The ACT government has confirmed a serious budget blowout as it struggles with unexpectedly high demand for health services. The mid-year update reveals the deficit has grown to nearly $1 billion this financial year, with the new treasurer warning that returning to surplus won’t be easy.
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00:00In the past few years, Dan Steiner has found it more and more difficult to keep the doctor away.
00:09I've had cancer melanoma, which has been surgically repaired by the public service, the public hospital.
00:15And I've had cataract and I've had hearing aids.
00:18He's far from the only Canberran spending more time in hospital,
00:22with thousands more fronting up since July compared to the previous year.
00:27As the population of a once young city ages, Dan is not surprised.
00:33I'm a baby boomer and the baby boomers are living longer, yay,
00:37and the baby boomers are in needing more public health.
00:43The extra pressure has forced the government to make a major cash injection to keep the system afloat,
00:49not something the new Treasurer needed as he prepared his first budget update.
00:54And if this health care pressure continues,
00:57then we are going to have to put in place savings measures in the health care system.
01:01The deficit for this financial year has increased to $971 million,
01:06up $347 million since the June budget.
01:10The biggest hits to the bottom line include the extra health spend the government announced last week
01:16and a $105 million downgrade in expected health funding from the Commonwealth.
01:22A return to surplus is still expected in two years,
01:25though the size of that surplus is down to $51 million.
01:29As for what the next budget might have in store, one mantra stands out.
01:34There's going to be tough decisions.
01:36There are going to have to be tough decisions.
01:39It is going to require some tough decisions right across the board.
01:42Just what those tough decisions might be is still unclear.
01:46For now, the government isn't walking away from any of its election promises.
01:51But we're going to have to look right across the budget to make sure it's sustainable
01:54to deliver those and the other services that Canberrans expect.
01:58Little, if anything, off the table in a bid to balance the books.