Born-again Treasurer Dave Tollner may believe the government including $7.6 million in the budget to move Katherine’s paramedics out of a flood zone demonstrates its “unwavering” commitment to safety, but what it really represents is the recycling of a funding promise that has surpassed its use-by date.

The funding to relocate the ambulance station to the existing emergency services precinct was part of a questionable $25m sweetener dangled in front of the Katherine community in November in the midst of the sale of insurer TIO.

Now, the menagerie of muppets on the fifth floor is trying to pass it off as an additional windfall for the town by neglecting to mention it and TIO in the same sentence.

Even in a safe Country Liberal Party seat like Katherine, voters are unlikely to fall for such an amateur sleight of hand.

There are numerous elements of the budget that will pay big dividends for Katherine residents and those of surrounding communities, like the $6.36m for Kintore Street School and Katherine School of the Air that will ensure neither special needs nor geography will prohibit students from reaching their educational potential.

Unfortunately, there are other aspects that suggest the Giles government thinks Katherinites have the attention spans of goldfish and will fail to recognise a carrot that bears a striking resemblance to one paraded less than six months ago to justify the unpopular sell-off of a Territory asset.