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House of Assembly - Fifty-Second Parliament, First Session (52-1)
2011-09-28 Daily Xml
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GOVERNMENT LIABILITY

The Hon. I.F. EVANS (Davenport) (15:02): My question is again to the Treasurer. Is the Treasurer concerned that the government liabilities will exceed $20 billion in 2014, even after receiving the revenue from the sale of the forests and the Lotteries Commission?

The Hon. J.J. SNELLING (Playford—Treasurer, Minister for Employment, Training and Further Education, Minister for Workers Rehabilitation) (15:03): I presume that the member for Davenport is also including the superannuation unfunded liability and the WorkCover unfunded liability as well as the debt.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. J.J. SNELLING: I think he is drawing a long bow. The fact is that the government is committed to paying down the unfunded superannuation liability. We pay a certain amount every year, and we are on track to have that unfunded superannuation liability (which has existed for many, many years) fully funded by 2034. We also undertook significant reforms in 2008 to the WorkCover scheme to address the unfunded liability faced by WorkCover.

The other issue is with regard to debt, and the government has undertaken significant borrowings to expand the productive capacity, the economic capacity and the social infrastructure of this state. For that, I make absolutely no apologies. The fact is that the borrowings which we have undertaken are responsible borrowings. We are not borrowing to fund the day-to-day expenditure of government: we are borrowing—

The Hon. I.F. Evans: $736 million over the last four years.

The Hon. J.J. SNELLING: That includes depreciation. It includes depreciation.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. J.J. SNELLING: It is not a cash deficit.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. J.J. SNELLING: The simple fact is—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. I.F. Evans interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! The member for Davenport, you are warned.

The Hon. J.J. SNELLING: Like a screaming banshee. The simple fact is that the government has undertaken borrowings to build critical infrastructure: the redevelopment, the electrification of the state's metropolitan rail network, the duplication of the Southern Expressway, the South Road Superway—any number of projects which the government has undertaken borrowings to finance. We are incredibly proud. We have seen $9.1 billion in capital expenditure between now—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. J.J. SNELLING: —over the course of the forward estimates. I make no apology for that. It is a reasonable amount of borrowing for a state government in our situation. We believe it is financially sustainable. We are committed to making sure we retain the AAA credit rating, in very difficult global economic circumstances.

The SPEAKER: Supplementary, member for Davenport.

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