Debates Day 4 - Tuesday 17 October 2017
Parliamentary Record 8
Debates for 13th Assembly 2016 - 2018; ParliamentNT; Parliamentary Record; 13th Assembly 2016 - 2020
2017-10-17
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Debates
Legislative Assembly of the Northern Territory
Darwin
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DEBATES Tuesday 17 October 2017 2589 there has been rain and they are really good. People will be looking for bush turkeys soon w hen the grasshoppers come Ms UIBO: A point of order, Madam Speaker! Pursuant to Standing Order 43, I seek an extension of time for the member. Motion agreed to. Mr McCONNELL: As good as my narration may be, some of you may have noticed that it has turned into what I said beforetalking at the front bar about great things. Yes, we need to share those experiences of the great things, but what has to be done here is the work of responsible government to do the best possible policy planning and development to make sure we get the communitys buy-in to those plans made by the minister and rest of government. Madam Speaker, I commend the statement to the House. Debate adjourned. PAPERS TABLED Treasurers Annual Financial Report 201617 Ms MANISON (Treasurer): Madam Speaker, I move the Assembly take note of the report. In accordance with section 9 of the Financial Management Act, I table the 201617 Treasurers Annual Financial Statement. The statement forms part of the 201617 Treasurers Annual Financial Report and presents the governments fiscal performance for the 201617 year. The report also satisfied the requirements of the Fiscal Integrity and Transparency Act. The Treasurers Annual Financial Report, or TAFR, presents a final financial outcome for 201617 which remains in line with the estimates published in the governments 2017 budget. Importantly, I am pleased to deliver this set of government financial reports which, for the first time in three years, includes an unqualified audit opinion from the Auditor-General across all sectors of government. Honourable members may remember that a disclaimer of opinion was issued by the Auditor-General in both the 201415 and 201516 Treasurers Annual Financial Statements in relation to the asset valuations of the Power and Water Corporation and Indigenous Essential Services Pty Ltd. This is what we inherited from the former government. The books were in a sorry state after the CLP ru shed into the separation of Power and Water, and a lot of work was done to rectify those issues. During the 2016-17 year a significant asset rectification project was undertaken by Power and Water Corporation to address the unresolved issues raised by the Auditor-General and to certify the accuracy, existence and completeness of recorded assets. This work resulted in a number of restatements as required under accounting standards to comparative information for the 201516 financial year. The restated information also includes an uplift in fair value of the loan provided to the concession holder in relation to the Australasia railway and revised treatment of rent received in advance by the Top End Health Service. Turning to the TAFR more broadly, in 201617 the fiscal balance deficit for the non-financial public sector is $548m. This is a $4m improvement from the final estimate included in the May 2017 budget. However, lower than anticipated GST revenue has resulted in a net operating balance deficit of $77m for 201617. This is a change of $27m from May. I spoke at great length in May about the challenges facing the Territory stemming from the Commonwealths $2bn cut in GST funding to the Northern Territory. The results presented in the TAFR are yet another reminder of the importance of our ongoing fight to protect the Territorys fair share of the GST. This needs to be a bipartisan issue as it affects every Territorian. In the wake of the Productivity Commissions report into horizontal fiscal equalisation, the federal Treasurer must not be allowed to use this report to justify walking away from the Territory. I implore the opposition to join us in the fight to stop the politicians in Canberra from ripping off the Territory. I cannot emphasise enough the tough task we have ahead of us. The federal government seems hell bent on ripping out billions of dollars from our GST revenue to keep the bigger states happy. The end result will mean the rich states get richer