Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
As we discussed yesterday, we know the Northern Territory government
has identified two hundred million dollars in savings as it
promises to rebuild the economy. The Treasurer of Bill Yan
said that tough decisions are going to be made to
ensure that taxpayers money was put to the right priorities
and to help claw back Labour's nine billion dollars in debt. Billyan,
(00:22):
the Treasurer joins me on the line. Good morning to
your minister.
Speaker 2 (00:26):
Good morning Katie, and good morning to everybody up there
in the top end.
Speaker 1 (00:30):
Good to have you on the show now, Bill Should
the COLP have been upfront about not undergrounding power lines
before the election?
Speaker 2 (00:40):
Okay, this was something that we hadn't discussed prior to
the election. Certainly, these were discussions we had, certainly I
had with Treasury once we came into government. So we
know that the debt is spiraling out of control and
we had to take, sadly and make some difficult decisions
(01:03):
to deal with that debt. So after coming into government,
sat down with Treasury and work through some of the
things that we could defer, reprioritize to make sure that
we didn't hit that debt ceiling, Kady, and the undergrounding
of the power was one of them. And I think
Labor gave some very very false expectations to the people
(01:25):
out in the mild and suburbs saying that, I look,
we're going to throw up sixty million dollars to underground
the power out there. Well, it wasn't going to underground
power out in the suburbs, Katie. It was going to
do a small part of some high voltage power along
Baggett Road. And that's all the sixty million dollars was
going to do upfront.
Speaker 1 (01:42):
So you reckon, that's it. That was all it was
going to pay for.
Speaker 2 (01:45):
That's all it was going to pay for to do
this job propagating because I think the expectation it was
given to people out there in all the suburbs was
the poles were going to disappear off the streets and
the power lines would go underground and your house would
connect to power on the ground. That's definitely not the
k and that was I think the expectation that was
putting the people out there in an Aldern suburb to
(02:05):
do that, and to do it properly. Is it's one
hundreds upon hundreds of millions of dollars, and it's the
money is at the moment, it's money that we don't have. Labor.
And coming off the lead of the opposition, Selena Hubert,
she was on Labor's cabinet and I believe she was
on the budget review subcommittee for Labor. She knew the
state of the book and she knew where they were
(02:27):
projecting to be.
Speaker 1 (02:28):
Well. She joined us on the show yesterday she said
that you're trying to suggest that this project, which was
budgeted at sixty million dollars over six years, plus the
scrapping of a nineteen point two million dollar upgrade to
the convention Center, is somehow going to save one hundred
and fifteen million dollars over four years. Bill, how have
(02:50):
I mean, how have you come to that two hundred
million dollars?
Speaker 2 (02:54):
Well, there's quite a bit that makes up that two
hundred million, Katie, and what we also have, and again
it's once we've got in and sat down with Treasury,
had a real look at the state of the books.
There's all these unfunded liabilities that Labor have sitting there.
So it's projects that they were going to continue on
with that they hadn't funded and put into the forward
(03:14):
distinates or the forward budgets.
Speaker 1 (03:16):
Can you talk us through some of those milk can
you talk us through some of those projects.
Speaker 2 (03:20):
Well, one in particular, of course, is the Milk Run,
the plane service that runs from Dalen through Catherine TANet
Creek down to Alice Springs. Now that's funded by government,
like government subsidizes the Milk Run. That ends in a
few months time, and Labor hadn't even continued to budget
(03:42):
for that into the future. So the fact that there's
money that we're going to have to look and try
and find if we want to keep that milk Run going,
and we need to because that services the people of
Catherine TANet Creek and down to Alice Springs with that
very important. So so that's just one in particular. Caating
is of course the on all the other stuff. Like
you look at I said, Labor committed to the FAM Supercross,
(04:07):
oh motocross, sorry at Hidden Valley. That's that's a great,
great idea, but they didn't scope it or funded properly
like they It un a cost a million dolls. Well
that's blown out and we're now committed to delivering that project.
So I've got to find extra money to deliver that,
plus deal with the issue around that second access road
into Hidden Valley again. So stuff that labor you'll about
(04:27):
and hadn't budgeted for or hadn't considered. So so I guess, though, Bill,
do you if I keep finding problem which.
