Mr BAYLEY - Treasurer, has the Government had to make any payments to TASCORP in the last 10 years as guarantor?
Mr FERGUSON - We have legislated the guarantee, but in my 18 months as Treasurer no payments indicating to me, nothing in the last 10 years.
Mr BAYLEY - With that recently legislated guarantee, should you need to enact that provision and act as guarantor, how are those payments made public? Is it transparent and will that be announced and declared at the time? I would imagine there would be a public expectation any payout from Government to TASCORP would be transparent and on the public record.
Mr FERGUSON - First of all it would be a most unusual circumstance, hypothetical scenario, but nonetheless, the legislation deliberately provides for it. You'd be seeing headlines on every major paper, probably Australian papers, national papers and it would be very transparent because there would need to be a provision from the public account.
Mr FERRALL - Apart from some catastrophic instant failure of one of our major businesses, this would have a very long lead time, and to the point where TASCORP would call on the Treasurer's guarantee, would have to be at the point where the entity had no capacity to support the debt. That's not something that would happen instantly. As the Treasurer said, any call against that guarantee there would be a very long lead time and be a very public process.
CHAIR - It would be reported in the Treasurer's annual financial report at the very minimum.
Mr BAYLEY - Do you have a sense of the total volume of government guarantees as it stands at the moment, held by TASCORP?
Mr FERRALL - Yes.
Mr BAKER - The total determined guarantees issued by the Treasurer is $6.547 billion. Those borrowing limits that were read out previously for the government businesses totalled up to $6.547 billion.
Mr BAYLEY - There is $6.57 billion guaranteed by Government on your book. There is significant expenditure expected out of the Government in infrastructure in the future out of the general budget. Is there a point where you start to become nervous about the Governments' capacity to meet those guarantees?
Mr FERRALL - I would have to answer no. The Government is backed by the taxpayers of Tasmania.
Mr BAYLEY - We're not a bottomless pit.
Mr FERRALL - Is there any circumstance where it's likely that the guarantee cannot be met by the state? I don't think that would be the case.
