Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Let's get straight into it because Bill, Yeah, the Treasurer
and Minister for Various Portfolios, joins me on the line.
Good morning to your minister.
Speaker 2 (00:09):
Good morning Katie, and good morning to your listeners.
Speaker 1 (00:11):
Now, Minister, I tell you what changes to legislation for
assaults on frontline workers, the budget outlook, changes to payroll
tax claims, the supercars could have been in jeopardy under
the former government. There is a lot to touch on.
It's hard to know where to start, but I know
that one of the things that a lot of Territorians
would be pretty worried about if they're hearing it for
(00:31):
the first time, is that there were some issues or
there continues to be some hiccups around the supercars. Is
the nugget of info that you dropped yesterday in Parliament.
Speaker 2 (00:41):
Yeah, Katie, it's just another one of those hand grenades
we're finding as we shift through some of the issues
that we've been left with. So of course we know
about the Tyler brend And Drive overpass and the change
is there, and of course that's sort of blown out
by one hundred million as well. But yeah, as part
of that when the overpass was done, we all know
(01:02):
that Hi, Valley had like two entrances. You had the
main entrance and Gate B which got you into the
quads and down to the mud rating. But when they've
done the Tiger bred An overpass the off remp coming
from the port towards town, that entrance has gone. Now
it turns out, but that's a deal breaker for the VH.
And this came up because we're working on the FIM
(01:24):
World Motocross. It's going to be happening next year, and
when we were looking at that and we found that
little nugative information that without a gate B, the deals
off for the indigenous round of the supercars, and of
course for FIM Motocross they may need to get emergency
vehicles in or out during an event, and if the
main entrance is closed with spectators, I can't get emergency
(01:47):
vehicles out in and out in cases a major accident.
So where.
Speaker 1 (01:54):
Are we in a situation where that gate's going to
be able to be open. Where are we at?
Speaker 2 (01:58):
Well, well, the department now, I said of gone away
to the department, said we need an immediate solution to
get a gate be into Hidden Valley because supercars like
it's one of the biggest events in Dharma. I'm a
petrol a petrol head as well, so I want to
see the supercars go ahead. So we're working on developing
a solution now. But see, the thing is the department
(02:19):
went to government and told them about this, and labor
didn't do anything. They knew about it and didn't do anything.
I don't know what the hell they were going to
do if they had in one government again, would they
go and to have to, oh, gee, we're going to
have to come out and solve this problem. But they
certainly knew about it and didn't do anything about it.
And now we're here today fixing it because the supercars
going ahead k one way or another.
Speaker 1 (02:40):
So no matter what you are making, that commitment to
territorians that you are going to.
Speaker 2 (02:45):
Make this happen, absolutely, OK, Gate B will exist in
one way, shape or form somehow because the supercars are
going to happen as well as the fem made across
a couple of months after that.
Speaker 1 (02:57):
So, yeah, Premier, does it mean that some of the
work is going to have to change or the you know,
like the the order I guess in which some of
that work is happening. Is it going to have to change?
To some degree. No.
Speaker 2 (03:12):
No, So the overpass will continue on as it is,
and that's supposed to be finished by January next year
and open. So the department working out a couple of
solutions now as to how we're going to create another
gate be so in case we need to get those
emergency vehicles in and out and through a second gate,
we're going to be able to do that.
Speaker 1 (03:33):
I mean, could this cock up cost us more money? Oh?
Speaker 2 (03:37):
Look, sadly, cay is going to be a cost. And
this is what we're finding is we're finding all these
these little hand grenades, the skeletons behind the walls or
under the floorboards. That's to say that everywhere we go
we find in these little issues. So this is one
of those that is going to cost us some money.
I'm not exactly sure how much get depending on the
solution that we come up with, but yeah, it is
going to cost us some money. But look, we've got
(04:00):
to have the VS going ahead. It's a premier event.
Speaker 1 (04:03):
But it's also something that Territorians look forward to every year, right,
It's one of the things that they love about living here,
being able to go to the VS. And to me,
I just think how are we in a situation where,
you know where we didn't think of this sooner or
did they think of it sooner? I don't know.
Speaker 2 (04:19):
Well, it's part of our listy okay. And that's one
of the platforms that the cop was elected on this
to make sure that we maintain the territory listle. The
vates are part of that and have been for such
a long time. So and that's why I said I'll
move heaven and make sure we've got a date b
to keep the VHS going. Yes, it is. It's a
great event for everybody time but right across the territory
(04:39):
and the money it brings into territory is certainly welcome.
