Ms LAWRIE - 2013-05-14
Your budget papers show you are slashing child protection funding. Page 253 of Budget Paper No 3 shows you are making a budget cut of nearly $9m to the Office of Children and Families. Why are you ripping $9m out of the child protection budget?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the Opposition Leader for the question. The real question would be: why, when we took government, were there 90 unfunded staff working for the Office of Children and Families?
The Treasurer spoke about the unfunded legacy items; that is one of them. There were 90 staff in the Office of Children and Families who did not have any salaries against them. The former government was borrowing money to pay salaries. Any businessperson will tell you that is a very bad way of doing business. That is how it was. We have had to find the money to pay those staff.
I have said that we will not be answering questions on the budget until 11.05 am when the Treasurer releases it. You have a little less than 20 minutes. I suggest you wait until then.
Ms LAWRIE: A point of order, Madam Speaker! What do you have to hide? Why are you trying to hide the truth from Territorians?
Madam SPEAKER: Opposition Leader, there is no point of order! The Chief Minister has finished.
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the Opposition Leader for the question. The real question would be: why, when we took government, were there 90 unfunded staff working for the Office of Children and Families?
The Treasurer spoke about the unfunded legacy items; that is one of them. There were 90 staff in the Office of Children and Families who did not have any salaries against them. The former government was borrowing money to pay salaries. Any businessperson will tell you that is a very bad way of doing business. That is how it was. We have had to find the money to pay those staff.
I have said that we will not be answering questions on the budget until 11.05 am when the Treasurer releases it. You have a little less than 20 minutes. I suggest you wait until then.
Ms LAWRIE: A point of order, Madam Speaker! What do you have to hide? Why are you trying to hide the truth from Territorians?
Madam SPEAKER: Opposition Leader, there is no point of order! The Chief Minister has finished.
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016