Rockliff and White on state debt (23/3/24)

The Examiner

We asked Jeremy Rockliff and Rebecca White how their governments would alleviate state debt. Video by Aaron Smith and Paul Scambler (23/3/24)

Transcript

00:00 Hi, my name's Craig Thompson. I'm the editor of the Launceston Examiner.

00:03 Today we continue our series of reader questions for the Premier and the Opposition Leader.

00:07 How does your government plan to pay off the state debt without bashing the taxpayer?

00:13 We do have state debt and it's a fair point to make that the state's finances

00:17 are in a very bad condition. We're heading towards $6.1 billion in debt over the forward estimates.

00:24 This is a Liberal government 10 years ago that came into government with cash in the bank from

00:28 the former Labor government. And they've spent it all and racked up massive deficits and debt.

00:33 And what have we got to show for it? Not a better health outcome for people who are waiting for

00:37 health treatment, not a better housing system, poor education outcomes. I think there are questions

00:42 that the Liberal government should explain to Tasmanians about how they've used that money.

00:46 We would be responsible about the expenditure of taxpayer funds. We're obviously the custodians

00:51 of that on behalf of everybody. We've already made a commitment around making sure that we

00:56 freeze expenditure on consultants, advertising and travel at 2020 levels. That would save

01:02 significant amounts of money because of the amount of money the government is spending on

01:05 those things since that time. We'd reinvest that both in addressing some of the challenges we have

01:11 around our debt and deficit, but also investing it in our priority areas to tackle cost of living

01:15 challenges and repairing our health system. But one of the things we can do to start tackling

01:20 our growing debt and deficit problem is to have a productive economy. And that's where we see

01:25 Hydro working for us to underpin economic activity across the state, investing in more renewable

01:31 energy generation, inviting manufacturing businesses to come here as well as expand here

01:36 because we have existing ones who are currently constrained because they haven't got enough energy.

01:40 That's a handbrake on jobs. It's a handbrake on economic activity. It's also a handbrake on

01:45 taxes coming to government so that we can repair that debt problem.

01:49 We have got some of the lowest net debt per capita of any other state of Australia. And

01:56 that's because we've always had prudent financial management. Part of our 2030 Strong Plan for

02:01 Tasmania's future is about the right investments, ensuring that we take care of cost of living and

02:08 housing and all those areas that Tasmanians care about, but doing it responsibly. Our political

02:13 opponents are outspending us two to one. Their promises, frankly, are unaffordable. And they're

02:20 throwing money around like confetti. We've been very sensible. We have managed budget surpluses

02:26 leading up to COVID. But we also spent and invested wisely some one and a half to $2 billion

02:33 through COVID to keep Tasmanians alive, well and in work. A very good investment indeed.

02:40 And we're ensuring that we have a very strong fiscal management moving forward,

02:44 balancing our budget, no new taxes, and ensuring that we can be responsible by maintaining

02:54 our credit ratings in terms of our AA2 and AA+ ratings to ensure that's Moody's as an example,

03:01 to ensure the investments we're making forward are the right investments, the key investments

03:08 in our housing, in our health, in our schools as well, but also growing our economy. And what is

03:15 important, and when we've seen how we've come the last 10 years, 53,000 more jobs, we're leading

03:21 the nation on most key economic indicators. That's how you ensure you balance the investments you

03:29 make, protecting taxpayers' dollars and balancing budgets by ensuring you have the right incentives

03:36 to grow the economy, support for small business, for example, support for business, investing those

03:42 key areas across Northern Tasmania. And I acknowledge Northern Tasmania is, if you like,

03:47 the small and medium business hub. It all happens in rural and regional Tasmania. And we've got to

03:53 be thankful for the hard work of our business people in Northern Tasmania, because that money

03:58 flows right throughout Tasmania and allows us to fund those essential services. But we've got to

04:03 maintain a very prudent and sensible budget management so we can afford, like we did pre-COVID,

04:11 save for a rainy day and ensure that we balance those budgets moving forward.

04:16 [BLANK_AUDIO]

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