The ACT government was seeking to solve its budget shortfalls by increasing costs on everyday Canberrans rather than generating revenue from those who can – and should – pay more, said ACT Greens Leader Shane Rattenbury.
He said Labor’s budget revealed a range of surprising measures that would unfairly impact every day Canberrans and hurt the most vulnerable in our community.
“A good budget invests in our people, community and the things we need to live well in Canberra. Critically it should raise revenue from those who can afford it, like big corporations, in the first instance before passing on the bill to everyday people,” Mr Rattenbury said.
“The ACT Greens only weeks ago proposed to ACT Labor that they can generate hundreds of millions by taxing corporations who make billions in profits off everyday people. Today’s Budget ignores that completely and instead jumps straight to taxing everyday Canberrans.
“Instead the Budget introduces a $250 health levy on all households and businesses in order to pay for the increasing costs of the health system; charges Canberrans trying to electrify their home in a climate crisis; and will increase the number of small, local businesses who are paying more payroll tax.
“Increasing numbers of Canberrans are being priced out of the housing market, many are in rental stress without the safety net of the Rent Relief Fund, and our public housing wait list is sitting over 3000 people.
“It is baffling that the government has only committed to building 140 new social and community homes in this Budget.
“At the same time, we’re only getting $10 million for the community sector – or roughly $33,000 per organisation. In a cost-of-living crisis, this Budget will push more people to the brink, increasing pressure on our community sector. This simply does not go far enough.”
Deputy Leader for the ACT Greens Jo Clay said ACT Labor was slowing down progress on climate action and measures to actively restore the environment.
“This Labor Budget will also introduce a 3% interest rate on loans through the Sustainable Household Scheme, which entirely defeats the purpose of the scheme. It will block some Canberrans out of the option to switch off from gas,” Ms Clay said.
“They’ve also introduced a levy on all electric vehicle sales. When we know transport makes up over 65% of our emissions, this is another significant backwards step on climate action.
“Climate and environment funding only makes up 3% of the overall Budget. If ACT Labor want to show they value biodiversity, want to stop species going extinct and restore ecosystems to keep Canberra a great place to live for both people and animals then they need to properly fund it.
“These are all measures that will significantly impact everyday Canberrans and, in a cost-of-living crisis, when people are already under financial stress, this is hardly fair.”
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