NT Government backflips, will provide forecasts to Territorians before August election after all

IT was deemed impossible, but Territorians have now been promised forecasts of the NT’s finances before the August election, after a major about-turn by Chief Minister Michael Gunner

IT was deemed impossible, but Territorians have now been promised forecasts of the NT’s finances before the election, after an about turn by Chief Minister Michael Gunner.

The NT Government has repeatedly refused to commit to releasing a budget or updated forecasts prior to the August election because of the great economic uncertainty brought on by the coronavirus.

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Chief Minister Michael Gunner said the NT was now ‘absolutely’ in a position to provide reliable forecasts. Picture: Che Chorley

The legal requirement to “publicly release or table a pre-election fiscal outlook report” was also scrapped during an emergency sitting of Parliament in March, a move that has been described by economists as a “cop out”.

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But Chief Minister Michael Gunner said the NT was now “absolutely” in a position to provide reliable forecasts and he’s tasked Treasury staff to draw inspiration from Tasmania’s recently released nation-leading budget outlook and find out what figures they need from their Federal counterparts to make it happen before August.

“I’m waiting for advice to come back from Treasury about when they think that they’ll be able do that, how we can do it and I’ll be able to tell you exactly how we’re doing it,” he said.

In contrast, Treasurer Nicole Manison less than two weeks ago refused to release a fiscal outlook similar to what had been done by the Tasmania government, albeit with clear caveats about forecasting uncertainty.

Grattan Institute analyst Kate Griffiths said the NT Government’s original decision to completely scrap a fiscal outlook was “remarkable” even in times of crisis.

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“To not publish anything is to really leave everyone in the dark,” she said.

University of Tasmania economist Dr Paul Blacklow said it was “much more difficult” to draw up forecasts in the current economic climate but was surprised that NT Treasury wouldn’t “give it a whirl”.