Mrs HICKEY - 1997-04-24
If the Country Liberal Party administration's management of income and costs is as good as it tries to make Territorians believe it is, why did it need to grab back 2% of the total 1996-97 budget in the last 3 months of the financial year, which is equivalent to 8% of the allocation across all government departments, even though the Treasurer claims the departments were perfectly on target to meet their individual budgets?
ANSWER
Mr Speaker, what that process demonstrates is that the government has the capacity to manage firmly and responsibly the financial resources of the Northern Territory, to make difficult decisions and to ensure that the management of the economy and the finances of the Territory are appropriate. We have seen the way the Labor Party undertakes this type of management around the country. Premier Kennett had to impose specific taxes to rid Victorians of the incredible debts that were chalked up under a series of Labor administrations. We saw similar developments under South Australian and Western Australian Labor administrations. They developed because those Labor administrations, just like members opposite, did not have the capacity to manage firmly the financial resources for which they were responsible.
The Northern Territory has strong economic growth. It has low unemployment and it has high population growth. Those factors contribute to the wellbeing of Territorians because
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of the opportunities they afford them. It is incumbent on the government, just as it is incumbent on the private sector, to manage financial resources in a way that will best serve Territorians and put the funding in the priority areas where the biggest demands are. Most importantly, we must ensure that we do not get into a financial position that might be an embarrassment in the future or that might lead Territorians down the road of Labor administrations in other states where, over a period, governments get into cumulative debt.
There was a need to finetune our outlays in 1996-97 and to ensure that the budgetary process in 1997-98 was sound in financial terms, providing the government with the necessary flexibility to respond to community needs for expansion of services where areas of pressure existed, because of the increase in population and subsequent higher demands for services. The Territory government has the capacity to take tough decisions to ensure that its financial management is sound. I would not expect any of the members opposite to understand that, because they never have understood it in the past. They are not able even to read and correctly interpret the budget papers. They cannot understand that Senator Bob Collins did Territorians in the neck to the tune of $200m a year because of his failure to represent us as a Senator and as a minister in the past federal Labor administrations.
I take this opportunity to thank public servants - the managers and the workers in all departments and agencies - for their response to the government's measures to ensure that we do manage our financial resources correctly and appropriately and for the services that they provide to Territorians. They do a great job. They are criticised by members opposite, but they have responded in a very responsible way to the budgetary measures that this government has put in place. They know how these matters come about and why. They understand it much better than the opposition. I thank the public servants for their commitment to their jobs in ensuring that they manage their resources in the way that Territorians would expect them to do. It is a pity that the Labor members opposite cannot give similar credit to Territory public servants in that regard.
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ANSWER
Mr Speaker, what that process demonstrates is that the government has the capacity to manage firmly and responsibly the financial resources of the Northern Territory, to make difficult decisions and to ensure that the management of the economy and the finances of the Territory are appropriate. We have seen the way the Labor Party undertakes this type of management around the country. Premier Kennett had to impose specific taxes to rid Victorians of the incredible debts that were chalked up under a series of Labor administrations. We saw similar developments under South Australian and Western Australian Labor administrations. They developed because those Labor administrations, just like members opposite, did not have the capacity to manage firmly the financial resources for which they were responsible.
The Northern Territory has strong economic growth. It has low unemployment and it has high population growth. Those factors contribute to the wellbeing of Territorians because
Page 2064
of the opportunities they afford them. It is incumbent on the government, just as it is incumbent on the private sector, to manage financial resources in a way that will best serve Territorians and put the funding in the priority areas where the biggest demands are. Most importantly, we must ensure that we do not get into a financial position that might be an embarrassment in the future or that might lead Territorians down the road of Labor administrations in other states where, over a period, governments get into cumulative debt.
There was a need to finetune our outlays in 1996-97 and to ensure that the budgetary process in 1997-98 was sound in financial terms, providing the government with the necessary flexibility to respond to community needs for expansion of services where areas of pressure existed, because of the increase in population and subsequent higher demands for services. The Territory government has the capacity to take tough decisions to ensure that its financial management is sound. I would not expect any of the members opposite to understand that, because they never have understood it in the past. They are not able even to read and correctly interpret the budget papers. They cannot understand that Senator Bob Collins did Territorians in the neck to the tune of $200m a year because of his failure to represent us as a Senator and as a minister in the past federal Labor administrations.
I take this opportunity to thank public servants - the managers and the workers in all departments and agencies - for their response to the government's measures to ensure that we do manage our financial resources correctly and appropriately and for the services that they provide to Territorians. They do a great job. They are criticised by members opposite, but they have responded in a very responsible way to the budgetary measures that this government has put in place. They know how these matters come about and why. They understand it much better than the opposition. I thank the public servants for their commitment to their jobs in ensuring that they manage their resources in the way that Territorians would expect them to do. It is a pity that the Labor members opposite cannot give similar credit to Territory public servants in that regard.
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Last updated: 09 Aug 2016