The Tasmanian Government Fiscal Sustainability Report released today is a desperate plea from the Treasury department for Will Hodgman and Peter Gutwein to fix the budget mess they created.
For years the Liberals have been lying about being good financial managers and now they have been called out by their own department.
The report shows that even using the wildly optimistic assumptions in this year's budget, net debt is projected to blow out to $4.5 billion by 2033. Based on historical trends net debt could balloon to $18.1 billion and could reach nearly $30 billion in a high expenditure scenario.
"After five years in power, the Hodgman Liberal Government has put Tasmania on a collision course with debt levels this state has never seen in its history," Mr O'Byrne.
"Peter Gutwein inherited a good set of books with no net debt in 2014. He has squandered the golden age and has put us on a pathway to debt that is the equivalent of $55,000 for every man, woman and child.
"This Report is an extraordinary intervention by Treasury that shows once and for all how badly the Liberals under Will Hodgman have trashed Tasmania's Budget. They simply cannot manage money.
"Perhaps the most concerning thing about this report is that even the best case scenario is based on dramatically underfunding health - not just now but for more than a decade to come.*
"Put simply, that means that on the Government's current path, by 2033 the health system is being forecast to receive half the funding it actually needs.
"The Budget problems created by Will Hodgman and Peter Gutwein, are why surgeries are being cut by 15% and why we're seeing horrific cases like the story of Spencer Connelly last night.
"Underfunding health and telling kids like Spencer Connelly that they have to wait longer for their surgery is not an acceptable solution to this mess.
"Tasmanians shouldn't have to pay for the Government's terrible financial management."
David O'Byrne MP
Shadow Treasurer
*Tasmanian Government Fiscal Sustainability Report, page 47 - "The projection methodology follows the Forward Estimates, with 2.25 per cent indexation applied for the remainder of the projection period, consistent with indexation in the 2019-20 Budget.
Page 7 - "Health expenditure is the largest single category of expenditure within the State Budget and has been growing at an average rate of 5.8 per cent per annum over the past decade."
