Tasmania’s flimsy $57 million surplus, announced in the Treasurer’s humiliating 2019-20 State Budget has already been smashed to pieces by fresh spending announced by the Government in the past two months.
In recent weeks the Government has announced:
- A new state of the art 50 bed drug and alcohol, and adolescent mental health facility, with step-down units – with conservative estimated capital costs of more than $50 million.
- $5 million for emergency accommodation following the government’s homelessness crisis talks.
- $1.4 million for the Healthy Communities Fund, in one last ditch effort to save Michael Ferguson’s job.
- $300,000 for the NBL blitz to be held in Hobart in September.
Shadow Treasurer, Scott Bacon, said the Government’s balance-sheet was a mess and the community deserved straight answers.
“After announcing that the Budget is heading into $1.1 billion in debt, the Government’s surplus has been squandered in less than two months,” Mr Bacon said.
“The Treasurer has to now finally tell the truth – that he’s recklessly spending much more than the Government earns. This is something he and the Premier promised they would never do.
At the same time, the Premier and the Treasurer have told Departmental Secretaries where to cut $450 million from but has yet to come clean with Tasmanians.
“Will Hodgman and Peter Gutwein have wasted the good times, and are now demanding Tasmanians pay for it with cuts to jobs and services,” Mr Bacon said.
“The Government’s secret razor gang has told Departments where to cut jobs, including from crisis areas like health and housing but they are hiding these details from Tasmanians.
“The Government must today detail exact which jobs and services will be cut to pay for its gross financial mismanagement.”
Scott Bacon MP
Shadow Treasurer
