Brisbane City Council announces 'responsible' austerity measures in its 2025/2026 budget

Residents in Australia's largest local government area will pay $100 a year more in rates and charges.

Transcript

00:00A disruptive start to proceedings.

00:04Don't call the Story Bridge.

00:07Protesters heckled Lord Mayor Adrian Srinner's budget speech.

00:10Labor councillors walked out.

00:12I've made it very clear there will be no toll on the Story Bridge.

00:16We were invited to do this, but it wasn't overly planned.

00:19It's not something that we've been working on for months.

00:21Labor denied inviting protesters before changing their story.

00:25If I said that I didn't invite them, I didn't mean to, I'm sorry.

00:29But the Ayling Bridge is a big winner in the budget.

00:32$6.9 million will be spent on replacing the closed footpath.

00:38We're certainly aiming to get one site open as quickly as possible

00:41and at this stage it looks like by the end of this year.

00:44Another $6.2 million for other essential works.

00:47On average, rates will increase across the city by about 3.87%,

00:52which is higher than inflation.

00:55But due to land valuations varying, about a dozen suburbs face the maximum bill of 7.5%.

01:03While residents in three suburbs where the land prices fell will pay less.

01:08This is a responsible budget.

01:09The focus is on making sure we live within our means, we spend what we can afford.

01:14There will be rates paying for owners of units and apartments in the inner city,

01:18being charged $100 a year more.

01:21Which is about making sure people pay their fair share.

01:24He's now taxing what is the most affordable housing in Brisbane.

01:27Green bins will be rolled out citywide.

01:30But with no big spends, council says it has slashed debt by $145 million.

01:36The first time it's gone down in the past six years.

01:40When Adrian Schrinner says he's able to deliver a surplus,

01:43that's only through sacking staff and cutting projects, winding back services.

01:48It's not just rates that are set to rise.

01:50The cost of everything from registering your dog to renovations like a new deck will go up.

01:57The council says that's because their costs from building materials to electricity have also increased.

02:03LARP has now gone down.

02:04The sort of this market, the price has also increased.

02:07The cost also increased.

02:08o