Debates Day 1 - Tuesday 23 May 1995
Parliamentary Record 11
Debates for 7th Assembly 1994 - 1997; ParliamentNT; Parliamentary Record; 7th Assembly 1994 - 1997
1995-05-23
Made available by the Legislative Assembly of the Northern Territory
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Debates
Legislative Assembly of the Northern Territory
Darwin
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Legislative Assembly of the Northern Territory
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https://hdl.handle.net/10070/281694
https://hdl.handle.net/10070/413979
DEBATES - Tuesday 23 May 1995 Mr SETTER (Jingili): Mr Speaker, I am quite sure that the member for Greatorex was absolutely delighted to hear the honourable ministers remarks because he will be reassured finally that this government does commit a great deal of its expenditure to the Alice Springs region. I thought this evening that I would start my remarks on the budget... Mr Coulter: It will not take you long to talk about what Jingili got. Mr SETTER: We will come to that. I will begin by quoting from the Treasurers speech. He said: In last year's budget, I gave a number o f undertakings. I guaranteed that, following our re-election: there would be no deviation from the core fiscal strategies; there would be no mini-budget; there would be no ERC process; and there would be no cuts in public sector staffing. We have delivered on each o f these points. Overall, our strategy targets for 1994-95 have been achieved. In some cases, the results have exceeded our expectations. He went on to say: There is no blow-out. All is in good shape. The Northern Territory budget for 1995-96 will again achieve the strategic fiscal objectives. I am quite sure that this budget will achieve those same objectives. I was very pleased to note that the Treasurer reinforced that strategy. I was also very pleased to note that there was no mini-budget or ERC process in the previous financial year, there were no cuts in public sector staffing and the Territory economy is on a very sound footing. I would say that the Territory economy is absolutely thriving, and I remind honourable members of the comment by the Chief Minister this moming when he called across the Chamber to the Leader of the Opposition that you cannot get a brickie anywhere. That is very true. It is very difficult to engage the services of a tradesman at short notice or even medium-term notice because they are all working flat out, for themselves and for the Territory. The Treasurer went on to say that this budget restrains government spending, reduces net debt, increases revenue and confirms that the Territory has a thriving economy. He went on to foreshadow a reduction in Territory debt and also that funding for new health programs for Aboriginal communities would be increased. Regrettably, as part of the budget package, there have been increases in taxes and charges to the extent of $41m. However, I hasten to 3550