Ms LAWRIE - 2014-05-14
You call this a family-focused budget, and I have to agree. You focus on squeezing Territory families until they cannot take anymore. You are now the highest-taxing government in Territory history, hurting families who also have to cope with paying for the federal government’s litany of broken promises. They will pay at the doctor, the petrol station and, in a cruel cut, they will pay with their jobs and slashed services, cuts of $80bn from schools and hospitals across the nation. Budget 2014-15, which you have called ‘Securing our Children’s Future’, sees Territory education cuts of $28m and $8m taken out of Children and Families programs. Why are you instead stealing our children’s future with these cruel cuts?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, the question was clearly wrong. All of those ‘facts’ the Opposition Leader threw out are nonsense. It goes to show that the Opposition Leader is not good for much other than whingeing, whining and carping. She will not come in with a decent question or a policy. She complains every time government makes a move to fix her financial mess.
This budget, as I said at the outset, is about securing our children’s future. It is about looking at our prosperity today and ensuring our children have the same opportunities and prosperity in the future. The biggest part of that is we do not want to hand over what they call intergenerational debt. It is an accumulated debt, projected to be $5.5bn, and in the previous government they had no clue how that money would be paid back. The forward estimates saw the debt continue to increase.
This government has found efficiencies and cut waste to reduce spending and debt levels. This has been the biggest priority. The other priority we have is making sure our children get a fair go. This budget has been like no other in the history of the Northern Territory or anywhere in Australia. We have extended the Sport Voucher Scheme from $75 to $200 per person, a big increase. This is $200 which directly impacts and saves families money on their children’s outdoor recreation and keeps kids active. It has also been expanded so it is not only for sports; it is for music lessons, dance classes, swimming lessons and Scouts or Girl Guides. There is a range of opportunities children have in the Northern Territory, which this budget focuses on.
The Back to School Payment Scheme has been maintained and we have increased our subsidy for childcare, but also expanded it to include Family Day Care. This picks up to an extra 1000 children into the system whose families would otherwise not receive that subsidy. This is the most family friendly budget in the Territory’s history, and there is no other government in this country providing the same support to families that the Giles Country Liberals government is.
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, the question was clearly wrong. All of those ‘facts’ the Opposition Leader threw out are nonsense. It goes to show that the Opposition Leader is not good for much other than whingeing, whining and carping. She will not come in with a decent question or a policy. She complains every time government makes a move to fix her financial mess.
This budget, as I said at the outset, is about securing our children’s future. It is about looking at our prosperity today and ensuring our children have the same opportunities and prosperity in the future. The biggest part of that is we do not want to hand over what they call intergenerational debt. It is an accumulated debt, projected to be $5.5bn, and in the previous government they had no clue how that money would be paid back. The forward estimates saw the debt continue to increase.
This government has found efficiencies and cut waste to reduce spending and debt levels. This has been the biggest priority. The other priority we have is making sure our children get a fair go. This budget has been like no other in the history of the Northern Territory or anywhere in Australia. We have extended the Sport Voucher Scheme from $75 to $200 per person, a big increase. This is $200 which directly impacts and saves families money on their children’s outdoor recreation and keeps kids active. It has also been expanded so it is not only for sports; it is for music lessons, dance classes, swimming lessons and Scouts or Girl Guides. There is a range of opportunities children have in the Northern Territory, which this budget focuses on.
The Back to School Payment Scheme has been maintained and we have increased our subsidy for childcare, but also expanded it to include Family Day Care. This picks up to an extra 1000 children into the system whose families would otherwise not receive that subsidy. This is the most family friendly budget in the Territory’s history, and there is no other government in this country providing the same support to families that the Giles Country Liberals government is.
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016