Shadow Treasurer Ed Cocks says Labor is addicted to spending and warns of higher taxes to pay for it. Photo: Facebook.
The Canberra Liberals have seized on new government spending of $39.4 million to launch a pre-budget attack on the Treasurer’s fiscal management, predicting the budget deficit will blow out to more than a billion dollars.
Shadow Treasurer Ed Cocks says the new spending is authorised under the Treasurer’s Advance powers and is now required by law to be made public thanks to legislation introduced by his party.
Combined with February’s $387.7 million appropriation bill, the ACT Labor Government was responsible for a $427 million overspend, which if averaged across a 12-month period would equate to a $1.3 billion deficit, about 14 per cent greater than was originally budgeted for.
Most of the February appropriation went to keeping the hospital system running after higher-than-expected demand.
Of the $39.4 million, $34.1 million is for additional funding to Transport Canberra and City Services to cover fare shortfalls, city maintenance, libraries, and Fix My Street; and $5.3 million is for the Canberra Institute of Technology to address a short-term funding shortfall linked to reduced revenue and higher than expected staffing costs.
Treasurer Chris Steel rejected the Liberals’ claims, saying the Treasurer’s Advance is appropriated in the budget every year.
“It’s a contingency that is used to meet pressures that agencies may be experiencing in between budgets, and we have needed to fund some pressures in our public libraries, in our public TAFE, and also in our public transport system,” he said.
“So what are the Liberals really asking for? Are they asking the ACT Government to cut public library services, to cut public transport services, and our public TAFE?”
Asked whether the deficit would be higher than the nearly billion-dollar result in the February update, Mr Steel said he would have more to say about the overall financial position on budget day.
Mr Steel said the spending was about unforeseen expenditure, and there was contingency that was already part of the budget to meet those needs.
Mr Cocks said the use of emergency funds must be viewed in the context of the ACT’s broader fiscal position.
“The ACT is running structural deficits with the recent budget update showing a deficit close to $1 billion, and net debt has climbed to more than $9 billion,” Mr Cocks said.
“This is a government spending more than it earns year after year. Fiscal responsibility means making hard choices – not relying on emergency top-ups to cover ongoing pressures.
“The government has already blown out the ACT Budget by over $427 million in extra spending this financial year alone – a staggering figure that shows how bad the Labor Government’s economic management is.”
Mr Cocks said the government had lost control of its spending, relying on emergency funds to paper over an addiction to spending.
He warned that ACT taxpayers could be slugged with higher taxes to pay for government mismanagement.
“This is why our reforms to financial management are so important,” Mr Cocks said.
“At a time of rising debt and deficits, taxpayers have a right to real-time accountability.”
