Has Treasurer Ferguson’s budget left you feeling let down? Frustrated? Hopeless? Angry? Do you have an empty feeling of dread in the pit of your stomach as you consider the future of our state, as observed through that budget lens?
The budget includes infrastructure spending the Treasurer knows we cannot afford. His own government commissioned the 19 August 2024 report on the state of our economy by the eminent economist, Mr Saul Eslake. On page 8 of his report, Independent Review of Tasmania’s State Finances, Mr Eslake concluded:
The Review notes that, based on currently available Forward Estimates, Tasmania will over the next three years (and probably beyond) be running the largest public sector infrastructure program, relative to the size of its economy, of any state or territory – and questions whether Tasmania can afford to do this.
He went on to recommend:
The Review instead recommends that the Government should as part of the annual Budget process, determine, based on Treasury advice, how much it can afford to spend on infrastructure having regard to both the requirements of fiscal sustainability and the capacity of the Tasmanian construction industry, both over the following ten years and in each of those years. After having done so, it should then determine which projects are to be financed by ranking them according to robust estimates of their social and economic benefits relative to their costs – rather than, as appears to have been the case, arriving at an infrastructure spending program via a ‘bottom-up’ process.
You can read Mr Eslake’s full report here:
The Treasurer has completely ignored this advice and seemed to take great pleasure in telling us in the past week that he was about to do just that, and do so with great gusto.
You can read more about Mr Ferguson’s pre-budget teasers here:
And, as feared, his merry spending spree includes yet more outlay for a stadium, an infrastructure project that will ultimately benefit precious few in our community. A stadium at Macquarie Point is a glaring example of how NOT to plan infrastructure. The Treasurer knows there is no money for a stadium.
He holds a portfolio that brings with it responsibility for delivering sound economic policy for our state. He knows that we wanted him to take that responsibility seriously and deliver a budget that started to repair past damage and ensure the delivery of the essential services all Tasmanians are crying out for.
We need the Treasurer to do his job. He must fulfil his role in addressing Tasmania’s pressing needs in health, housing and education.
We expect him to stand up to the Premier. It’s his responsibility to tell the Premier that he’s done the sums and knows Tasmanians can’t afford his vanity project.
The Tasmanian people wanted a budget that would address the current crises in the services they need every day, not one with increased efficiency dividends that will erode those services even further. These crises can’t be ignored or put on the backburner while some fanciful sporting project takes precedence – we can’t eat football, AFL players are of little use in hospitals or schools, and AFL executives care even less about who suffers, so long as the gambling revenue flows.
What can we do when it appears that our government is simply not listening to the people of Tasmania? How can we make our voices heard? Overcome these feelings of hopelessness by taking action now.
Any infrastructure budget that will apportion hundreds of millions of dollars for a stadium that we don’t need, that the majority of Tasmanians don’t want, and that the State simply can’t afford, is a BAD Budget. It shows no consideration for the ballooning State debt, for the opportunity costs that will require a reduction in services elsewhere, or for possible alternative uses of the site that would benefit more Tasmanians in the long term than an occasionally used sport and gambling facility.