ACT Chief Minister and Treasurer Andrew Barr will hand down the budget on Tuesday. Photo: Jamila Toderas
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Andrew Barr's territory budget will include a deficit of $407 million for the 2015-16 financial year, up from the estimated $250 million issued in January.
The deficit for 2014-15 has been revised down to $597 million, from $770.5 million projected at the time of the mid-year review and shortly after Mr Barr took over as ACT Chief Minister.
The lower than forecast deficit for this year has come at the expense of next year's budget bottom line, as a result of some of the pain from the Mr Fluffy asbestos buyback being pushed back to next year.
- A Liberal ACT government would spend $146 million on new buses for Canberra and infrastructure works including duplication of Gundaroo Drive and a new flyover on the Barton Highway near Gungahlin.
- Canberra families affected by Mr Fluffy asbestos could take several years to recover psychologically and needed the community's patience and understanding when they were suffering acute stress and anxiety.
- Decades old reports show investigations and remediation failed to stop leakage from the Canberra Olympic Pool, casting new light on problems the ACT government said were first identified in 2012.
- A key Liberal MP has agreed to work with Labor leader Bill Shorten on a bipartisan process that should result in a vote on same-sex marriage within months - but Warren Entsch will not co-sponsor Mr Shorten's private member's bill on marriage equality to be introduced to Parliament today.
- A young Pakistani man who helped root out Taliban from the Swat Valley was denied a protection visa by Australia, despite claims the group "brutally" killed his uncle and sentenced him and his father to death.
- Amaroo's Laura Hunter was too horrified by the sight of a blue flame as it licked her newborn baby's forehead to think about the fire that had engulfed her own body - Ms Hunter and her nine-week-old daughter Molly suffered horrific burns when a blaze tore through her sister's home on the NSW mid-north coast in April.
- ACT Education Minister Joy Burch will announce on Monday a $17.6 million facelift for 40-year-old Belconnen High School.
- Momentum is gathering for the conversion of disused railway lines near Bungendore and Goulburn into smooth, straight trails with gentle gradients for cyclists, who will ride without the worry of cars and trucks.
- Defence Minister Kevin Andrews has issued the Abbott government's strongest signal yet that Australia is prepared to join the United States and other countries in pushing back against China's island-building and militarisation in the South China Sea.
Nick Kyrgios and Bernard Tomic are both racing the clock to be fully fit for Wimbledon. Photo: Reuters
Australia's French Open challenge is over after a day of disappointment and despair in Paris and now Nick Kyrgios and Bernard Tomic's Wimbledon preparations are up in the air.
A shattered Kyrgios is considering withdrawing from Wimbledon lead-up events at next week's Hertogenbosch and then the Queen's Club after a chronic elbow injury flared in his third-round loss to Andy Murray.
- Former NRL referees boss Bill Harrigan insists he "can't see what would be gained" by forcing referees to front the media straight after games, after Canberra Raiders coach Ricky Stuart abruptly ended his press conference after Saturday's loss to Brisbane. Stuart fielded just one question and made a 25-second statement before walking out.
- The ACT Brumbies are intent on capitalising on the NSW Waratahs' slip-up and storm towards a crucial top-two berth in the Super Rugby finals.
- Greg Dyke, the English Football Association chairman, has warned Sepp Blatter he will be brought down as FIFA president by the FBI and Swiss corruption inquiries that have left world football's governing body on the brink of meltdown, and the UK considering a boycott of the World Cup.
- Roosters coach Trent Robinson holds no fears about Mitchell Pearce's ability to back up from his Origin disappointment after describing his halfback's performance as "clinical".
- Canberra athlete Zoe Buckman showed no sign of a recent calf strain as she booked her place in her second world championships in the US on Sunday.
9:30am: Police say it's still best to avoid Emu Bank, west of Benjamin Way, where possible after a two-car crash just before 9am. A street sweeper is cleaning glass off the road.
9:21am: Both westbound lanes on Belconnen Way are open after a crash between a car and truck earlier this morning.
9:03am: Two cars have collided on Emu Bank, outside the London Burgers and Beers. Police have advised people to be careful and try and avoid the area as it could get congested.
Meanwhile, one west-bound lane on Belconnen Way is still closed near the Hawker shops as a street sweeper finishes up in the area.
8:57am: Watch out - there's been a crash on Emu Bank in Belconnnen near Belconnen Arts Centre.
8:30am: One of Belconnen Way's westbound lanes has been re-opened after the car and truck collision outside the Hawker shops earlier this morning. One lane is still closed, slowing traffic, but police expect the road to be fully re-opened soon.
8.15am: The crash outside the Hawker shops is still blocking both lanes of westbound traffic on Belconnen Way. Police have advised drivers to avoid the area if possible.
Meanwhile, no-one was seriously injured in the crash and an ambulance was not called to the scene, an Emergency Services Ageny spokeswoman says.
7.57am: Police say it is a car and a truck that have collided near the Hawker shops, blocking both lanes of westbound traffic on Belconnen Way.
7.50am: Try and avoid Belconnen Way near the Hawker shops this morning. A crash has blocked west-bound traffic. Police are diverting motorists via Springvale Drive.
Drive safely on your commute and let us know if you see any traffic problems on the roads via @canberratimes, but only when its safe to do so.
Canberra's winter celebration of all things jazz continues this week at The Street Theatre. The Capital Jazz Project 2015 lineup features a diverse range of international, national and ACT-based artists. It's on until June 8. Tickets from thestreet.org.au.
Canberra Glassworks is hosting special tours of Canberra's oldest public building, Kingston Power House, which turns 100 years old in 2015. The tours run until June 6. For bookings visit canberraglassworks.com.
This is the last week to see the National Gallery of Australia's blockbuster exhibition, James Turrell: A Retrospective. The exhibition explores the 50 year career of the contemporary artist and brings together immersive light installations, projections, holograms, and prints. You can buy tickets here.
You can take a behind-the-scenes tour of the Australian War Memorial's Research Centre to mark 100 years since the start of the Australian Army Survey Corps. View historic maps in the collection from the Boxer Rebellion through modern mapping used in the Afghanistan conflict. A second tour will take place on July 1. For bookings visit awm.gov.au.
High commissioner Menna Rawlings is already right at home in the British official residence in Deakin. Photo: Melissa Adams
When the new British high commissioner to Australia, Menna Rawlings, joined the foreign office in 1989, there were two female heads of foreign missions.
As she looked around the organisation, she could see few senior female leaders with husbands and children.
Now the mother of three works in a plum diplomatic post, while 40 other British women run sovereign diplomatic missions across the world.
Click cartoon for more Pat Campbell.
Jordan Tzfaris competes in the Canberra Strongman Series 2015 at the Performance Training Centre in Fyshwick on Sunday. Photo: Jeffrey Chan.
Dozens of competitors from the ACT and interstate competed in the first leg of the Canberra strongman series on Sunday.
Proponents say the sport is attracting more and more people, buoyed by a sense of community and mutual encouragement.
Sunday's event at Fyshwick's PTC Gym saw men and women compete in events including keg throwing, dead lift, yoke, and wooden log lifts.
The first week of winter is forecast to bring sub-zero morning temperatures, frost and snow to the Canberra region.
Between 3 and 5cm of snow at Captains Flat Monday morning. Photo: Giles Doolan
Monday: Morning shower or two. Min 0, max 11.
Tuesday: Severe morning frost. Sunny. Light winds. Min -5, max 12.
Wednesday: Morning frost. Sunny day. Min -5, max 13.
Thursday: Morning frost. Partly cloudy. Min -5, max 12.
Friday: Shower or two. Min, -2, max 13.
