tasmania and the Northern Territory, the ACT has a long track record of going it alone.

Some would say that's one of the great things about our progressive little territory that could. We've been leaders on drug policy, consolidation of government services, renewable energy and

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