2024-25 Budget Reply Speech
LAND USE PLANNING AND APPROVALS (STONY RISE DEVELOPMENT APPROVAL) BILL 2024
Governance issues erode public trust
The Board of Marinus Link (MLPL) has recommended proceeding with the Marinus project and each of the three shareholders now need to make a decision before jointly convening to decide.
The decision to proceed wasn’t unexpected. It would have been surprising if they had voted themselves out of a job.
The Tasmanian government owns a 17.7 per cent share alongside the Victorian and Federal governments. But we pay 27.6 per cent of Marinus fees (plus 100 per cent of any associated transmission development in Tasmania).
With the election in progress, caretaker provisions apply to decisions by government. The Liberal government is still the government with full legal powers of a government, but it should refrain from making major decisions which will bind a future government without at least consulting with the opposition. That’s the convention. Not legally binding, just a convention.
Now that the major parties are on a unity ticket for the development of the Mac Point stadium there’s no incentive for them to raise peripheral issues, and anyone outside the tent who does so is jumped on by the majors as negative and misguided in what’s best for Tasmania.
It is now recognised that the Federal grant of $240 million is for the Mac Point precinct, not specifically for the stadium itself.
Nevertheless, when the cost of the stadium is bandied about, specifically how much we will have to borrow, the grant is always deducted in full from the stadium cost to derive a figure for net borrowings required, (which some then convert to a multiple of the number of weeks of health spending this equates to, in order to trivialise the sum involved).
Federal grants are sometimes quarantined from GST calculations meaning future GST distributions won’t be affected.
There is a critical need for budget honesty and transparency, writes Ruth Forrest
In any democracy, clear, honest budgeting is the foundation of public trust. The Tasmanian government's 2025-26 Budget, however, risks undermining that trust not because of what's in the budget, but because of how key decisions are being presented or, more accurately, concealed.
At the heart of the issue lies a littleunderstood but crucial document: the Policy and Parameter Statement (PPS). This section of the Budget Papers is supposed to give Tasmanians a clear view of the government's policy decisionswhat's new, what's changed, and what those decisions cost.
So far the election campaign has seen a few high vizzes making fewer mostly forgettable promises, but as yet no attempt to tackle the big issues.
One of the crucial issues going forward is raising more of our own source revenue. Distributions from government businesses is an important component.
Income from government businesses suffered a marked reduction in the latest yet to be passed budget with $154 million or 36 per cent being removed from last year’s forward estimates from future income expected from Hydro Tasmania. That’s a significant loss of revenue for a small state government.
As crazy as it may sound the proposed Marinus project has some unfortunate similarities with the stadium project.
The AFL decided the AFL Devils needed a roofed stadium at Macquarie Point in order to field a successful team. The Premier agreed and signed on the dotted line without consulting anyone and before any plans were drawn up, costings done or funds arranged.
The Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) decided a new interconnector might be a good idea for the future of the National Electricity Market (NEM). If Tasmania legislated a renewable action target, Marinus would become an actionable project. Tasmania signed up in 2020 without any idea how much it would cost or who would fund the construction.
So far the election campaign has offered a few placards, platitudes and hi-vis appearances but little apparent understanding of the issues facing us.
Hopefully PEFO will contribute to the discussion.
When reading government Budget papers (BPs) it is important to remember that they have not been audited by the Auditor General.
Unlike BPs in Victoria for instance.
Nor are Revised Estimates Reports (RERs) which appear in February each year updating the current year budget and forward estimates.