Page 2177 - Week 07 - Tuesday, 2 August 2022

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(c) the Territory’s net debt has grown from -$736 million in 2011 to $5.36 billion in 2022, and is forecast to be more than $9 billion by 2024-25;

(d) the rate of growth in net debt and operating budget position is unsustainable. At this rate, the Territory must continue to borrow more to fund future liabilities as they fall due;

(e) the Treasurer’s fiscal strategy for the Territory is not in compliance with the provisions of the Financial Management Act 1996 regarding prudent fiscal management; and

(f) the Treasurer’s mismanagement of the Territory’s finances will impose enormous costs on future generations of Canberrans; and

(2) calls on the Government to:

(a) commission an independent budget audit to investigate and report on the Territory’s finances, to be completed by the end of the 2022 calendar year, with the following terms of reference:

(i) analyse the Territory’s actual capital and operating expenditure for the financial years 2012-13 to 2021-22;

(ii) examine the long-term sustainability of the Territory’s finances, with particular reference to its persistent budget deficits and the underlying causes for those;

(iii) examine the Territory’s debt position and long-term debt retirement strategy;

(iv) present recommendations to urgently address the Territory’s structural budget issues, improve the Territory’s financial position, alternative stable fiscal strategies, and an eventual return to surplus; and

(v) the audit may invite submissions and seek information from any persons or bodies;

(b) consult with the Legislative Assembly’s Standing Committee on Public Accounts on the personnel appointed to conduct the audit; and

I am calling for this independent budget audit because, after 21 years of Labor and the Greens, the ACT is in the worst financial position since self-government. The territory’s net debt has grown from a manageable negative $736 million in 2011 to $5.36 billion in 2022 and is forecast to be more than $9 billion by 2024-25—and this is of course before we have had this year’s budget handed down! The rate of growth in net debt is unsustainable and getting worse. The government must continue to borrow to fund future liabilities as they fall due. This cannot go on forever, and the Treasurer has no plan to fix it. In fact, the Treasurer has not once delivered a budget surplus according to the uniform presentation framework agreed to by all Australian governments in 1991.

The promised surpluses in recent years are an accounting sleight of hand, relying on strong returns to superannuation fund investments. Regardless of the Treasurer’s spin,

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