‘You have no plan’: Opposition Leader Lia Finocchiaro blasts Gunner government for lack of vision, hope in Budget reply speech
IRRESPONSIBLE and wasteful spending is threatening the Territory’s ability to govern itself, Opposition Leader Lia Finocchiaro has said, as she used her budget reply speech to fire a warning shot that suggested Territorians may not have to wait four years for a change in government.
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IRRESPONSIBLE and wasteful spending is threatening the Territory’s ability to govern itself, Opposition Leader Lia Finocchiaro has said, as she used her budget reply speech to fire a warning shot that suggested Territorians may not have to wait four years for a change in government.
Underlining again that the Territory’s financial state was dreadful far before the coronavirus crisis, Ms Finocchiaro also blasted Chief Minister Michael Gunner for failing to deliver a budget of hope to the thousands of Territorians who “desperately want to believe that your government has a plan”.
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Chief Minister Michael Gunner on Tuesday delivered a frugal pandemic-era budget with “no needless spendathon” as the government banked on a small business-sector led recovery.
Budget forecasts revealed debt would balloon to $8.4bn this financial year, as the deficit doubles to hit $2.45bn.
By mid-2025 it will cost the Territory $1.4m a day to service the debt.
Ms Finocchiaro, who yesterday described the budget as “lacklustre” and “dispassionate”, used her budget reply speech to savage the Gunner Government’s record on the economy as the reason why the Territory was in the deepest financial hole it had ever been in as it emerges from the pandemic.
“Yesterday’s budget was a disappointing admission that you have no plan to grow our economy, no plan to manage our debt, no plan to tackle crime,” she said.
“No money, no capability and no vision for the future.
“Territorians cannot afford the government to continue spending in a wasteful irresponsible way that quite literally threatens our ability to govern for ourselves.”
Referencing her federal colleague Treasurer Josh Frydenberg, Ms Finocchiaro said the Commonwealth had been able to deliver unprecedented financial support to Australians because it entered the crisis from a “position of economic strength”.
“This is not the case in the Territory and irresponsible spending by the government, coupled with a grossly negligent and incompetent delivery of an extremely weak economy has put Territorians in the perilous position we face today,” she said.
“The solution to fixing the budget black hole that we find ourselves in is growing the economy.
“That is the only way to turn things around growing the economy will create jobs, increase our population and grow our share of the GST, but the only way to do this is to drive wealth generating projects in the territory on both small and large scale to be the best and easiest place to do business.”
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Ms Finocchiaro said the government needed to lay the groundwork for the future now and if the Territory does not play to its strengths, like the resource sector, the economy would be in an even worse condition by the end of the decade.
“When Territorians wanted a vision you delivered spin. When Territorians needed a plan, you delivered slogans, where Territorians have sought a future, you have delivered a future of debt and uncertainty,” she said.
“Territorians deserve better. They know it. We know it.
“You know what, my sincere hope is that they don’t have to wait four long years to get it.”
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