Speaker 1 (04:42):
Yeah. Absolutely. Now someone's just messaged through and said, could
you ask the minister what impact closing the road off
had on fiery who would have had to drive around
to get to a fire adding time. Did they create
a solution for that?
Speaker 2 (04:56):
Well, that's that's what the issue is at the moment
because the only entry there are a couple of entries
that there's some dirt rays that are coming off Amy
Johnson and there's a bit of a dirt track that
comes in from somewhere else. But it's still a little
bit difficult to get in without that date be access.
So yeah, that's what we've got to restore, that second
access point. So it's not just for those events in
(05:16):
cases and the merging somewhere else, and maybe the fires
have got to get in, so we need another access
point somewhere.
Speaker 1 (05:22):
All right, Bill, let's move along. There's a lot to
cover off on this morning, and I understand those changes
to payroll tax will they are forging ahead as well.
The government yesterday is saying that the tax reforms are
going to be happening. When are those changes going to
come into play?
Speaker 2 (05:37):
So one January, Katie, the first part of the reforms
will come into play. So the one point five are
assuming up to two point five change, So that's two
hundred businesses straight away which will benefit from that increase
in the tax free threshold for wages, so that helps
those businesses grow and then invest back into their businesses.
(05:59):
The other businesses will get that benefit, so those up
to seven point five million dollars that change. The second
part that change will come in at the end of
the financial year next year, so then that full suite
of changes are in. But this is a positive we're
talking really when you look at talking to Pat yesterday,
he's got twenty twenty five employees and there's two hundred
(06:22):
businesses and that will BENEFITROM. So we're talking up to
five thousand employees from those smaller medium businesses across the territory.
So that's a lot of people. And of course that
means that I said, those businesses can then reinvest, maybe
employ some more people, grow the businesses, do some more work.
And when you combine that with the first Homeowner's scheme
(06:43):
and the fresh Start scheme, we need we need more people,
we need more trade. So this is that incentive for
those smaller medium businesses to be able to employ more people,
grow the businesses and develop the territory bill.
Speaker 1 (06:57):
Look, I think it's a good thing. It certainly seems
like it's a good thing based on the feedback that
has been received from business owners and operators. But how
much is it going to cost and where is that
money going to come from?
Speaker 2 (07:09):
Yeah, look, we were going to lose about twelve million
per annum in revenue on income tax into treasury. So
twelve minutes said, it's certainly not chicken feed. But when
you look at the increased productivity and the increased spending
will certainly get some of that money back. And the
other thing we're doing is where we're looking at the budget,
reprioritizing some of our spending and certainly reducing some of
(07:32):
that waste. And you look at some of the previous
government's pet projects where they blew ten fifteen million dollars
on something that had no benefit to anybody, or just
threw some money down the drain. I said, I'm going
to fore go twelve million dollars in revenue, but I'm
actually stimulating business growth, stimulating the economy to do things,
and I'll see that as a far better proposition than
(07:53):
just throwing money away, Katie, that's for sure.
Speaker 1 (07:55):
Well yeah, and look, it's one of the questions that
was asked at length really before the Northern Territory election.
I know, it's something we asked a lot of questions
about throughout the week. That was of Maury Claire Boothby
at the time, and she'd said that, you know, the
COLP was going to be saving money through well not
having those pet projects. But the fact is, you know
it's probably going to take a bit more than not
(08:16):
having pet projects, and so I know, those questions are
already starting to flow through from the opposition. Are you
going to need to cut jobs? What are you going
to need to cut to cover those costs?
Speaker 2 (08:29):
Well, so we're not cutting the public seccatie. We need
the public sector and you're working alongside the private sector
to develop, come and develop the territory. The public sector
are going to play a really important role in the
future of the territory and where we're going. But it's
been being smart about what we're spending. But when you
look at some of the infrastructure stuff, just the blowouts
and overspend because the government went is doing some due
(08:51):
diligence here and there. So there's ways that we can
pull some money back, certainly reduced reduce those ends, but
we've got to grow the economy. At the end of
the day two, we need private investment. We need to
deal with those crime issues and get some business confidence
back in the territory. I've met with some people this
morning about who want to come and invest here in
(09:13):
DA and invest in the territory. And it's great to
see people starting to think like that because for too
long we've seen investors sort of on the fence, maybe
not wanting to come to the territory. They weren't sure
about where it was going to go. But with the
change of government now and the work that we've done
just in this first two weeks of parliament, Katie, we're
starting to see business investment increase. We're seeing investors looking
(09:35):
at the territory wanting to come here, which is great
to see and near the people that are going to
help us deal with the effective of the black hole
that we've been left with.
