{"id":37762,"date":"2026-03-04T05:51:08","date_gmt":"2026-03-03T18:51:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/?p=37762"},"modified":"2026-03-04T05:51:08","modified_gmt":"2026-03-03T18:51:08","slug":"rattenbury-welcomes-interim-budget-report-urges-sustainable-people-centred-approach","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/2026\/03\/04\/rattenbury-welcomes-interim-budget-report-urges-sustainable-people-centred-approach\/","title":{"rendered":"Rattenbury welcomes interim budget report, urges sustainable, people-centred approach"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Today\u2019s report paints a clear picture of the challenge that lies ahead for the ACT \u2013 we need to address our deteriorating fiscal position, but we cannot undertake Budget repair at the expense of those who can least afford it.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cRevenue is stretched, but government services are vital. It\u2019s clear we cannot respond by cutting services the way neoliberal governments of the past did. Instead, we need a pathway that builds rather than demolishes, a pathway that puts people first.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s clear the path to fixing Canberra\u2019s budget &#8211; not for the abject sake of surpluses, but to ensure sustainable, long-term investment in the services Canberrans need and deserve &#8211; lies in a combination of increased revenue and genuine savings and efficiencies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThese efficiencies do not mean rash austerity Budget\u2019s or recklessly cutting public service jobs. It means reorienting priorities and making the Government&#8217;s work more impactful to everyday Canberrans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cSaul Eslake specifically highlighted health and education, which have accounted for more than half of government spending for years, but where outcomes have fallen behind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThese are such vital services for our community, and for the level of investment we are making, we simply need better results and improved use of our resources.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cOver the coming months, the Greens will be scrutinising the implications of this interim report and using it as a basis to insist the Committee Inquiry to ask the right questions and deliver recommendations for improving the budget and reshaping our priorities for the future.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Today\u2019s report paints a clear picture of the challenge that lies ahead for the ACT \u2013 we need to address our deteriorating fiscal position, but we cannot undertake Budget repair at the expense of those who can least afford it. \u201cRevenue is stretched, but government services are vital. It\u2019s clear we cannot respond by cutting &hellip; <a href=\"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/2026\/03\/04\/rattenbury-welcomes-interim-budget-report-urges-sustainable-people-centred-approach\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;Rattenbury welcomes interim budget report, urges sustainable, people-centred approach&#8221;<\/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-37762","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\/37762","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=37762"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37762\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":37763,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37762\/revisions\/37763"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37762"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37762"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37762"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}