House of Assembly Fifty-Second Parliament, Second Session (52-2) 52 2 Parliament of South Australia House of Assembly published Question Time State Budget STATE BUDGET Mr MARSHALL House of Assembly Norwood Leader of the Opposition STATE BUDGET Mr MARSHALL (Norwood—Leader of the Opposition) (15:14): Supplementary, Mr Speaker. The Speaker House of Assembly The SPEAKER: Yes. Mr MARSHALL House of Assembly Mr MARSHALL: Given that the Premier and Treasurer has made it clear that he is going to stand by the fiscal targets contained in the May budget last year, how is the Treasurer going to reduce general government debt by approximately $1 billion to ensure that the net debt to revenue ratio is below the 50 per cent mark set in those fiscal targets? The Speaker House of Assembly The SPEAKER: That is not a supplementary. The Treasurer. The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL House of Assembly Cheltenham Premier Minister for State Development Minister for the Public Sector Minister for the Arts The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL (Cheltenham—Premier, Treasurer, Minister for State Development, Minister for the Public Sector, Minister for the Arts) (15:15): If that is the question that he is referring to, the 50 per cent debt to revenue ratio target, we already published in the Mid-Year Budget Review that in the final year of the forward estimates that would be exceeded for a period and then the year beyond the forward estimates we would return within that target range of below 50 per cent. So, it is certainly our intention to maintain that objective. Once again, we will address this question in the budget and you will see how we have treated those matters.