Mr GUNNER - 2012-12-05
Labor was pursuing a Commonwealth investment of $21.5m for a state-of-the-art TAFE facility at Charles Darwin University. Do you think your mini-budget cutting tertiary funding by $4m will help deliver this Commonwealth funding, which is on top of the 10% cut that was in your media release as Education minister yesterday? You have the wrong priorities. Why are you walking away from upskilling Territorians to take advantage of the emerging job opportunities we have?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, the plans and commitments of the former government have been factored in as much as we can and as much as they fit into the priorities of the new government. The new TAFE facility referred to by the member for Fannie Bay is part of the considerations and process we undertook in looking at what is feasible, given the limited finances which are available for new initiatives.
We are committed to education, there is no doubt about it, but we all know that with the escalating debts, the escalating financial or fiscal imbalance, things are tight. We cannot fund everything. We have had to make savings across the board which has included savings within Education.
To shed some light on what the member for Fannie Bay is referring to, there have been savings made in the behind-the-scenes sections of Education: a 10% reduction in support services and things that are seen as non-essential to the front line of providing education services in the Northern Territory. Those savings have been made very open and transparent by this government for some time now. There have been some positions lost through natural attrition and non-renewal of contracts. All up, over the forward estimates, those behind-the-scenes savings will amount to approximately 10%, not an overall saving of 10%, but behind the scenes.
It is difficult to understand, particularly for a former government which only knew about spending. The concept of savings was foreign to the former government. They did not know how to put money aside during the good times to save for a rainy day. It was all about spending. So, when we talk about savings the former government goes into a state of shock and despair and cannot imagine how you can live with savings.
Madam Speaker, what we provided yesterday in the mini-budget is a very balanced plan of attack of how we will get through these exceedingly difficult times in the Northern Territory.
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, the plans and commitments of the former government have been factored in as much as we can and as much as they fit into the priorities of the new government. The new TAFE facility referred to by the member for Fannie Bay is part of the considerations and process we undertook in looking at what is feasible, given the limited finances which are available for new initiatives.
We are committed to education, there is no doubt about it, but we all know that with the escalating debts, the escalating financial or fiscal imbalance, things are tight. We cannot fund everything. We have had to make savings across the board which has included savings within Education.
To shed some light on what the member for Fannie Bay is referring to, there have been savings made in the behind-the-scenes sections of Education: a 10% reduction in support services and things that are seen as non-essential to the front line of providing education services in the Northern Territory. Those savings have been made very open and transparent by this government for some time now. There have been some positions lost through natural attrition and non-renewal of contracts. All up, over the forward estimates, those behind-the-scenes savings will amount to approximately 10%, not an overall saving of 10%, but behind the scenes.
It is difficult to understand, particularly for a former government which only knew about spending. The concept of savings was foreign to the former government. They did not know how to put money aside during the good times to save for a rainy day. It was all about spending. So, when we talk about savings the former government goes into a state of shock and despair and cannot imagine how you can live with savings.
Madam Speaker, what we provided yesterday in the mini-budget is a very balanced plan of attack of how we will get through these exceedingly difficult times in the Northern Territory.
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016