Time for the Government to make good on Budget promises

THE Budget handed down by Treasurer Nicole Manison today will do more than set out the NT Government’s spending priorities for the coming financial year

NT Treasurer Nicole Manison with the 2019-20 Budget papers ahead of their release today. Picture: Glenn Campbell

THE Budget handed down by Treasurer Nicole Manison today will do more than set out the NT Government’s spending priorities for the coming financial year.

It will be a test of Labor’s commitment to its rhetoric around doing the “heavy lifting” to get its Budget back on track and cut out the irresponsible and unsustainable spending.

The Budget has a contracted infrastructure spend — this year’s $1.48 billion budget will be pruned back to $1.45 billion.

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While that’s not a huge reduction, for a Government that delights in spruiking its “record investment” in everything from housing to education, youth justice and the arts, doing so must sting.

Territorians expect those “hard decisions” we have been told about for the past six months to come to fruition.

We can’t just have lip service to fiscal discipline.

The Government needs to follow through on its promise to freeze growth within the public service and it needs to ensure overspending department heads are made accountable for their performance.

These are promises this Government has made before but has failed to keep. This time needs to be different.

Labor’s decision to continue with the Arafura Games before seeing the results of a cost/benefit analysis is worrying.

It points to the potential for more of the same big spending that has got us into this mess.

While today’s Budget is Ms Manison’s first in the post-Langoulant era, it will also be her last full Budget in this term of government. It’s make or break.