Budget report battle heats up

TREASURER Peter Gutwein and Labor counterpart David O’Byrne have traded barbs in parliament as their battle continues over the Government’s management of the budget.

In Question Time, opposition treasury spokesman Mr O’Byrne said Mr Gutwein was too embarrassed to show his face on the day Treasury’s Fiscal Sustainability Report was released last week.

The report projected the state could be plunged into between $4 billion and $29 billion of net debt by 2033-34 unless new revenue sources were found, and recommended reform to the taxation system.

Mr O’Byrne labelled Mr Gutwein the “tap-and-go treasurer”.

“You’re just tapping away, racking up the debt on the platinum credit card,’’ Mr O’Byrne said.

Mr Gutwein responded, saying Mr O’Byrne was having a “bob each way” and coined him “Two Bob O’Byrne”.

Mr Gutwein said the four scenarios in the report were projections, not forecasts.

“The Treasury report is a useful document, but that’s all it is,’’ he said.

“It projects over a long period of time without Government taking any corrective action, and that’s what this Government has always been prepared to.”

Mr O’Byrne later said the report was alarming. “It is the Treasury ringing the bell on the appalling management of the budget,’’ he said.

Speaker Sue Hickey ejected Mr O’Byrne from the chamber nearing the end of question time. “It’s time for coffee,’’ she said.

At the start of Question Time, Ms Hickey had vowed to clamp down on the behaviour of MPs. She described some sessions in the past sitting of parliament as “relatively unpleasant” and said proceedings should reflect “a safe and respectful workplace for all of us”.