Ms LAWRIE - 2013-05-14
Your budget papers show you have slashed the Infrastructure budget and intend to keep slashing it. To quote from page one of Budget Paper No 4:
There have already been 3600 full-time jobs slashed in the Territory under the CLP government’s decisions. How many more jobs will be lost as a result of this slash to the Infrastructure budget?
ANSWER
I do not accept the premise of the question. I will not comment on what is in the budget papers or what is not, I will leave that to the Treasurer.
The Infrastructure budget will be framed in a way that ensures we continue to invest in the Northern Territory and build our infrastructure to support growth in the economy. In previous years when the Infrastructure budget was at higher levels much of that was because of the stimulus money put in under the Building the Education Revolution under the previous Prime Minister …
The BER money that came into the Northern Territory was received well. It built infrastructure and put some support services in place, but it built on the federal government’s debt level so much that - we are waiting to see the federal budget tonight - the books in the federal parliament are nearly as bad as the books in the Territory parliament.
There are two elements to this and one thing in common; the one thing in common is Labor. The Prime Minister and the Treasurer in Canberra …
Ms LAWRIE: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Relevance, 113. I know the Chief Minister prefers to work in Canberra, but he is in Darwin, and we are talking about the Northern Territory budget. We are talking about your $64m slash to the Infrastructure budget and how many jobs will be lost …
Madam SPEAKER: Opposition Leader, it is not a point of order. Please be seated.
Mr GILES: We were talking about the Infrastructure budget, why more money came down in previous years and why the Infrastructure budget will be framed the way it is today. The important element to note is the amount of debt the federal government has put Australia in to give us that money. They were not just giving us money out of the coffers, they were borrowing money. The same way you borrowed money to pay wages.
We came in as a government with a $100m legacy of items not funded by your previous government: You had to borrow money to pay the wages of animal welfare officers and child protection workers as they were unfunded.
We are picking up your mess and trying to reduce your deficit of $1.2bn and your debt of $5.5bn. An Infrastructure budget will be released today by the Treasurer, in conjunction with the Infrastructure minister, which sets forth a platform on how we can build our economy through infrastructure, support small business and get the Territory back as one, whilst continuing to develop the regions. That is what it is all about. If you want to talk about the previous budgets, look at Canberra’s budget tonight and see how big their debt and deficit is and reflect upon yourself, because that is how you left the Northern Territory.
- … total infrastructure payments are expected to be $64m less than 2012-13 and will continue to decrease over the forward estimates …
There have already been 3600 full-time jobs slashed in the Territory under the CLP government’s decisions. How many more jobs will be lost as a result of this slash to the Infrastructure budget?
ANSWER
I do not accept the premise of the question. I will not comment on what is in the budget papers or what is not, I will leave that to the Treasurer.
The Infrastructure budget will be framed in a way that ensures we continue to invest in the Northern Territory and build our infrastructure to support growth in the economy. In previous years when the Infrastructure budget was at higher levels much of that was because of the stimulus money put in under the Building the Education Revolution under the previous Prime Minister …
The BER money that came into the Northern Territory was received well. It built infrastructure and put some support services in place, but it built on the federal government’s debt level so much that - we are waiting to see the federal budget tonight - the books in the federal parliament are nearly as bad as the books in the Territory parliament.
There are two elements to this and one thing in common; the one thing in common is Labor. The Prime Minister and the Treasurer in Canberra …
Ms LAWRIE: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Relevance, 113. I know the Chief Minister prefers to work in Canberra, but he is in Darwin, and we are talking about the Northern Territory budget. We are talking about your $64m slash to the Infrastructure budget and how many jobs will be lost …
Madam SPEAKER: Opposition Leader, it is not a point of order. Please be seated.
Mr GILES: We were talking about the Infrastructure budget, why more money came down in previous years and why the Infrastructure budget will be framed the way it is today. The important element to note is the amount of debt the federal government has put Australia in to give us that money. They were not just giving us money out of the coffers, they were borrowing money. The same way you borrowed money to pay wages.
We came in as a government with a $100m legacy of items not funded by your previous government: You had to borrow money to pay the wages of animal welfare officers and child protection workers as they were unfunded.
We are picking up your mess and trying to reduce your deficit of $1.2bn and your debt of $5.5bn. An Infrastructure budget will be released today by the Treasurer, in conjunction with the Infrastructure minister, which sets forth a platform on how we can build our economy through infrastructure, support small business and get the Territory back as one, whilst continuing to develop the regions. That is what it is all about. If you want to talk about the previous budgets, look at Canberra’s budget tonight and see how big their debt and deficit is and reflect upon yourself, because that is how you left the Northern Territory.
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016