Mr ELFERINK - 2009-04-30
On 25 November last year, you issued a media release finally admitting a $47m deficit for this financial year was headed our way, but also claimed that we would return to surplus in the year 2009-10. Just six weeks later, buried very deep in a media release, you finally acknowledged a whopper of a deficit for the 2009-10 year of $150m. Treasurer, how could you be $150m wrong in the space of six weeks, or is this just a case of another deceit by you and your government?
Dr BURNS: A point of order, Madam Speaker! There seems to be a lot of deception and deceit flowing from members opposite.
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order, order!
Dr BURNS: I really do ask that you rule on this. It is becoming a bit pervasive.
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Port Darwin, I ask you to reword the last part of that question, thank you.
Mr ELFERINK: Treasurer, how can you possibly justify such a monumental and mammoth inconsistency in the space of just six weeks?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, the figures announced in the mid-year report were based on revised Commonwealth figures of GST revenue. Sixty-seven per cent of the Territory revenue comes from GST, so accordingly we revised our figures. They appeared in the mid-year report where, for the first time, we talked about a deficit. I have had this debate with the shadow Treasurer previously. He seems to think that we do not suffer a buffeting effect from the global financial crisis. We will be buffeted and knocked around by the global financial crisis as will every single jurisdiction in Australia.
We are better placed than most. We are still seeing strength in our own source revenue, but we are seeing a steep decline and a plummet in our revenue coming from the GST payments from the Commonwealth. My previous answer went through that. The mid-year report talked about the figures we had as a result of the revised Commonwealth revenues.
The February announcement I made was at COAG, where we were in receipt of further revised figures coming out of the Commonwealth. What you do not do is ignore revisions down made by the Commonwealth. What you should do is, once revisions down are occurring from the Commonwealth, you accordingly revise your own figures. Quite appropriately, contrary to their claims of deception, at every stage as revisions downwards have occurred in GST revenue impacting on our bottom line, I have publicly announced what we estimate those figures to be, because there continue to be further revisions. The decline in revenues, and you will see this in the debate in the financial pages of all newspapers across our nation, continues to be there.
The debate is starting to appear that we are perhaps seeing some bottoming out in the United States from which we would all see a flow-on effect. No one as a Treasurer in this nation has been standing firm on figures they were announcing in November last year. No one has been standing firm on figures they announced in February of this year. I would anticipate budget announcements around the nation in the coming weeks of further revised downward figures.
Dr BURNS: A point of order, Madam Speaker! There seems to be a lot of deception and deceit flowing from members opposite.
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order, order!
Dr BURNS: I really do ask that you rule on this. It is becoming a bit pervasive.
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Port Darwin, I ask you to reword the last part of that question, thank you.
Mr ELFERINK: Treasurer, how can you possibly justify such a monumental and mammoth inconsistency in the space of just six weeks?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, the figures announced in the mid-year report were based on revised Commonwealth figures of GST revenue. Sixty-seven per cent of the Territory revenue comes from GST, so accordingly we revised our figures. They appeared in the mid-year report where, for the first time, we talked about a deficit. I have had this debate with the shadow Treasurer previously. He seems to think that we do not suffer a buffeting effect from the global financial crisis. We will be buffeted and knocked around by the global financial crisis as will every single jurisdiction in Australia.
We are better placed than most. We are still seeing strength in our own source revenue, but we are seeing a steep decline and a plummet in our revenue coming from the GST payments from the Commonwealth. My previous answer went through that. The mid-year report talked about the figures we had as a result of the revised Commonwealth revenues.
The February announcement I made was at COAG, where we were in receipt of further revised figures coming out of the Commonwealth. What you do not do is ignore revisions down made by the Commonwealth. What you should do is, once revisions down are occurring from the Commonwealth, you accordingly revise your own figures. Quite appropriately, contrary to their claims of deception, at every stage as revisions downwards have occurred in GST revenue impacting on our bottom line, I have publicly announced what we estimate those figures to be, because there continue to be further revisions. The decline in revenues, and you will see this in the debate in the financial pages of all newspapers across our nation, continues to be there.
The debate is starting to appear that we are perhaps seeing some bottoming out in the United States from which we would all see a flow-on effect. No one as a Treasurer in this nation has been standing firm on figures they were announcing in November last year. No one has been standing firm on figures they announced in February of this year. I would anticipate budget announcements around the nation in the coming weeks of further revised downward figures.
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016