Speaker 1 (04:35):
Look, I'm I can certainly understand that. I think that
all territories can look at the fact that we're nine
billion dollars in debt and can certainly see that savings
measures need to be made. Right Like we were receiving
messages yesterday, people going, Katie, if it was my house,
you know, I can't get the most luxurious sort of
laund room or whatever other element to the house if
(04:56):
I can't afford it. So the budget is like a
household budget. You've got to spend within your means. So
people understand that. But what I'm trying to get to
the bottom of is with that two hundred million dollars
in savings, so sixty million dollars obviously over six years
for the undergrounding of power lines nineteen point two, then
for the convention center, what else is going to be cut?
Speaker 2 (05:21):
There's going to be extra money for the NBL team
as well, so how much that it was. It wasn't
just the upgrading of the Convention Center to turn that
into West Stadium. There was payments required game secure the
MBL team into the territory as well. Then I believe
there was also going to have to be another training stadium.
(05:45):
The list just kept going on and on and on.
So and then there's all these unfunded liabilities which we're
looking through right at this point in time. So I've
been sitting down with Treasury for weeks now looking at
all these unkunded liabilities in the future to see what
we still need to keep going, what we can pause,
what we can defer. So it's really sad happen to
(06:08):
do some of this stuff, Katie, because I know the
territories like some of the things that we're talking about,
but at the end of the day, we just we
just can't afford it. All this stuff was being done
on credit. There was borrowing more and more money, which
pushed us further and further towards that debt camp and
the opposition lader was that was part of budget cabinet.
(06:30):
She knew where we were going. So I just I
consider what would Labor have done if they had actually
got back end, because they would have to be making
some of the same measures and deferring projects and reprioritizing things.
Otherwise they would have hit that debt cap because it
was projected we got the state of the books from
Treasury and if we did nothing, this is where we're
(06:52):
going to be. And if we did something, we could
start to work towards pain down not hit that debt
camp because if I ever didn't do anything, they were
sending us to financial booming by hitting that decktat.
Speaker 1 (07:03):
Look, I do not dispute that in any way. In fact,
I think that there needs to be some raining in,
like I think everybody understands that now, and we've got
to stop spending money like it's monopoly money. There has
to be some real thinking about what we're investing in.
But you did touch on then things like the FIM motocross.
(07:24):
I mean, is that still going to be going ahead?
Speaker 2 (07:27):
Yeah, yeah, No, we're locked into that, Katie, because there's
clauses and now if we don't do it, then the
cost us money if we don't do it. So these
are things that these are legacy issues that we've said
we've got from labor I think the Ceiling Prairie was
another one. They dropped the ball on the negotiations for
that contract. So I think we're only in. I was
(07:48):
thinking we're in for a week or two as Treasurer
and the Infrastructure Minister, and all of a sudden, that
bomb at my desk and we've had to work quickly
and closely with Ceiling so that we can provide those
as the people of Man and see we I mean,
we're going to drop the ball on that one. And
that's of course that's cost us extra money, money that
we don't have. So I've got to find savings elsewhere
(08:10):
to cover that.
Speaker 1 (08:12):
Well, so that's what I'm posted, that's what I'm gathering
bill from our conversation. So you know, we've said that
there's two hundred million dollars in savings, but then you know,
you have just identified obviously some of their overspending, all
those unfunded things that Labor was planning to do, i e.
The milk run, the motocross sea link services. So they're
(08:33):
not being cut. We're still having to find the funding
for those. But what else is being cut to add
up to that two hundred million.
Speaker 2 (08:40):
Dollars, Well, it's looking at those und part of the liabilities,
and it's we're going through that as part of the
budget process at the moment case. So we're working now.
We're starting to work right now, I suppose this week,
next week, and for the next month or two to
formulate our budget moving into twenty twenty five, twenty six.
So we're this asking all of these things sitting down
(09:01):
on my treasury. I'll be sitting down with all the
other ministers and their CEOs over the next month working
up the budget lines for those agencies and for all
those organizations to see where that looks. And unfortunately, we
don't have any extra money. There's all these wonderful things
I love to do, Katie, but I just I can't
do it. So agencies are going to have to live
(09:22):
within their means. They're going to have to live within
their budgets. There's no new money, so.
Speaker 1 (09:28):
Really some of that savings that some of those savings
are going to have to come from from departments towing
the line and not overspending.
Speaker 2 (09:37):
By the sound of it, absolutely, Katie, and I think
all the departments know that the money's just not there,
So we don't have any money to do lots and
lots of new things. If we want to do something
and we need to do something, we've got a look
within the budget that we have reprioritize funds from elsewhere
if we need to do one specific thing. So it's
(09:59):
it's about looking at what we get as best value
for territories across the board. So rather than a little
bit of money to support one specific group over there, well,
I'm looking at where we spend our money to make
sure that all territories across the board get some benefit
from that. So it's about spending the money that we
have very very wisely, very very efficiently, and making sure
(10:21):
we're not wasting money.
