Territory Treasurer Nicole Manison denies budget crisis despite grim deficit figures

THERE is no ‘budget crisis’ according to Northern Territory Treasurer Nicole Manison

‘No crisis’ ... Treasurer Nicole Manison looks on as Chief Minister Michael Gunner speaks at Government House.

THERE  is no “budget crisis” according to Territory Treasurer Nicole Manison.

That’s despite the release of a grim set of figures last week which revealed the Government is borrowing money to pay its day-to-day expenses ­including the salaries of public servants and interest payments on money already borrowed.

“I don’t think the Budget is in crisis because we are very much so going to manage a sustainable path going ­forward,” Ms Manison said.

“We are absolutely determined to make the changes so there is a sustainable Budget.”

The Government is yet to come up with a plan to tackle the ballooning debt, which is projected to hit $35 billion in a decade unless it reins in its spending.

It has set a target to cut ­expenditure growth from 6 per cent to 3 per cent but is yet to announce any cost-cutting measures.

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At the weekend, Chief Minister Michael Gunner told the NT News he didn’t believe his Labor Government had made any incorrect spending ­decisions.

Ms Manison met with ­Opposition treasury spokesman Chris Bowen in Adelaide on Tuesday to discuss the ­unfolding ‘non-crisis’.

She will meet with Treasurer Josh Frydenberg in Melbourne today.

Quarantining Commonwealth infrastructure payments so as not to affect the Territory’s GST take is one ­initiative Ms Manison is pushing for.

She gave her backing to the public service’s highly paid chief executives, describing them as “passionate and dedicated” public servants.

“I think our chief executives work incredibly hard,” Ms Manison said.

“But there is no doubt we have some significant demand pressures on some of our key agencies.”

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Political economist Rolf Gerritsen said the Gunner Government needs to cut and change the structure of the NT public service because it was “vastly oversized and top-heavy”.

Kay Densley, NT secretary at the Community and Public Sector Union, said she thinks that would be a “recipe for ­disaster”.

“The idea that we have a ballooning public sector is frankly ridiculous,” she said.

“Budgets and staff numbers have been cut consistently for years, meaning any further cuts would hurt the quality and reliability of essential public services. Slashing the NT ­public ­service would be a case of ­cutting off our own noses, making things worse, not ­better, for the local economy and community.”

Chamber of Commerce CEO Greg Bicknell said he thinks the Government should review every cent it’s spending, including with the public ­service.

“They shouldn’t take it off the table; there comes a time when hard decisions need to be made and that’s now,” he said.

Faced with a forecast deficit of more than $1.5 billion this year, the NT Government needs to put its “reckless spending” behind it, according to Satya Marar, a policy director at the Australian Taxpayers’ Alliance (ATA).

“The Territory Government blames its fiscal woes on cuts to GST payments and the wrap-up of the Inpex gas ­project,” she said.

“Yet years of reckless spending, including a $150,000 trial on a driverless bus that travelled at 5km/h, and $3.5 million on a light show, ­demonstrate that these are merely scapegoats for poor ­fiscal management which wouldn’t pass the pub test.”

She said ATA has lobbied the Government to introduce an expenditure transparency portal, which allows the public to monitor how our money is spent in real-time without ­expensive FOI requests.

When asked if she had ­expected the level of fury from the public at the state of the books, Ms Manison said Territorians were passionate about their home and wanted to see it succeed.

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