Damning correspondence released today shows
Departments were told how in June how much Will Hodgman and Peter Gutwein would
be cutting from their budgets.
The correspondence also shows Department heads were
given just seven days to find the $450 million of cuts. The heads of the Health
and Communities Departments asked for an extension of time to identify where
the cuts would be made, but were rebuffed by Treasury.
Correspondence from the head of DPIPWE shows Minister
Gutwein was not even consulted before the plan for cuts from that Agency was
submitted.
Shadow Treasurer David O’Byrne said Will Hodgman needs
to finally admit to Tasmanians where the cuts will be coming from.
“Will Hodgman has known exactly how much will be cut
from each Department since June,” Mr O’Byrne said.
“It was Will Hodgman’s reckless election spending and
his Treasurer’s hopeless budget mismanagement that have us hurtling beyond $1
billion of debt. To refuse to level with the Tasmanian people now is just
completely gutless.
“Will Hodgman needs to own up to his mistakes and
start being honest with the Tasmanian public.
Labor Leader Rebecca White said it was clear Will
Hodgman’s chaotic cuts would hurt Tasmanians.
“The heads of the Health and Communities Departments
told Will Hodgman they would struggle to find the significant savings in just
seven days,” she said.
“Despite promises from Will Hodgman that frontline
services will not be affected, the head of Department of Communities said that
she needed ‘the time to carefully consider the definition of frontline
services and test this with Ministers’.
“The end result of all this dysfunction will be that
Tasmanians will have services cut.
“Will Hodgman’s rush to cover up his Budget mismanagement with savage cuts means Tasmanians are languishing on surgery waiting lists, are unable to rely on an ambulance being available when they need one, and can’t get a job because infrastructure projects have been delayed.”
Rebecca White MP
Labor Leader
David O’Byrne MP
Shadow Treasurer
