Page 2453 - Week 07 - Thursday, 4 August 2022
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We have heard from the Chief Minister about the key features in this budget, the lens through which he sees it, and the issues that he sees as key. This is a budget, he says, focused on housing, health and infrastructure. It is a budget designed to gradually erode the deficit and return to surplus. The Greens agree that these issues are important, and we value them. We appreciate the Chief Minister’s perspective and agree with it. However, I do want to add some additional thoughts from a Greens perspective on these key themes.
The Greens believe that budgets must be about supporting the community, supporting people and investing in the future. But budgets are frequently discussed in terms of deficits and surpluses, with surpluses supposedly being good and deficits inherently bad. Looking through this narrow fiscal lens distorts one’s priorities. The Canberra Liberals’ Assembly motion just this week, insisting on returning the budget to surplus, took this approach. The budget is not just numbers in a ledger. It is also the repository of government policies, of the community’s needs and values, and of our collective future.
Some might find this view controversial, but a budget deficit is not necessarily bad. A deficit can be a good thing when it is supporting investment in the community, the environment, the future and indeed measures that will support economic productivity down the line. And governments can, if it is done prudently, reasonably afford to remain in debt. I make this point not to encourage flagrant spending or debt but merely to say that we should not blindly focus on deficits and surpluses when critical investment in the community is at stake. It is about making smart investments.
When people need help and assistance, when we need to prepare for climate change, when we need to invest in the future wellbeing of the community, it can be bad policy to instead grasp at a meaningless number just to try and achieve a surplus. We support the long-term investments that this budget makes in issues like housing and climate change and in community infrastructure projects like light rail for the future of our city and our citizens.
If budgets are about people, nothing is more important than ensuring that our community members have a decent home. This is a critical issue for the Canberra community, who are facing an affordability and accommodation crisis. The Greens have been clear that this is a crucial focus for us. We know that it is an issue across this nation and it is an issue affecting our community. We are committed to ensuring that everyone has a decent home.
Again, we are proud to see longstanding Greens’ policies shaping this budget. For example, the reform to establish minimum energy efficiency standards in rental properties is another chapter in Greens policy efforts that has taken over a decade of effort. These standards have been finalised and are becoming government policy. We expect to commence them later this year. It is a critical reform, to stop people freezing in Canberra winters and boiling in summers. Houses that are too cold contribute to six per cent of all deaths in Australia every year. That is a shocking figure. I was reminded of this fact, and the exposure of Canberrans that are renting, as yesterday the Liberal Party aggressively questioned this reform in the Assembly.
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