Appropriation (Supplementary Appropriations for 2024-25) Bill 2025 (No. 1)

Wednesday 2 April 2025

[11.21 p.m.]

Ms ARMITAGE (Launceston) - Mr President, first, I thank the Leader and her advisers for the briefings this morning; they were very interesting. Obviously, there are a lot of questions. Some questions were answered, some not quite to our satisfaction, but obviously you can only work with the answers you have.

I did appreciate the supporting information for the appropriation bill, the pages that actually outline the areas; I thought that was really good; it did answer a lot of questions - more details, a bit hard for Treasury to come up with some of the answers that we might want to know between budget and the appropriation bills. I thought it certainly gave a bit of a wide overview of what some of these amounts were for - particularly when you look at $4.14 million for places like Ashley Youth Detention Centre, to fund additional staffing costs and overtime costs. It is a lot of money for out-of-home care, $14.1 million; the Advice and Referral Line, $2.95 million. The sad part there is that the money is actually needed because more people are phoning and needing help. Certainly not things that you could refuse to give money to.

At a glance, I think we always look at the Tasmania Prison Service and the extra $25 million going in and there is always a lot of overtime - as the member for McIntyre this morning provided the reports that we have just finalised on the Prison Service.

It is no secret that the state's finances are in trouble right now. It is not a matter for debate. It is just a fact. It is easy to simply look at the numbers as black and white printing on a piece of paper. As I said, we are talking in millions; you just get used to the numbers.

The health of the state's finances translates directly into the wellbeing of our community. It affects people's livelihoods, not just those who are employed in the public service. We know that the effect of public employment, public spending and contracting echoes right through our economy, and there certainly has been some very ambitious or proposed spending in the public sector over the past few years. Ships, a stadium, a bridge, berths for our new ships. All good examples of big-ticket items that have been funded substantially out of the Tasmanian taxpayers' pockets.

All in addition to our bread and butter services like our health system, our emergency services, our education system, our roads, our environment just to name a few, all absolutely vital for the functionality of our state. It is actually what allows us to send our children to school or drive safely on our roads. We will be able to go to the hospital when we get sick or hurt, or call 000 when we need help.

We know we are in financial trouble; we have a government that is potentially looking to sell our GBEs and SOCs to ameliorate our debt.

Since the 2024-25 Budget was passed last year, we have seen the situation go from worse to even worse. Just to service the debt we have accrued we are looking at hundreds of millions of dollars outstanding with credit agencies at risk; our reputation as a state that manages its finances responsibly is diminishing rapidly.

Frankly, it is a bit of a joke, but no-one is laughing.

What are our options? The supplementary appropriation bill is for essential services Tasmanians rely on. The Leader stated:

·                $345 million for the Health and Mental Health and Wellbeing portfolios

·                $42.9 million for the Justice and Corrections and Rehabilitation portfolios

·                $21.2 million for the Department for Education, Children and Young People

·                $14.5 million for the Department of Police, Fire and Emergency Management

·                $8 million for the Department of Natural Resources and Environment, as well as $35.9 million for expenditure related to decisions of the government since the finalisation of the 2024‑25 Budget, including $11 million for severe weather event response. Obviously, some things you cannot budget for.

·                $10.5 million to support the reopening of the Dolphin Tungsten Mine

·                $4.5 million for a tourism hospitality support package

·                $8 million to increase the state's contribution to TasRail

·                $1.2 million for Homes Tasmania

·                $500,000 for a grant to Wine Tasmania, to support the wine industry

·                $180,000 to fulfil final payments under the Tasmanian HomeBuilder Grants program. That one is totally understandable. Obviously, these are grants that come in the next financial year.

If you say it really quickly, they are just numbers, but unfortunately, they are more than that. These are significant undertakings above, and in addition to, a budget which we only passed several months ago. It has not even been a full year, and here we are again debating the appropriation of almost half‑a‑billion additional dollars for the government and the state to continue operating.

Has anyone paused for a moment to ask what is actually going on here, and what are we doing? We are in trouble, and there is no simple solution available to us. It is going to take a lot of creative and innovative thinking to make this better if we want to avoid some of the more unpalatable options like higher or additional taxes.

This is no reflection on the current government. It is not one colour or the other. It is simply the state of what it is. We cannot assume that we are going to be bailed out by the federal government, and we must be mindful of how the other states view us when we take our big slices of the GST share. I know when I go to Western Australia, and I have met and had dinner with some of the legislative councillors in the past from Western Australia and others, they do not look favourably at Tasmania and the share of the GST we receive.

Mr Duigan - They have been there, though.

Ms ARMITAGE - I am mindful not to stray too far from the actual substance of the bill, but I do think quite a lot about the very large capital works that are taking place around the state. Of course, these do feed back into and stimulate our economy, but I wonder what sort of things we could be doing if we had that sort of money for our health and our education systems. We are seeing the government ask for more money in addition to what was appropriated for the budget last year, and I would be extremely worried if this became an ongoing trend. We would have some very serious questions to ask.

I thank the Leader for the briefings ‑ they were very valuable. I thank the people who gave the briefings. Obviously, you cannot have all the answers because you do not know what all the questions are going to be. You did an admirable job answering as best you could. I do thank the Leader for the briefings. I look forward to hearing what my other colleagues have to say. Thank you.