THREE TESTS FOR ACT LABOR’S 2025-26 BUDGET
Leanne Castley MLA
Leader of the ACT Liberals
Media Release
24 June 2025
After two big budget blowouts worth half a billion dollars, we’re finally going to see Labor’s new Budget.
After 12 years of Andrew Barr’s mismanagement, the chickens are coming home to roost and Canberrans will get to see if Treasurer Steel has taken the difficult decisions – or whether he’s just another chook.
Here are the three big questions the Canberra Liberals will have in mind on Tuesday:
The first question is: Does the Budget provide better value for you, the taxpayers?
Your taxes have almost doubled under Andrew Barr. But Canberrans don’t feel like the quality of public services have doubled. In many cases, things have gone backwards.
Canberrans are paying more and getting less.
We can’t continue like this. Labor needs to actually deliver for the community, with better schools, better hospitals, safer streets, and stronger local communities.
To get there, the Government needs to rebuild trust, morale, and capability within our frontline agencies.
The second question: Is it a responsible Budget?
After 12 years of debt and deficit, we are long overdue for a responsible, prudent Budget.
A responsible Budget is one where the government is transparent about how it spends taxpayer dollars and how it is investing in the future of Canberra.
A responsible Budget is one that tackles government debt. We are on track for one in every four dollars that you pay in local taxes going towards the interest on Labor's debt.
We have got to get this under control.
And a responsible Budget is one that returns us to a structural surplus, where spending is affordable and sustainable.
The third question is: Does the Budget set us up for the future?
Labor have been ignoring our long-term challenges: like housing affordability; the $15 billion government debt; the$10 billion superannuation liability; and our ageing population.
You can only put these off for so long before they become real problems. But that’s what Labor has done for too long. We need them to prioritise big reforms over big announcements.
Labor are not up to the job. After two decades in power, they’ve done more to cause these problems than to fix them.
Canberrans deserve better than a tired, stale Government that has been in power for twenty three years.