Speaker 1 (09:43):
I hope, so, I hope. So now, speaking of what
you've been left with, I know that on Monday, the
Under Treasurer is going to be taking what I think
is quite an unprecedented step, opening the books and holding
a public event so that territorians can see the state
of the finance. It's obviously something that that you, as
the Treasurer, keen to have happened. But why have you
(10:04):
decided to do this? Why do you think it's important
for territorians to see?
Speaker 2 (10:09):
Well, it's about open and transparent government, Katie. Like the
under treasure used to play a more important role way
way back in the day and that sort of stopped
under the previous government. The Under Treasurers is the person
who knows the nuts and bolts and the facts and
figures about our economy. I'm the Treasurer, but I take
(10:31):
advice from the Under Treasurer and we work together in
developing what our economy is going to look like and
how our finances work. But this is the opportunity for
territories to get along to the convention set of the
next Monday morning at eight forty five, I believe and
the Under treasure is going to give a talk about
how the anti economy works, what are the drivers, what
(10:53):
the state of the books look like. So it'll be
the opportunity for people to come along, have a listen,
get a really good understanding of what the books are,
how they work. I said, I said, I want to
be open and transparent about treasury and our finances because
there's no point trying to hide our dirty laundry away, Katie.
We've got to deal with the mess that we've been left.
Speaker 1 (11:15):
Bill. How are those finances looking? Because obviously the budget
was handed down as I understand it, there was a
bit of an update a couple of days ago.
Speaker 2 (11:25):
We had the TAFFA, which is the state of the
budget from from between twenty twenty two twenty three and
the budget twenty three twenty four, So comparing those figures,
and look, there've some people saying that there's a bit
of a win because oh, there's a three hundred and
twenty three million dollar win here or a ninety million
dollar win there. But when you start from the base
(11:47):
Katie that there's certainly not wins. We're coming off a
note out operating balance back in twenty two to twenty
three of one hundred and thirty two million. In twenty
three twenty four, labor budgeted for a two hundred million
dollar loss. Then they revised that in the middle of
the year to a seven hundred and twenty eight million
dollar loss, and the outcome at the end of the
day was six hundred and thirty eight million dollar loss.
(12:10):
And some people said, oh, well, that's a win, because
it was. It was ninety million dollars less than what
they forecast. But at the end of the DAYCAD between
twenty two to twenty three and twenty three twenty four,
it's a seven hundred and seventy million dollar deficit in
twelve months. And a lot of people know about the
debt to revenue ratios that's a number that's tossed around.
(12:32):
In twenty two to twenty three it was ninety seven percent,
and for the first time in the territory's history, it's
gone over one hundred and it come into one hundred
and eight percent and its forecast will increase to one
hundred and twenty one hundred and twenty seven percent. So
these are the challenges that we now face that's coming
in the governments, looking at that's spiraling, that the spiraling deficits,
(12:56):
and how we can slow that down and then how
we can start to turn it around. We need to
start by developing our own soervice revenue and growing our economy,
and that's what the Chief Ministers charged me. We're doing
and I'm working hard with the Under Treasurer and the
Treasury guys and business to try and.
Speaker 1 (13:11):
Do it well. And we're going to need to build.
There is no other way to put it. Mate. I
want to ask you. I mentioned this on are yesterday.
I saw you at Casarina on the weekend and you
said you'd been on a bit of a bus tour,
now not a tourism bus tour. You decided to catch
some public transport from the city out to Casurina, then
out to Palmerston. Now what I like about this is
(13:33):
it didn't seem to me like you were doing it
as any kind of media event or anything like that.
You were literally doing it to see how things were going.
And you know what some everyday territorians are experiencing when
they get on that public bus network. How did it go?
Speaker 2 (13:48):
Yeah, well, after all the things that had happened on
the bus net, we've seen the driver attacked, and we
hear all these horror stories. So you've got to have
some grand truth at the end of the day, Kadie. Yeah,
I said, got me, got me thongs out in shorts
and T shirt and and look and got out, and
(14:09):
I said, travel the bus network to see what was
really going on and to see what territories are experiencing
on a day to day basis. Look it was. It
was really good in some respects. There were a couple
of interesting things. But what I did notice, k is
that the bus network is well used. Most people are
quite respectful of the drivers, and I think there's a
(14:30):
lot of the people who travel regular in the buses
know the drivers. But we still have this issue with
some anti social behavior drunks.
Speaker 1 (14:38):
Absolutely absolutely.
Speaker 2 (14:41):
The casual in casual interchange Saturday afternoon, it was pretty interesting,
to say the least, I must say, Palmerston was was
pretty quiet. So I'll be out on the buses on
a regular basis. I don't need to advertise the fact.
