Today’s release of the Preliminary Outcomes Report outlines in detail why Tasmania needs strong fiscal management.

The Preliminary Outcomes Report shows that under Labor and the Greens, Tasmania’s finances continued to worsen right until the end.

The Net Operating Balance for 2013-14 shows a deficit of $157.4 million; however the underlying net operating balance is actually expected to be a staggering deficit of $398.7 million.

The underlying deficit shows the true position of the budget after the timing issues of some transactions are taken into account, with some revenues expected in 2014-15 being received early and some expenditure anticipated in 2013-14 now being budgeted for 2014-15.

The underlying $398.7 million deficit is a significant deterioration on what was forecast in the original 2013-14 budget and is further proof of why we need to fix the budget mess left by Labor and the Greens.

The report clearly highlights Labor and the Green’s failure to rein in public sector wages and meet their savings targets. In fact public sector wages are a massive $153 million more in 2013/14 than were forecast just three years earlier.

This makes the case for public sector wages to be reined in. The only two ways to do this are either significant job losses or a pay pause, which is why the Liberal Government has proposed a pay pause.

This measure will save around $50 million a year and save more than 500 of the 1000 job cuts Labor left embedded in their budget.

While this report clearly shows that some tough choices will have to be made, the August 28 budget will not be a slash and burn budget. We will take the necessary steps to make sure that the budget continues to restore confidence, supports economic growth, creates jobs and delivers the vital frontline services that Tasmanians deserve.

If we don’t get the budget onto a sustainable pathway now, the task will just get harder and the action required to fix the budget will need to be more severe.

The Liberal Government will rebuild the budget. Day-by-day, dollar-by-dollar. We are implementing a sensible plan that delivers on all of our election commitments, rebuilds the budget and lays the foundations for the future.

The report can be found at: http://www.treasury.tas.gov.au/domino/dtf/dtf.nsf/LookupFiles/2013-2014-Preliminary-Outcomes-Report.pdf/$file/2013-2014-Preliminary-Outcomes-Report.pdf
Peter Gutwein, Treasurer