Why do the Liberals keep insisting Dean Winter concede the election. Is that so the government may free itself of any obligation to consult with or inform the other 60 per cent of Tasmanians who didn’t give their first preference vote to the Liberals, whilst it continues with day-to-day decision making in the back rooms as though it received a clear majority on 19 July?
Is that why the government felt it had to tell Labor about the latest in the TTLine saga?
Despite being asked to provide a briefing, the government decided a phone call would suffice. It would appear that after the relevant decision had been made, the government rang to tell Labor, hardly in keeping with the spirit or intent of the caretaker convention. It doesn’t augur well for a new collaborative ethos.
On Saturday we learnt Treasurer Guy Barnett approved a rise in TTLine’s borrowing cap. TTLine borrows from Tascorp, the government owned finance entity which acts as an intermediary for the government and government businesses when funds need to be borrowed from third party lenders.
The Treasurer, without telling us the extent of the increase (NB the existing cap is $1 billion), reassured us the measure was “temporary”. “Guaranteeing borrowing amounts of government-owned businesses is a routine requirement as part of the ordinary course of business for entities that require borrowings from Tascorp” Mr Barnett said.
Just routine folks, nothing to worry about.
What he meant to say was if he doesn’t approve the increased cap the Auditor General won’t be able to sign his audit report for the just completed year 2024/25 and TTLine will have to stop trading because the company won’t be able to pay its debts as and when they fall due. The increased cap negated the need for an Administrator to do the same – to negotiate an increased cap – because there was no alternative – before handing the company back to the Board hoping the Spirts have longer lives above the waves that RMS Titanic.
In other words, all hell would have broken loose without an increased borrowing cap. This development is unsurprising as the Public Accounts Committee was informed by TasCorp that additional funds may be needed – unfortunately we don’t have the opportunity to hear from TasCorp, or formally from the Treasurer, the full details and implications of this decision. What is disappointing is that the Treasurer has not been more forthcoming.
And what is meant by a “temporary” increase?
No-one else will lend TTLine any money, so the only way a rise in the borrowing cap can be a temporary measure, as claimed by the Treasurer, is if the government converts the increased loan into an extra equity contribution into TTLine, meaning it won’t have to be repaid.
With the Treasurer’s decision only coming to light because of the pesky caretaker convention, it’s time to broaden the consultative process. After all Labor is hardly representative as it comprises less than half of the non-government 60 per cent portion..
In fact, it is not clear what convention the government relied on when briefing business leaders (as per The Australian story by Matt Denholm) as to how they will protect major industrials from higher transmission charges by offsetting some of the extra revenue estimated to be between $200m and $400m from exporting clean energy to the mainland.
As Chair of the Joint Committee into Energy Matters I got to hear a lot of stuff but that’s the first time I’ve heard those figures. Presumably the $200m to $400m is an annual figure that going to flow into government coffers. Is it extra revenue from Hydro? Or extra taxes? How come a few business leaders were privy to the news drop but not the rest of us? It underscores how vital it is for the government to run 10 year projections, as part of the Budget process, so we can all see what the impacts are of major projects over the medium term.
Please, please tell us more.
People expect, and in my view deserve, honesty and timely information related to these very real challenges and a willingness to take responsibility – all sadly lacking in these recent decisions.
We are at that stage of the year when the Auditor General is completing audits (often by August 15th) for government businesses, and Boards are signing off on financial statements for the just completed year.
It’s the same pattern as followed by listed companies. Those entities however release audited financial statement to the market by the end of August. Not the full glossy annual reports, just the financial statements. The glossy charts and pictures don’t appear till the end of September.
We on the other hand have to wait until the end of October to see the results of government businesses for the previous year.
There is no sound reason for this.
Audited financials need to be released by the end of August. There are so many crucial businesses: Hydro, TasNetworks, TTLine, Tas Ports, all crucial to our future where the government is sitting on mountains of information that rightly belongs to us.
There has been too much secrecy, lack of transparency and honesty when it comes to these big decisions that impact us all. Sure some areas are very complex, but too often complexity is used as an excuse because the proponent can’t or is unwilling to explain a proposal in sufficient detail. In any event we deserve the respect of being fully informed where the State’s future and our financial wellbeing are at stake.
This approach to date is unacceptable and the next government needs to take an open, honest, collaborative and transparent approach to financial management and decision making.