Background:
Last Tuesday in the Upper House the Treasurer was accused of raiding amounts set aside to meet the unfunded superannuation liability. On Thursday he was offered a chance to explain.
Instead he admitted the claim by Ruth Forrest ( On Tasmanian Times HERE ) was correct, that there was no alternative, that he had no plan to overcome the problem except steady as she goes …
Ms FORREST (Question) – Madam President, my question is to the Treasurer. Treasurer, you informed this Chamber in answer to a question that I asked that the Temporary Debt Repayment Account will increase in the next four years by a total of $399 million to a grand total of $1.837 million. As I have identified recently, there is a distinct lack of cash to repay these borrowings from the TDRA. As far as I am aware, the only way to reduce this temporary overdraft is to borrow from elsewhere, sell assets or run cash surpluses. Treasurer, do you have any ideas that you may pass on to the new Treasurer on how to reduce this temporary overdraft and has the Government made any attempt to repay amounts to the TDRA during this term?
Mr AIRD – What is my stock phrase to you?
Ms Forrest – ‘You’re wrong’.
Members laughing.
Mr AIRD – No, I cannot use that on this occasion, Madam President, and I thank the honourable member for her question.
The issue is that in essence we have come through the global financial crisis and to do that we put in place an interim fiscal strategy to deal with it. The honourable member is right in part, that to achieve the balances that were required to come out of the global financial crisis we had to use our cash reserves and that is what the past couple of budgets have attempted to do.
The interim fiscal strategy provides a pathway to achieve different balances into the future. Obviously, the ideal would be to achieve cash balances similar to those of the last Budget prior to the GFC in 2008-09. Those balances represented a path where we could accumulate cash and deal with the issues that you have identified. That is the ideal fiscal strategy for the future as far as I see it but there can be other strategies other than the three that you have identified to deal with this to get the right balances – so we can achieve cash balances to deal with the situation.
Ms Forrest – What are they?
Mr AIRD – That is not for me to call now in terms of the next budget or the budget after that.
Ms Forrest – What would you advise into the future?
Mr AIRD – It is not for me to publicly advise a new treasurer – I could try but I am not going to do that. We are not out of the woods yet.
Mr Wilkinson – That’s what Little Red Riding Hood said.
Members laughing.
More interjections.
Mr AIRD – Madam President, I thank the member for her question. The interim fiscal strategy provides a pathway to achieving the types of solutions the honourable member thinks the best for the financial management of the State.
( The full transcript can be accessed at http://www.parliament.tas.gov.au/HansardCouncil/isysquery/673123f4-bb53-474b-8503-5fb09f342c70/1/doc/ )
First published: 2010-11-23 01:50 PM