I'll just be out.
Speaker 1 (14:57):
I think it's I think it's a really good thing
to do. And you know, even when I saw you,
it wasn't something that you were telling me, you know,
because you were sort of having a skite about it.
It was more you were just telling me because we
ran into each other, and I thought, do you know what?
Good on you. I don't know whether this is something
that other members of Parliament have done, but I think
there is no better way to stay grounded and know
(15:19):
what territorians are experiencing than actually doing what everyday territorians
do every day. So I thought it was a good thing.
But Bill, we know that some of what our bus
driver's experience is woeful. There was that vision that was
released a little bit earlier in the week of bus
drivers being assaulted and the discussion about the rollout of
(15:40):
the screening. How quickly are those screens going to roll
out to all of the buses.
Speaker 2 (15:45):
Yeah, well, I said, CDC, we're looking to get it
done by December. And again this is an issue to
go quite back to January that the previous government you're
about and wasn't really proactive about. The minute we found
out about it, I met with members of tw and
some of the bus drives, including the driver that was
assaulted in that vision where the guy climbed over and
(16:05):
kicked the head. So we straightaway started putting some pressure
on CDC to get these screens up. They were sort
of having difficulty getting material and having people to do it.
A lot the really proactive working with CDC. We've got
a guy down there now helping him and oversighting and
getting those screens done. I think it was nearly seven
(16:28):
fitted yesterday, so if my account's trek, we'd be at
nearly forty six or forty seven out of seventy nine.
The department telling me we should be having them all
done by at the latest mid November, probably early November.
But we also made the commitment, and I gave the
commitment to the CWU and the drivers that until all
(16:51):
the buses screens are on, like buses that don't have
screens we'll have a security guard on that bus without
that doesn't have a screen to ride that extra resistance
to them until they're all done. But I've got to
keep peace earlier priority to keep those guys safe, because
good just you can't even think of that the tragedy.
Imagine one of those ms pulling into a school bus stop,
someone loses control and the bus stops loaded up there
(17:12):
with kids rend thinking about ca So that's why we've
been really, really proactive and really jumped on this to
get it done.
Speaker 1 (17:19):
Yeah, good Bill, I want to ask you, I know
that it's not the only thing happening to try and
keep frontline workers safe. The legislation passing earlier in the
week on the mandatory minimum sentencing of three months imprisonment
for those who do assault frontline workers now. Chancey Paike
in Parliament yesterday claimed that the COLPS changes were merely
(17:43):
tinkering around the edges and mandatory sentencing did not work
as a deterrent. He also accused the government of being
utterly misleading painting the laws as a win for all
territory workers. He said this only applies to police and paramedics,
not our bus and taxi drivers. Not our nurses, doctors, teachers,
(18:03):
corrections officers, retail and hospitality workers bill. Is that true?
Speaker 2 (18:10):
That's a bit richer coming from chance in the labor
the governor after they said watering down the laws and
winning everything back. And that's why we're in a situation
where today so that those laws came into place, Cody,
there are laws there that protect every worker in the
territory and particularly our forward facing workers and our frontline workers, police, paramedics, nurses,
(18:31):
and prison officers.
Speaker 1 (18:32):
So it is covering, it is definitely covering those nurses
people in the front.
Speaker 2 (18:38):
There's four different parts of the legislation, so and there's
different levels to every part, and I can't sit here
and rattle them off the top of my head, but
there's four specific different parts and there are specific mandatary
offenses for what might happen under those four different parts.
Whether are you assault a worker which causes some will
attract one penalty, you're assaulted worker that doesn't cause will
(19:00):
attract another penalty. If you spit on a worker, you
will attract a penalty, so and so on. So there's
four different tiers and there's mandatory sentencing to all of
those penalties that wasn't there before, that that did not
exist before. So if you're assault a worker, depending on
what the range you are going to, you are going
to end up with a penalty of some description and
(19:22):
it will be a mandatory penalty. And if you think,
if you assault a worker and you have a previous
world offense, you're going to do three months in jail.
And that's that's pretty simple. So there are different levels
to it. So yeah, if you assault somebody, you assault
a worker, you're going to face consequences and there will
be a mandatory consequence for those actions.
Speaker 1 (19:44):
Well, Billyan, the Treasurer and Minister for a number of portfolios,
we are going to have to leave it there. Really
good to catch up with you. Thanks so much for
your time this morning.
