Barbs over fiscal prudence
TREASURER Peter Gutwein and his Opposition counterpart Scott Bacon have accused each other’s parties of reckless financial management and claimed theirs was the only responsible choice in Saturday’s state election.
The jousting came at yesterday’s Mercury/ TCCI Treasurers Debate in Hobart.
The debate — moderated by Mercury editor Chris Jones — traversed health and education funding, GST cutbacks, the Hobart rental crisis, poker machine regulation, Budget responsibility and the respective fiscal record of the two major parties.
Mr Gutwein was keen to promote the Liberal record in government — and as the only realistic prospect for majority rule, while Mr Bacon painted Labor as responsible entrepreneurs with a social conscience.
Mr Bacon said in its desperation too hang onto power, the government was placing the budget at risk through reckless spending promises.
“The Liberals have racked up $2.7 billion worth of additional spending and there’s still five days to go,” he said of the campaign. “Everything the Treasurer says today needs to be weighed against the fact that the Treasurer is allowing Will Hodgman and panicked backbenchers to make $2.7 billion worth of promises. I don’t believe the Tasmanian budget is in a position to absorb that level of additional spending.”
Mr Bacon said the threat to the state’s GST revenues had never been higher than now — and the Liberals were seeking a mandate for another four years of “minding the store”.
“The greatest disappointment with the current Government is that they have made an art form of not making decision, or of only making decisions that are politically popular,” Mr Bacon said.
“If you strip away the spin, the targets and the glossy brochures, you are left with a government that has failed to invest in water and sewerage infrastructure, failed to deliver a single statewide planning scheme, compromised our energy security costing the budget $180 million and presided over a loss of full-time jobs.
But Mr Gutwein stressed that the state’s current economic good fortunes were due to the Liberal Government
“We had a plan after the last election and that was to deliver strong stable majority government, to grow confidence, to attract investment and to create jobs. And in respect to that plan we have stuck to it by the letter.”
The choice could not be clearer. Only the Liberals have a plan for Tasmania, only the Liberals can deliver stable majority government.
— PETER GUTWEIN
Everything the Treasurer says today needs to be weighed against the fact that the Treasurer is allowing Will Hodgman and panicked backbenchers to make $2.7 billion worth of promises.
— SCOTT BACON
Mr Gutwein said only the Liberals could deliver more of the same: “The choice could not be clearer. Only the Liberals have a plan for Tasmania, only the Liberals can deliver stable majority government.
“The state today is in a far different place than when we came into government in 2014. The budget in 2014 was covered in red. Two out of every three businesses thought that Labor and the Greens were working against them, confidence had collapsed.
“We outlined our plan to fix that mess and I’m very proud of the job we have done.”
Both Mr Gutwein and Mr Bacon said their parties had no interest in forming a government in minority.