Mr ELFERINK - 2009-04-30
Predictably, you blame the speed of the global financial crisis for your woeful errors, but an analysis of the Commonwealth’s mid-year report - and bearing in mind that you refer to the Commonwealth as your source of information - released on 5 November 2008, exposes that falsity completely.
Ms Lawrie: Not true.
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Mr ELFERINK: Twenty days before you claimed there was going to be a surplus in 2009-10, the federal Treasurer had detailed the complete collapse of federal revenues for the year. That collapse would have inevitably made a huge hole in your budget. You were told before. On 25 November, you knew what you were telling Territorians was untrue. How, again, will you account for such a bald-faced inconsistency?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, the shadow Treasurer simply does not understand the work that occurs within Treasury to make, as accurate as they can, estimate revisions around the information we receive from the Commonwealth. We then work through Treasury officials to make an as accurate as they can estimate revisions downwards, accordingly. As those revised figures come to hand, I publicly articulate those revised figures.
I have consistently chosen to do that, as the Treasurer, because I believe it is important to be forthcoming and absolutely forthright with the Territory community about the impact of the global financial crisis on our revenue, and the impact on GST revenue to the Territory from the Commonwealth. I have said, consistently, that our own source revenue is holding. I had a debate in the Chamber with the shadow Treasurer who simply did not understand or accept that we had revised upwards royalty payments. At the time, he was saying it was a deception, it was wrong. It could be proven through receipts received and royalty payments that the figures I announced were correct.
What occurs is the Commonwealth makes revisions. Those revisions are analysed by Treasury officials. As soon as I have the outcome of that analysis, I go public with it. Bear in mind that these are analyses on latest figures; latest figures keep being revised downwards, as we have seen in the steep decline in GST revenue as a result of the decline in the nation’s economy. Bear in mind that at the time the shadow Treasurer is referring to, ‘deficit’ was still a dirty word amongst some of the Treasurers of our nation, and ‘recession’ was still not being mentioned by leaders of our nation. Both those words are frequently mentioned now.
Mr Tollner: That is right. They would not go anywhere near that word.
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Fong Lim, cease interjecting.
Ms LAWRIE: Deficits are frequently mentioned. I believe there is only one jurisdiction holding out hoping to come in with a surplus, in Victoria, and we are all watching that jurisdiction closely because they have negative growth predicted. All other jurisdictions, both at the federal government level and at the state level, have all said that they will face going into deficit. Why, Madam Speaker? Because we all know the importance of spending on critical infrastructure to protect the jobs of workers because, in global economic downturns, jobs are lost.
The experience of depression is something that our economic analysts have pored over in terms of appropriate responses to the current global financial crisis. The strong message coming from the International Monetary Fund, and others, is that governments must spend where private sector contraction is occurring. This government will spend on infrastructure to protect the jobs of Territorians.
Ms Lawrie: Not true.
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Mr ELFERINK: Twenty days before you claimed there was going to be a surplus in 2009-10, the federal Treasurer had detailed the complete collapse of federal revenues for the year. That collapse would have inevitably made a huge hole in your budget. You were told before. On 25 November, you knew what you were telling Territorians was untrue. How, again, will you account for such a bald-faced inconsistency?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, the shadow Treasurer simply does not understand the work that occurs within Treasury to make, as accurate as they can, estimate revisions around the information we receive from the Commonwealth. We then work through Treasury officials to make an as accurate as they can estimate revisions downwards, accordingly. As those revised figures come to hand, I publicly articulate those revised figures.
I have consistently chosen to do that, as the Treasurer, because I believe it is important to be forthcoming and absolutely forthright with the Territory community about the impact of the global financial crisis on our revenue, and the impact on GST revenue to the Territory from the Commonwealth. I have said, consistently, that our own source revenue is holding. I had a debate in the Chamber with the shadow Treasurer who simply did not understand or accept that we had revised upwards royalty payments. At the time, he was saying it was a deception, it was wrong. It could be proven through receipts received and royalty payments that the figures I announced were correct.
What occurs is the Commonwealth makes revisions. Those revisions are analysed by Treasury officials. As soon as I have the outcome of that analysis, I go public with it. Bear in mind that these are analyses on latest figures; latest figures keep being revised downwards, as we have seen in the steep decline in GST revenue as a result of the decline in the nation’s economy. Bear in mind that at the time the shadow Treasurer is referring to, ‘deficit’ was still a dirty word amongst some of the Treasurers of our nation, and ‘recession’ was still not being mentioned by leaders of our nation. Both those words are frequently mentioned now.
Mr Tollner: That is right. They would not go anywhere near that word.
Madam SPEAKER: Member for Fong Lim, cease interjecting.
Ms LAWRIE: Deficits are frequently mentioned. I believe there is only one jurisdiction holding out hoping to come in with a surplus, in Victoria, and we are all watching that jurisdiction closely because they have negative growth predicted. All other jurisdictions, both at the federal government level and at the state level, have all said that they will face going into deficit. Why, Madam Speaker? Because we all know the importance of spending on critical infrastructure to protect the jobs of workers because, in global economic downturns, jobs are lost.
The experience of depression is something that our economic analysts have pored over in terms of appropriate responses to the current global financial crisis. The strong message coming from the International Monetary Fund, and others, is that governments must spend where private sector contraction is occurring. This government will spend on infrastructure to protect the jobs of Territorians.
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016