{"id":36814,"date":"2026-01-09T08:44:09","date_gmt":"2026-01-08T21:44:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/?p=36814"},"modified":"2026-01-09T08:44:09","modified_gmt":"2026-01-08T21:44:09","slug":"climate-inaction-will-fuel-the-act-budgets-woes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/2026\/01\/09\/climate-inaction-will-fuel-the-act-budgets-woes\/","title":{"rendered":"Climate inaction will fuel the ACT Budget\u2019s woes"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Shane Rattenbury, Leader of the ACT Greens:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe ACT Parliament\u2019s fiscal sustainability review must consider the cost of the climate crisis \u2013 its impact on the health and wellbeing of the community and how, if not addressed, this will continue to blow out the ACT Budget.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe must consider the health costs of climate inaction. If we don\u2019t, many more Canberrans will be harmed from the impacts of extreme weather events, and we risk a situation where there\u2019s no resources to deliver support and services when they are most needed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cJust last year, the ACT Labor Government raked up a $387 million overspend on the hospital and a budget deficit totalling around $1.5 billion \u2013 $500 million more than forecast. Our hospital bill will continue to rise unless the government starts to deliver preventative initiatives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cJust yesterday, an ANU report found 1 in 15 visits to the emergency department in Canberra are due to extreme heat or cold. That\u2019s almost 7% of presentations which could have been prevented through climate mitigation and preparation measures.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cCanberrans living below the poverty line are at greatest risk of extreme weather events, like bushfires and heatwaves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere are many Canberrans who are sweltering in poorly insulated homes, and that number skyrockets for renters and public housing tenants. Many public housing tenants are already living with chronic health conditions or disabilities so are at a greater risk of harm.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cCoupled with one of the lowest GP bulk-billing rates in the country, many households struggling to pay bills or put food on the table cannot afford to see the doctor. Instead, people become so unwell they need to be hospitalised and take much longer to recover.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe climate crisis fuels inequality, but it doesn\u2019t have to be this way \u2013 it just needs ambition and action. But under Labor we\u2019ve seen climate action stalled and the health response focused on the emergency department, rather than helping people before they become that unwell.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cInaction is inhumane, and it\u2019s costly. We need initiatives that help all Canberrans prepare and become more resilient in the face of climate-driven weather extremes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe inquiry must consider how initiatives like improving heating and cooling in buildings, more public places to shelter from extreme weather events, and more bulk-billed GP appointments will make life better for many Canberrans and ease pressure off emergency and crisis services.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Shane Rattenbury, Leader of the ACT Greens: \u201cThe ACT Parliament\u2019s fiscal sustainability review must consider the cost of the climate crisis \u2013 its impact on the health and wellbeing of the community and how, if not addressed, this will continue to blow out the ACT Budget. \u201cWe must consider the health costs of climate inaction. … Continue reading “Climate inaction will fuel the ACT Budget\u2019s woes”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-36814","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-aussie"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36814","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36814"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36814\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":36815,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36814\/revisions\/36815"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36814"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36814"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36814"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}