Speaker 2 (19:54):
Thanks Katie, you have a great date you too,
Let's get straight into it because Bill, Yeah, the Treasurer
and Minister for Various Portfolios, joins me on the line.
Good morning to your minister.
Speaker 2 (00:09):
Good morning Katie, and good morning to your listeners.
Speaker 1 (00:11):
Now, Minister, I tell you what changes to legislation for
assaults on frontline workers, the budget outlook, changes to payroll
tax claims, the supercars could have been in jeopardy under
the former government. There is a lot to touch on.
It's hard to know where to start, but I know
that one of the things that a lot of Territorians
would be pretty worried about if they're hearing it for
(00:31):
the first time, is that there were some issues or
there continues to be some hiccups around the supercars. Is
the nugget of info that you dropped yesterday in Parliament.
Speaker 2 (00:41):
Yeah, Katie, it's just another one of those hand grenades
we're finding as we shift through some of the issues
that we've been left with. So of course we know
about the Tyler brend And Drive overpass and the change
is there, and of course that's sort of blown out
by one hundred million as well. But yeah, as part
of that when the overpass was done, we all know
(01:02):
that Hi, Valley had like two entrances. You had the
main entrance and Gate B which got you into the
quads and down to the mud rating. But when they've
done the Tiger bred An overpass the off remp coming
from the port towards town, that entrance has gone. Now
it turns out, but that's a deal breaker for the VH.
And this came up because we're working on the FIM
(01:24):
World Motocross. It's going to be happening next year, and
when we were looking at that and we found that
little nugative information that without a gate B, the deals
off for the indigenous round of the supercars, and of
course for FIM Motocross they may need to get emergency
vehicles in or out during an event, and if the
main entrance is closed with spectators, I can't get emergency
(01:47):
vehicles out in and out in cases a major accident.
So where.
Speaker 1 (01:54):
Are we in a situation where that gate's going to
be able to be open. Where are we at?
Speaker 2 (01:58):
Well, well, the department now, I said of gone away
to the department, said we need an immediate solution to
get a gate be into Hidden Valley because supercars like
it's one of the biggest events in Dharma. I'm a
petrol a petrol head as well, so I want to
see the supercars go ahead. So we're working on developing
a solution now. But see, the thing is the department
(02:19):
went to government and told them about this, and labor
didn't do anything. They knew about it and didn't do anything.
I don't know what the hell they were going to
do if they had in one government again, would they
go and to have to, oh, gee, we're going to
have to come out and solve this problem. But they
certainly knew about it and didn't do anything about it.
And now we're here today fixing it because the supercars
going ahead k one way or another.
Speaker 1 (02:40):
So no matter what you are making, that commitment to
territorians that you are going to.
Speaker 2 (02:45):
Make this happen, absolutely, OK, Gate B will exist in
one way, shape or form somehow because the supercars are
going to happen as well as the fem made across
a couple of months after that.
Speaker 1 (02:57):
So, yeah, Premier, does it mean that some of the
work is going to have to change or the you know,
like the the order I guess in which some of
that work is happening. Is it going to have to change?
To some degree. No.
Speaker 2 (03:12):
No, So the overpass will continue on as it is,
and that's supposed to be finished by January next year
and open. So the department working out a couple of
solutions now as to how we're going to create another
gate be so in case we need to get those
emergency vehicles in and out and through a second gate,
we're going to be able to do that.
Speaker 1 (03:33):
I mean, could this cock up cost us more money? Oh?
Speaker 2 (03:37):
Look, sadly, cay is going to be a cost. And
this is what we're finding is we're finding all these
these little hand grenades, the skeletons behind the walls or
under the floorboards. That's to say that everywhere we go
we find in these little issues. So this is one
of those that is going to cost us some money.
I'm not exactly sure how much get depending on the
solution that we come up with, but yeah, it is
going to cost us some money. But look, we've got
(04:00):
to have the VS going ahead. It's a premier event.
Speaker 1 (04:03):
But it's also something that Territorians look forward to every year, right,
It's one of the things that they love about living here,
being able to go to the VS. And to me,
I just think how are we in a situation where,
you know where we didn't think of this sooner or
did they think of it sooner? I don't know.
Speaker 2 (04:19):
Well, it's part of our listy okay. And that's one
of the platforms that the cop was elected on this
to make sure that we maintain the territory listle. The
vates are part of that and have been for such
a long time. So and that's why I said I'll
move heaven and make sure we've got a date b
to keep the VHS going. Yes, it is. It's a
great event for everybody time but right across the territory
(04:39):
and the money it brings into territory is certainly welcome.
