State Budget

The Hon. T.T. NGO (16:10): My question is to the Treasurer.

Members interjecting:

The Hon. R.I. Lucas: Stop doing a Pangallo; I can't read your mind.

The Hon. T.T. NGO: Can the Treasurer commit that he will deliver budget surpluses in 2018-19 and 2019-20?

The Hon. R.I. Lucas: 2018-19 and when?

The Hon. T.T. NGO: 2019-20.

The Hon. R.I. LUCAS (Treasurer) (16:11): Mr President, I'm on the public record as saying I am very, very confident that the government will deliver—after a lot of hard work at fixing the significant financial mess that the former government left us with—a balanced budget in 2018-19. We're working our way assiduously, in a very collegial, friendly fashion, through the budget bilateral process as we speak, with a target of trying to balance the 2019-20 budget and the other forward estimate budgets as well.

Certainly, the important question in relation to the first Marshall Liberal government budget of 2018-19, after many years of very significant deficits—some even camouflaged by the sugar hit of one-off Motor Accident Commission privatisation and Land Services privatisation and the like—we are very confident we'll be able to deliver a balanced budget in our first year.