Territorians expect strong leadership, a government they can trust to deliver on their promises, a strong economy, speedier approval processes and action 'to get things done'.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Now, more than ever, the Northern Territory needs the steady hand of a competent government - one which is reliable, accountable and smart.
And one which looks deeper than a tagline or catchy phrase.
(The) 2017 budget stated that savings measures would be $74 million for 2017/18 and $828 million over the forward estimates.
Well, as at 30 June 2018, it has cost Territory taxpayers an additional $478.4 million in operational expenditure since this Gunner Labor government came to power in 2016 and we have 903 additional public sector employees to the end of December 2018.
What a hash (they) have made of things, (they) have not delivered certainty and confidence in our economy, as promised in Budget 2017.
Instead we have seen: . The construction sector halved . Residential property prices drop more than 25%.
No major projects or cranes on the horizon.
More reading:
Lowest level of business confidence in the country as confirmed by Commsec and Sensisvi .
Northern Territory bankruptcies are up 67% in the last year alone. Retail trade growth down since Labor came to government.
On April 16 the Chief Minister and Treasurer delivered the Final Report - "A Plan for Budget Repair".
At the time, the Treasurer said it was - "a plan to fix the budget, which will include tough decisions to ensure Government can continue investing in local jobs, generational change and tackling crime."
The Government wants to be seen as doing something but this repair plan is over a time frame that includes three Territory general elections.
I don't see the Treasurer making tough decisions, she uses spin to mask the truth. Where is the leadership, where are the promised tough decisions, it is no wonder Territorians don't have any confidence in this Gunner Labor government to turn our failed economy around.
Budget 2019 is the worst budget in the Territory's history.
It has seen the Territory's Net Debt jump by the biggest amount ever in the Territory's history. A $2 billion increase in Net Debt in just 12 months is simply incompetent and one that can't be dismissed by saying it is an accounting standard change - that is simply untrue.
At the end of this financial year, the expected debt is $6.2 billion. This leaves our Net Debt to Revenue Ratio at 93%. When we handed over the books the ratio was 27%. This is a key measure of our Territory's ability to service our debt.
This is even worse than I feared.
A million dollars a day to pay the interest on the debt.
The Opposition believe that at this time of economic and fiscal crisis with the government spending $4m every day more than it has , then it should be government's priority to make it easier not harder to invest in the Territory.
The Territory is broke.
We are living way beyond our means.
Today I pledge to Territorians that a CLP Government will end the waste, axe the lazy Labor taxes, and build the roads and other infrastructure of the 21st Century.
Under a CLP government we will have smaller government and only people and programs that benefit Territorians will be funded. We will build the foundational infrastructure for a globally significant and competitive onshore oil and gas industry.
We will invest in transformational water infrastructure such as dams, off stream storage, managed aquifer recharge programs and water networks.
Other than the underground car park, which has no cost benefit analysis, let alone an operating model, the Opposition supports the completion of the State Square project.
And we will put making money above spending money at the heart of our government.
We will focus on growing the Territory's revenue, not through increasing taxes and destroying our lifestyle, but by growing our economy through private sector investment. Read my lips there will be no cuts to front line staff.
We will reduce the cost of delivering government services, we will remove the silos that dominate government service delivery, we will reduce the waste, we will speed up government approval processes, we will reduce the debt burden and we will return the Budget to surplus sooner than in a decade's time.
Because we trust Territorians to spend their money better than Government, we make this promise to all small and medium Territory businesses- we will review your payroll tax with a view to abolishing it once we see the true state of the Territory's finances.
We will review all the alcohol reform measures imposed by this government to see what has been effective and what hasn't, we will scrap the floor price for alcohol and bin the useless My Fuel website waste.
We will also scrap the hybrid mining tax and the vacant and derelict site property tax.
We will ensure strategic investment which creates sustainable employment in the private sector. We will invest in a diversified portfolio of infrastructure related projects such as beef and mango roads that generate real wealth and unlock opportunity.
And we will get the Territory off the road to ruin and back in the black.
