Chief Minister Andrew Barr's forecast surplus for 2021-22 is on shaky ground with deficits expected over the next two financial years,while market volatility could take a toll on Treasury's coffers,an audit shows.
With hospitals in crisis and schools performing poorly,the ACT budget is in trouble,with spiralling debt and the costs of light rail stage 1 yet to hit.
The Barr government has posted a much-improved budget bottom line for the September quarter,up $76 million largely due to land sales in Denman Prospect and delayed spending on capital works and elective surgeries.
The ACT's peak parents group wants to see the capital's first vertical school built along the light rail corridor.
Canberra's housing boom in the past decade is the biggest on record for the ACT and has created an oversupply of more than 6000 apartments in the city.
ACT government investment in infrastructure projects has risen 10 per cent in the past year,largely due to the stage one light rail project.
The underlying budget is in deep deficit,and its sustainability and,indeed,the sustainability of priority services is problematic.
Andrew Barr broke his pledge that tax reforms to abolish stamp duty would be'revenue-neutral',a former senior Treasury official has claimed.
But Deloitte Access Economics has a warning for the territory as tensions with China rise.
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull was quick to reject the recommendations,which would see the ACT lose more than $900 million in GST revenue by 2026-27.
The Barr government is at risk of"tax leakage"as residents escape across the border to avoid rate rises,economic analysts have warned.