Mr BAYLEY – Treasurer, I want to ask about the Human Resources Transformation Project – given widespread concerns that the project business case and cost estimates may be based on inaccurate or incomplete data –
Mr ABETZ – That’s Premier and Cabinet I’m told.
Mr BAYLEY – Is that correct? We understood that it was Treasury and Finance, no? My apologies. In which case, can I go to the strategic action in the Budget around gross debt per capita? It sets 2032-2033 target of up to $20,000 per capita of gross debt. It’s higher than the current levels of gross debt per capita, a year where the preliminary outcome shows $5 billion worth of net debt. Of course, eight more years and the debt’s going to go to unsustainable levels. So why is the target so unambitious in 2032-2033?
Mr ABETZ – What? To reduce debt?
Mr BAYLEY – That’s right.
Mr ABETZ – On becoming Treasurer, the initial flush or brain snap was, let’s get rid of debt overnight. If you were to do that, you would have substantial shock waves in the economy, and that is why I’ve used the term before of needing to wean ourselves out of deficit budgeting to a sustainable level. We do that in a smoother glide path, I understand is the terminology we use these days, as smooth a glide path as possible to get ourselves into that position.
That requires a degree of what judgments, should the ambition be? So much this year, so much next year, so much the following year, and the amount set for each year? That can all be, debated and considered, but overall, be assured, we are seeking to reduce the increase in debt to a point where we hit net debt and then start paying it down.
Mr BAYLEY – Before I ask my second question, can I ask – we we’re going to have some guests in from the border office?
CHAIR – It will be at 12.40 p.m.
Mr BAYLEY – Okay, thank you. I thought it was 12.30 p.m. I apologise. In relation to strategic action 4, which is the cost of debt to cash receipts, it sets a target of up to 7 per cent by 2032-33. This is higher than the 2024-25 budget preliminary outcome of 6.8 per cent. Together with strategic action 2, it’s another example of a target that’s insufficient to address the budget crisis.
How do you justify these targets, as well as the failure to even be on a trajectory to head towards these targets? They just seem to be so unrealistic in the Budget and the forward Estimates.
Mr ABETZ – Your concern about debt is welcomed, and I would encourage you to assist in that regard and not just on one project, but across the board. I hear what you say, the Budget, which was delivered on 6 November, an interim Budget. We will have more to say about these things in May next year.