Speaker 1 (04:42):
Yeah. Absolutely. Now someone's just messaged through and said, could
you ask the minister what impact closing the road off
had on fiery who would have had to drive around
to get to a fire adding time. Did they create
a solution for that?
Speaker 2 (04:56):
Well, that's that's what the issue is at the moment
because the only entry there are a couple of entries
that there's some dirt rays that are coming off Amy
Johnson and there's a bit of a dirt track that
comes in from somewhere else. But it's still a little
bit difficult to get in without that date be access.
So yeah, that's what we've got to restore, that second
access point. So it's not just for those events in
(05:16):
cases and the merging somewhere else, and maybe the fires
have got to get in, so we need another access
point somewhere.
Speaker 1 (05:22):
All right, Bill, let's move along. There's a lot to
cover off on this morning, and I understand those changes
to payroll tax will they are forging ahead as well.
The government yesterday is saying that the tax reforms are
going to be happening. When are those changes going to
come into play?
Speaker 2 (05:37):
So one January, Katie, the first part of the reforms
will come into play. So the one point five are
assuming up to two point five change, So that's two
hundred businesses straight away which will benefit from that increase
in the tax free threshold for wages, so that helps
those businesses grow and then invest back into their businesses.
(05:59):
The other businesses will get that benefit, so those up
to seven point five million dollars that change. The second
part that change will come in at the end of
the financial year next year, so then that full suite
of changes are in. But this is a positive we're
talking really when you look at talking to Pat yesterday,
he's got twenty twenty five employees and there's two hundred
(06:22):
businesses and that will BENEFITROM. So we're talking up to
five thousand employees from those smaller medium businesses across the territory.
So that's a lot of people. And of course that
means that I said, those businesses can then reinvest, maybe
employ some more people, grow the businesses, do some more work.
And when you combine that with the first Homeowner's scheme
(06:43):
and the fresh Start scheme, we need we need more people,
we need more trade. So this is that incentive for
those smaller medium businesses to be able to employ more people,
grow the businesses and develop the territory bill.
Speaker 1 (06:57):
Look, I think it's a good thing. It certainly seems
like it's a good thing based on the feedback that
has been received from business owners and operators. But how
much is it going to cost and where is that
money going to come from?
Speaker 2 (07:09):
Yeah, look, we were going to lose about twelve million
per annum in revenue on income tax into treasury. So
twelve minutes said, it's certainly not chicken feed. But when
you look at the increased productivity and the increased spending
will certainly get some of that money back. And the
other thing we're doing is where we're looking at the budget,
reprioritizing some of our spending and certainly reducing some of
(07:32):
that waste. And you look at some of the previous
government's pet projects where they blew ten fifteen million dollars
on something that had no benefit to anybody, or just
threw some money down the drain. I said, I'm going
to fore go twelve million dollars in revenue, but I'm
actually stimulating business growth, stimulating the economy to do things,
and I'll see that as a far better proposition than
(07:53):
just throwing money away, Katie, that's for sure.
Speaker 1 (07:55):
Well yeah, and look, it's one of the questions that
was asked at length really before the Northern Territory election.
I know, it's something we asked a lot of questions
about throughout the week. That was of Maury Claire Boothby
at the time, and she'd said that, you know, the
COLP was going to be saving money through well not
having those pet projects. But the fact is, you know
it's probably going to take a bit more than not
(08:16):
having pet projects, and so I know, those questions are
already starting to flow through from the opposition. Are you
going to need to cut jobs? What are you going
to need to cut to cover those costs?
Speaker 2 (08:29):
Well, so we're not cutting the public seccatie. We need
the public sector and you're working alongside the private sector
to develop, come and develop the territory. The public sector
are going to play a really important role in the
future of the territory and where we're going. But it's
been being smart about what we're spending. But when you
look at some of the infrastructure stuff, just the blowouts
and overspend because the government went is doing some due
(08:51):
diligence here and there. So there's ways that we can
pull some money back, certainly reduced reduce those ends, but
we've got to grow the economy. At the end of
the day two, we need private investment. We need to
deal with those crime issues and get some business confidence
back in the territory. I've met with some people this
morning about who want to come and invest here in
(09:13):
DA and invest in the territory. And it's great to
see people starting to think like that because for too
long we've seen investors sort of on the fence, maybe
not wanting to come to the territory. They weren't sure
about where it was going to go. But with the
change of government now and the work that we've done
just in this first two weeks of parliament, Katie, we're
starting to see business investment increase. We're seeing investors looking
(09:35):
at the territory wanting to come here, which is great
to see and near the people that are going to
help us deal with the effective of the black hole
that we've been left with.
