Treasurer Peter Gutwein defends sending Tasmania into debt during budget estimates committee hearings

Treasurer Peter Gutwein has repeatedly refused to admit that his budget had broken a Liberal Party election promise.

TREASURER Peter Gutwein says he makes no apologies for sending the estate into net debt in his latest budget.

Mr Gutwein has been grilled about the decision during budget estimates committee hearings in Hobart this morning.

Treasurer Peter Gutwein speaks to the media at Parliament House in Hobart.

He repeatedly refused to admit that his budget had broken a Liberal Party election promise that the state would remain net debt free.

“I think it’s apparent to everyone that there are headwinds in the nation economy, it is slowing and we had a half billion dollar revenue write down,” he said.

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“So what the government has decided to do in this budget is rather than step back we’ve stepped up and we’ve underpinned our investment in infrastructure.”

Under repeated questioning from Labor MP Scott Bacon, Mr Gutwein repeatedly declined to admit he had broken a promise.

“We have made choices based on the circumstances that we face and we make no apology for that,” he said.

And he lashed Labor for failing to produce an alternative budget.

“Either you were too lazy or you couldn’t come up with an idea,” he said.