Andrew Barr delivered a budget without glam on Tuesday, but one that is unlikely to raise more than the usual ire. As promised, there are no major, obvious shocks, although the scale of increases for owners of units and dual occupancies will hurt.
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The big increase in land tax for investment units will not be welcome. And the unhappiest surprise is for people who leave their house vacant. If they don't rent it out after a certain period, yet to be decided, they will be slugged land tax.
The good news on government charges was modest, and again largely already known – relatively small cuts to stamp duty for home buyers, bigger cuts for commercial properties.
It was in some ways a scattergun budget, firing packets of money at worthy projects and keeping government projects alive with modest funding, focused on municipal level election promises and on a big improvement in the budget bottom line.
The essential modesty of Barr's budget points to a character trait of the chief minister. He is not a firebrand; he is even, perhaps, risk averse. Heading a government burned by vociferous opposition to light rail and anger over year-on-year rates rises, a government that relies on hoppity Greens for every vote, he is evidently not in the mood to buy new arguments.
Nor, it has to be said, does the government have much flexibility for new arguments, fully committed to the massive expense of light rail on two fronts, and having to follow fast with urgent improvements to the Canberra Hospital.
A 2016 election promise for a new hospital building, which followed the 2012 election promise for a new hospital building, has been recognised with $230 million set aside for the project - mainly in 2020-21, nicely in time for the 2020 election.
Between the hospital and the tram and the community's weariness about ongoing increases in taxes and charges, there really is little room for much else - and Barr said yesterday the new stadium, the new swimming pool and a new convention centre would not return to budget planning until "early in the next decade".
He also put aside $2.1 million for the city's first citizen's jury, although a topic has yet to be set for it to tackle. Barr, upset last year by the shouting over Grocon's bid to develop Manuka Oval and the threat of an equally vociferous campaign against development at West Basin, said the era was over of "just turning up to a public meeting and being the loudest voice" and so dominating public debate. Instead, he will seek the views of Canberrans en masse and will trial a citizen's jury.
But asked what question might be put to a citizen's jury, Barr nominated compulsory third party insurance. Worthy as the subject might be, we might hope for rather more high-profile and city-shaping topic to which the citizens can turn their collective wisdom.