Speaker 1 (09:43):
I hope, so, I hope. So now, speaking of what
you've been left with, I know that on Monday, the
Under Treasurer is going to be taking what I think
is quite an unprecedented step, opening the books and holding
a public event so that territorians can see the state
of the finance. It's obviously something that that you, as
the Treasurer, keen to have happened. But why have you
(10:04):
decided to do this? Why do you think it's important
for territorians to see?
Speaker 2 (10:09):
Well, it's about open and transparent government, Katie. Like the
under treasure used to play a more important role way
way back in the day and that sort of stopped
under the previous government. The Under Treasurers is the person
who knows the nuts and bolts and the facts and
figures about our economy. I'm the Treasurer, but I take
(10:31):
advice from the Under Treasurer and we work together in
developing what our economy is going to look like and
how our finances work. But this is the opportunity for
territories to get along to the convention set of the
next Monday morning at eight forty five, I believe and
the Under treasure is going to give a talk about
how the anti economy works, what are the drivers, what
(10:53):
the state of the books look like. So it'll be
the opportunity for people to come along, have a listen,
get a really good understanding of what the books are,
how they work. I said, I said, I want to
be open and transparent about treasury and our finances because
there's no point trying to hide our dirty laundry away, Katie.
We've got to deal with the mess that we've been left.
Speaker 1 (11:15):
Bill. How are those finances looking? Because obviously the budget
was handed down as I understand it, there was a
bit of an update a couple of days ago.
Speaker 2 (11:25):
We had the TAFFA, which is the state of the
budget from from between twenty twenty two twenty three and
the budget twenty three twenty four, So comparing those figures,
and look, there've some people saying that there's a bit
of a win because oh, there's a three hundred and
twenty three million dollar win here or a ninety million
dollar win there. But when you start from the base
(11:47):
Katie that there's certainly not wins. We're coming off a
note out operating balance back in twenty two to twenty
three of one hundred and thirty two million. In twenty
three twenty four, labor budgeted for a two hundred million
dollar loss. Then they revised that in the middle of
the year to a seven hundred and twenty eight million
dollar loss, and the outcome at the end of the
day was six hundred and thirty eight million dollar loss.
(12:10):
And some people said, oh, well, that's a win, because
it was. It was ninety million dollars less than what
they forecast. But at the end of the DAYCAD between
twenty two to twenty three and twenty three twenty four,
it's a seven hundred and seventy million dollar deficit in
twelve months. And a lot of people know about the
debt to revenue ratios that's a number that's tossed around.
(12:32):
In twenty two to twenty three it was ninety seven percent,
and for the first time in the territory's history, it's
gone over one hundred and it come into one hundred
and eight percent and its forecast will increase to one
hundred and twenty one hundred and twenty seven percent. So
these are the challenges that we now face that's coming
in the governments, looking at that's spiraling, that the spiraling deficits,
(12:56):
and how we can slow that down and then how
we can start to turn it around. We need to
start by developing our own soervice revenue and growing our economy,
and that's what the Chief Ministers charged me. We're doing
and I'm working hard with the Under Treasurer and the
Treasury guys and business to try and.
Speaker 1 (13:11):
Do it well. And we're going to need to build.
There is no other way to put it. Mate. I
want to ask you. I mentioned this on are yesterday.
I saw you at Casarina on the weekend and you
said you'd been on a bit of a bus tour,
now not a tourism bus tour. You decided to catch
some public transport from the city out to Casurina, then
out to Palmerston. Now what I like about this is
(13:33):
it didn't seem to me like you were doing it
as any kind of media event or anything like that.
You were literally doing it to see how things were going.
And you know what some everyday territorians are experiencing when
they get on that public bus network. How did it go?
Speaker 2 (13:48):
Yeah, well, after all the things that had happened on
the bus net, we've seen the driver attacked, and we
hear all these horror stories. So you've got to have
some grand truth at the end of the day, Kadie. Yeah,
I said, got me, got me thongs out in shorts
and T shirt and and look and got out, and
(14:09):
I said, travel the bus network to see what was
really going on and to see what territories are experiencing
on a day to day basis. Look it was. It
was really good in some respects. There were a couple
of interesting things. But what I did notice, k is
that the bus network is well used. Most people are
quite respectful of the drivers, and I think there's a
(14:30):
lot of the people who travel regular in the buses
know the drivers. But we still have this issue with
some anti social behavior drunks.
Speaker 1 (14:38):
Absolutely absolutely.
Speaker 2 (14:41):
The casual in casual interchange Saturday afternoon, it was pretty interesting,
to say the least, I must say, Palmerston was was
pretty quiet. So I'll be out on the buses on
a regular basis. I don't need to advertise the fact.
