If the Territory was a private business it would be bankrupt, Agriculture Minister Ken Vowles tells Government colleagues in leaked email

IF the Territory was a private business it would be bankrupt and shut down, Agriculture Minister Ken Vowles has told Government colleagues as they face a worsening debt crisis, a leaked email reveals

Leaked email ... Agriculture Minister Ken Vowles looks on at Chief Minister Michael Gunner and Treasurer Nicole Manison

LABOR members need to “park their egos” to rein in excessive spending and address the Territory’s debt crisis or they will be out of the job, a leaked email has warned.

The email sent to government members by Agriculture Minister Ken Vowles and passed on to the NT News by a fifth floor source, gives a blunt assessment of the Territory’s Budget situation.

In it, Mr Vowles described the level of debt as “ridiculous” and called for investment to be targeted at projects which would create a return on investment.

“Our commitments need to be revisited, our public service growth must stop, a real freeze on new positions, the business (class) trips, the chartered flights and spending needs to stop,” he wrote.

“We need to re-evaluate every announcement, every commitment, because we need to make the hard decisions for the future of the Territory, not decisions to enhance our re-election prospects.”

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Mr Vowles warned his colleagues the community had “clearly lost faith in us and in our ability to manage the Territory and our budget for them”.

Without a change of tack, “most of us will be looking for jobs in September 2020”, he warned.

In an attached email sent earlier to Cabinet members, Mr Vowles called for public service bureaucrats to be held accountable for “huge overspends” and “mismanagement”, singling out Department of Chief Minister head Jodie Ryan.

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“How can the CEO of DCM not be held accountable for another blow out and overspends by our department when as we know WE will be held accountable for the budget blow outs and cuts to the public sector we will need to undertake to ‘recoup’ the overspends.

“Enough is enough.

“If this was a private business we would be trading insolvent, it would have closed up, sold the house, sold the cars and be bankrupt.

“It doesn’t pass the pub test, it won’t pass any test.”

The email exposes growing disquiet among members about the Government’s direction.

Tensions within caucus were inflamed by the timing of the debt bombshell, which was dropped hours before Mr Gunner took off on a holiday to New Zealand.

Ms Ryan and under treasurer Craig Graham were spotted at Shenannigans on the evening that the NT’s dire fiscal situation was publicly released.