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House of Assembly - Fifty-Second Parliament, First Session (52-1)
2010-07-21 Daily Xml
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Question Time

BUDGET SAVINGS INITIATIVES

Mrs REDMOND (Heysen—Leader of the Opposition) (14:23): My question is to the Treasurer. On 6 April this year did cabinet agree to additional budget savings measures of $1.3 billion over the forward estimates? On 7 April Geoff Carmody, Chairman of the Sustainable Budget Commission, sent a minute to all chief executives about its portfolio/agency savings task and the Sustainable Budget Commission process. That minute states that on 6 April cabinet approved the allocation to agencies of the centrally held savings task already included in aggregate in the forward estimates and an additional savings task to help restore the fiscal position.

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY (Port Adelaide—Deputy Premier, Treasurer, Minister for Federal/State Relations, Minister for Defence Industries) (14:24): And the point is?

Mrs Redmond: Is there an extra $1.3 billion?

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY: An extra $1.3 billion on top of what?

Mrs Redmond interjecting:

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY: Making it $2 billion? No. This is not an earth-shattering question. I am surprised that the minute has taken this long to reach the public domain. As the government has said repeatedly with the Carmody commission, its task is to forensically assess government spending programs across agency and across portfolio opportunities to significantly reduce recurrent outlays to enable us to restore budget balance as quickly as practicable. This government has the proud record of delivering budget surpluses and a AAA credit rating, and the Carmody review (as it feeds its way into the budget) will haul the budget back into surplus on a sustainable position going forward over the years—

Members interjecting:

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY: Moving forward.

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY: I am glad I have this question, because it is important for the house to appreciate that the demand for critical services, as we know, is ever increasing, and the reality is that the government in each and every budget has had to undertake significant savings and efficiency drives to ensure that we have as much capacity as possible to continue to improve service delivery. That has always been done with the AAA credit rating, sustainable budget surpluses and strong financial outcomes as the principal aim of our budgeting. Since coming to office, we have delivered that. We have a set of accounts that this state has not seen for decades. Certainly, we did not see under the former Liberal administration—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. K.O. FOLEY: Madam Speaker, I am a proud member of a great government and a great cabinet that has delivered the best financial outcome this state has seen for decades, and that is why the public of South Australia has confidence in the Labor government in delivering budget surpluses.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! I had thought for some time there had been bromide put in the water on the second floor, but I think its effects have worn off now. I have already warned one member and I will keep warning, and if anyone gets warned three times, they will be named.

The Hon. A. Koutsantonis interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! There will be no quarrels across the floor.

The Hon. A. Koutsantonis interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order, the minister! The member for Florey.

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