I'll just be out.
Speaker 1 (14:57):
I think it's I think it's a really good thing
to do. And you know, even when I saw you,
it wasn't something that you were telling me, you know,
because you were sort of having a skite about it.
It was more you were just telling me because we
ran into each other, and I thought, do you know what?
Good on you. I don't know whether this is something
that other members of Parliament have done, but I think
there is no better way to stay grounded and know
(15:19):
what territorians are experiencing than actually doing what everyday territorians
do every day. So I thought it was a good thing.
But Bill, we know that some of what our bus
driver's experience is woeful. There was that vision that was
released a little bit earlier in the week of bus
drivers being assaulted and the discussion about the rollout of
(15:40):
the screening. How quickly are those screens going to roll
out to all of the buses.
Speaker 2 (15:45):
Yeah, well, I said, CDC, we're looking to get it
done by December. And again this is an issue to
go quite back to January that the previous government you're
about and wasn't really proactive about. The minute we found
out about it, I met with members of tw and
some of the bus drives, including the driver that was
assaulted in that vision where the guy climbed over and
(16:05):
kicked the head. So we straightaway started putting some pressure
on CDC to get these screens up. They were sort
of having difficulty getting material and having people to do it.
A lot the really proactive working with CDC. We've got
a guy down there now helping him and oversighting and
getting those screens done. I think it was nearly seven
(16:28):
fitted yesterday, so if my account's trek, we'd be at
nearly forty six or forty seven out of seventy nine.
The department telling me we should be having them all
done by at the latest mid November, probably early November.
But we also made the commitment, and I gave the
commitment to the CWU and the drivers that until all
(16:51):
the buses screens are on, like buses that don't have
screens we'll have a security guard on that bus without
that doesn't have a screen to ride that extra resistance
to them until they're all done. But I've got to
keep peace earlier priority to keep those guys safe, because
good just you can't even think of that the tragedy.
Imagine one of those ms pulling into a school bus stop,
someone loses control and the bus stops loaded up there
(17:12):
with kids rend thinking about ca So that's why we've
been really, really proactive and really jumped on this to
get it done.
Speaker 1 (17:19):
Yeah, good Bill, I want to ask you, I know
that it's not the only thing happening to try and
keep frontline workers safe. The legislation passing earlier in the
week on the mandatory minimum sentencing of three months imprisonment
for those who do assault frontline workers now. Chancey Paike
in Parliament yesterday claimed that the COLPS changes were merely
(17:43):
tinkering around the edges and mandatory sentencing did not work
as a deterrent. He also accused the government of being
utterly misleading painting the laws as a win for all
territory workers. He said this only applies to police and paramedics,
not our bus and taxi drivers. Not our nurses, doctors, teachers,
(18:03):
corrections officers, retail and hospitality workers bill. Is that true?
Speaker 2 (18:10):
That's a bit richer coming from chance in the labor
the governor after they said watering down the laws and
winning everything back. And that's why we're in a situation
where today so that those laws came into place, Cody,
there are laws there that protect every worker in the
territory and particularly our forward facing workers and our frontline workers, police, paramedics, nurses,
(18:31):
and prison officers.
Speaker 1 (18:32):
So it is covering, it is definitely covering those nurses
people in the front.
Speaker 2 (18:38):
There's four different parts of the legislation, so and there's
different levels to every part, and I can't sit here
and rattle them off the top of my head, but
there's four specific different parts and there are specific mandatary
offenses for what might happen under those four different parts.
Whether are you assault a worker which causes some will
attract one penalty, you're assaulted worker that doesn't cause will
(19:00):
attract another penalty. If you spit on a worker, you
will attract a penalty, so and so on. So there's
four different tiers and there's mandatory sentencing to all of
those penalties that wasn't there before, that that did not
exist before. So if you're assault a worker, depending on
what the range you are going to, you are going
to end up with a penalty of some description and
(19:22):
it will be a mandatory penalty. And if you think,
if you assault a worker and you have a previous
world offense, you're going to do three months in jail.
And that's that's pretty simple. So there are different levels
to it. So yeah, if you assault somebody, you assault
a worker, you're going to face consequences and there will
be a mandatory consequence for those actions.
Speaker 1 (19:44):
Well, Billyan, the Treasurer and Minister for a number of portfolios,
we are going to have to leave it there. Really
good to catch up with you. Thanks so much for
your time this morning.
Speaker 2 (19:54):
Thanks Katie, you have a great date you too,
Popular Podcasts
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.