Budget Reaction: Can we have some more, please?

Andrew Barr’s steady as she goes 13th Budget appears to have left many organisations non-plussed and asking for more. Here’s how Canberra responded.

The Canberra Liberals called out a “disappointing” amount of cost of living assistance, in contrast to its already announced package it will introduce if elected in October, and highlighted the run of deficits and growing debt level.

Leader Elizabeth Lee said $20 billion in borrowings meant an interest bill of nearly a billion a year, or $5000 a year for every Canberran.

Ms Lee said Mr Barr continually pointed to infrastructure projects to justify such debt but many of them had not come to fruition after years of talk.

She said the real deficit this year was closer to $1 billion instead of the $831 million Mr Barr announced under the measures used by other jurisdictions, and Mr Barr has never delivered a surplus.

“After 13 budgets, Andrew Barr has blown the ACT’s Budget completely,” Ms Lee said.

The ACT Greens said the Budget needed to do more on the cost of living, housing and support for public and active transport.

Leader Shane Rattenbury welcomed funding for the Integrated Energy Plan to electrify Canberra, mental health programs such as PACER, the CanTEST Health and Drug Checking Service, homelessness services, the Youth Foyer in CIT Woden to provide accommodation for young people at risk of homelessness, and support for Aboriginal Controlled Housing services.

The Greens would again try to amend the Budget to phase out the $41 million subsidy to the horse racing industry.

ACTCOSS welcomed the cost-of-living relief measures but said the Budget did not do enough for those being pushed to the economic margins.

CEO Devin Bowles said the modest assistance to meet housing costs would be eclipsed by unaffordable rental costs.

Dr Bowles called for more funding to develop Indigenous-controlled disability and housing organisations.

He said investment in the community sector would not be enough for organisations to keep pace with rising costs and demand.

Disability group Advocacy for Inclusion welcomed measures in health, the Next Steps for Our Kids strategy, and taxi services but said the were significant gaps, particularly towards a plausible path to a new ACT system of disability ‘foundational supports’.

It said there appeared to be no provision for the new system of foundational supports recommended following the NDIS Review, nor discrete funding for the response to the Disability Royal Commission.

Funding was needed for consolidated and integrated case management services across child protection housing, justice and post-acute health care, as well as to respond to unintended consequences of voluntary assisted dying.

They also said there should have been more specific funding to deliver the Inclusive Education Strategy.

The Canberra Business Chamber said the Budget failed to remove barriers to doing business in the ACT but made it harder for them.

Chief Executive Greg Harford said the payroll tax surcharge for large firms was the wrong message to business and meant Canberrans were likely to pay more for goods and services.

He said the Budget did not put enough focus on helping build a thriving business community in tough trading times.

“This is exactly the time when we need the government to get behind the scenes and work hard to improve the business environment.”

The Property Council of Australia said the Budget missed opportunities for a more vibrant and faster-growing Canberra.

Property Council of Australia Interim ACT and Capital Region Executive Director Gino Luglietti said obvious and important omissions include tax reform, overdue zoning updates and a new Canberra Stadium.

Mr Luglietti said the new payroll tax surcharge for larger national and multi-national businesses sent a bad signal to larger employers.

He said the Budget needed more urgency behind residential zoning reforms, a better resourced and more efficient planning system, tax reforms to drive more investment, and faster infrastructure build.

The Housing Industry Association said the phase-out of stamp duty was not happening quickly enough, given the additional land tax and rates being collected.

“The ACT Government forecasts to collect $258 million more in 2027/28 in revenue from general rates and land tax compared to 2023/24. However, stamp duty is only forecast to fall by $30 million over this period,” HIA chief executive Greg Weller said.

He also called for the abolition of the inefficient, “dweller-killing” Lease Variation Charge.

“If the ACT Government really wanted to kickstart housing, it could wipe out both these taxes in the next four years and still be revenue neutral as it has promised this reform would be.”

The ACT Council of Parents and Citizens Associations said public education received the bare minimum – with funding to repair leaky school roofs, teach children to read and write and ensure some students are fed.

It welcomed the $24.9 million for the Strong Foundations literacy and numeracy initiative and forward planning for new schools in town centres, as well as planning and expansion of existing schools in high-demand areas.

But it said much of the funding announced would go towards issues that should already be in hand.

Master Builders ACT lamented the small amount of new capital works in the Budget, saying a $6.4 billion capital works program over the next five years to 2028-29 was comprised mostly of works already in progress.

CEO Michael Hopkins said only a meagre $36.1 million of new capital works in 2024-25 and $57 million over the five years to 2028-29 would be shared among 6500 local building businesses.

A one-off $250 cost of living grant for apprentices was welcome, but the ACT’s training subsidies were the lowest in the nation and needed to be increased.

He said forecast increases in the Lease Variation Charge, payroll tax and rates would all add to the cost of running a business and delivering more housing in the ACT.

The Belconnen Community Council called for more long-term investments to ensure sustainable growth, development and wellbeing in Belconnen.

The BCC welcomed investment in paediatric care, the new Northside Hospital, and the future West Belconnen health centre; funding for the Belconnen Bus Transitway feasibility study and bus interchange security upgrades; upgrades to the Emu Bank foreshore and continuing investment in the local shops improvement program.

However, the BCC said more substantial commitments were needed in public transport, particularly a light rail feasibility study.

The BCC was also disappointed with the lack of clear timelines and funding for the Belconnen Town Centre school study and the West Belconnen health centre.