2026-06-10
ACT Greens Leader, Jo Clay, has outlined the party's expectations ahead of ACT Labor's 26-27 Budget - calling for better long-term planning and fairer measures to provide Canberrans with the services we need.
“We have been working behind the scenes for months negotiating with the Labor party to get some good outcomes for the Canberra community," said Ms Clay.
"We have secured some important wins - the return of the rent relief fund, more stable funding for the community sector, a modest boost for the environment sector (though much more is needed), better levers to drive climate action, and cargo bikes put into the Sustainable Household Scheme.
"These are all things the Greens have been fighting for on behalf of our community and we're really pleased to see progress.
"The Government has also signalled pretty strongly the pressures it is under - we’ve already seen an announcement of redundancies within the ACT Public Service and delays to infrastructure projects.
"This really speaks to a lack of long-term planning and a pattern of short-termism we have consistently seen from this Labor Government.
"It is right that the Government should be directing funds to where it's most needed - like housing and climate.
"But it is concerning that this Government continues to start projects like the Kingston Arts Precinct without sufficient Federal contributions and without long-term plans of how the ACT Government will fund them.
Ms Clay said these pressures are being worsened by decisions at the federal level.
“We’re seeing the cost of the NDIS pushed onto states and territories, when we know that the ACT's health budget has already grown from one quarter to one third of the total budget spend. The ACT will foot the bill for the NDIS cuts and many Canberrans will suffer along the way. Why is our ACT Labor Government allowing this to happen?
"While we know that the Budget is under strain, we want to make sure this Government doesn’t lump that strain on to everyday Canberrans.
“Last year, Labor proposed a $250 health levy on all Canberrans. The Greens blocked it and pushed it down to $100 per household, and we’ve been clear - that levy needs to go altogether.
"We brought out a Big Corporations Tax instead - which raises more revenue than Labor's unfair health levy. This is the kind of forward-thinking that Canberrans expect from their Government, and they're getting it from Greens on the Crossbench instead.
Ms Clay said the ACT Government needed to work harder on fairer revenue measures.
“The Government should be looking at getting more Federal funding and options like raising gambling tax to the national average- as put forward by economist Saul Eslake - to build a fairer tax system.
“Those who can afford it - big corporations and the gambling industry- should be paying their fair share. And the ACT needs to get a better deal from our Federal Government," said Ms Clay.
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