Treasurer Abetz fumbled his way through a Budget Estimates hearing today unable to provide any explanation of the many costs his budget doesn’t account for, demonstrating his claimed “pathway to surplus” is nothing but a sham.
With a billion-dollar-plus stadium to build, the Treasurer has confirmed 2800 public service jobs will be cut, and disturbingly Treasury officials have identified over-expenditure has been identified in the implementation of Commission of Inquiry recommendations. One “known risk” is the out of home care sector.
The Treasurer confirmed there is no program for redundancies, compulsory or otherwise, and that government agencies have not produced any targets on which positions should go, from which agency or when.
This Treasurer’s rubbery grasp of the states finances would be comical if it wasn’t so serious – the stadium austerity and subterfuge era is well and truly upon us, and no service of public need will be spared.
Treasury officials confirmed high debt serving costs would mean ‘less public servants’, a clear sign that reckless spending and borrowing, topped off by a stadium we can’t afford, will result in stadium austerity and cuts to public services.
Treasurer Abetz also confirmed no modelling exists about the operating costs of the Macquarie Point stadium but confirmed that ongoing equity injections would be required to keep the lights on. He later corrected himself, asserting that Stadiums Tasmania expects to cover some costs, excluding maintenance expenditure.
The lights of the stadium appear to be blinding the Treasurer, while Tasmania’s most vulnerable are being driven into darkness.