Speaker 1 (10:23):
Well, some people might look at the announcement earlier in
the week and the skate park for ouris springs and go, well,
is that spending money wisely?
Speaker 2 (10:32):
Well, what we've done, particularly down here in Central AUSTRAI Katy,
that was money that was put aside to move anzac
Oval out to kill Gareff. So by keeping anzac over
where it is, we're able to reprioritize that money and
again that goes to the benefit of all the people
here in our springs in Central Australia. So we're working
in conjunction with the council deliver that and the library.
(10:54):
So it's not new money. We're not borrowing any more money.
We're using money that was already existing to deliver that
project and reprioritize. And the same goes for the gallery here.
The budget was one hundred and fifty mil for the
gallery and I've seen the plane and there's no way
that could have been built for anything under three hundred
and fifty or four hundred MILS. So Laye was going
(11:14):
to be going out and borrowing another couple of hundred
million dollars to pull a gallery off. So be very
clear with the agency that they've got one hundred and
fifty million dollars to spend on the gallery.
Speaker 1 (11:24):
Look, there is no doubt that there's going to need
to be some serious work to reign in the budget.
I do want to ask you, though, Judith's been in
contact with us this morning, and this is something that
we have spoken to the Australian Medical Association about before
as well, asking Judas asking is there any chance that
we could have another entry into Royal Darwin Hospital. It
(11:47):
is crucial. There was an accident a couple of days
ago and there were so many people also, ambulances backed
up trying to get in.
Speaker 2 (11:56):
Yeah, okay, I had heard about that, Katie. That's as
certainly a new one to me. Yeah, I'd have to
go away and talk to d I about that and
have a little bit of a look at what the
access arrangements are to the hospital. I've been in there
a number of times. But yeah, I haven't supposed No, oh.
Speaker 1 (12:15):
Good, we can follow that up. Hey, young Bill, whata'ts
your reaction to the US election Donald Trump's back in?
Speaker 2 (12:22):
Yes, well, I suppose I look at it from the
point of view what is it going to mean for
us here in the territory. I know that Trump is
of course big on defense, and we have a big
defense spend up here in the Northern Territory with Tindall
and up in Day and so I look at that
and go, well, if he's committed to that defense spend,
(12:43):
that's going to be good for us longer term. So yeah,
I look at it. What it's going to mean I
suppose for us here in the territory. So I'm hoping
we're going to do okay out of it.
Speaker 1 (12:52):
Well, we'll wait and see. Time will tell bill Yan,
Treasurer for the Northern Territory. Thanks so much for your.
Speaker 2 (12:57):
Time this morning. Jeez, do you have a great there
you two.
Speaker 1 (13:00):
Thank you
As we discussed yesterday, we know the Northern Territory government
has identified two hundred million dollars in savings as it
promises to rebuild the economy. The Treasurer of Bill Yan
said that tough decisions are going to be made to
ensure that taxpayers money was put to the right priorities
and to help claw back Labour's nine billion dollars in debt. Billyan,
(00:22):
the Treasurer joins me on the line. Good morning to
your minister.
Speaker 2 (00:26):
Good morning Katie, and good morning to everybody up there
in the top end.
Speaker 1 (00:30):
Good to have you on the show now, Bill Should
the COLP have been upfront about not undergrounding power lines
before the election?
Speaker 2 (00:40):
Okay, this was something that we hadn't discussed prior to
the election. Certainly, these were discussions we had, certainly I
had with Treasury once we came into government. So we
know that the debt is spiraling out of control and
we had to take, sadly and make some difficult decisions
(01:03):
to deal with that debt. So after coming into government,
sat down with Treasury and work through some of the
things that we could defer, reprioritize to make sure that
we didn't hit that debt ceiling, Kady, and the undergrounding
of the power was one of them. And I think
Labor gave some very very false expectations to the people
(01:25):
out in the mild and suburbs saying that, I look,
we're going to throw up sixty million dollars to underground
the power out there. Well, it wasn't going to underground
power out in the suburbs, Katie. It was going to
do a small part of some high voltage power along
Baggett Road. And that's all the sixty million dollars was
going to do upfront.
Speaker 1 (01:42):
So you reckon, that's it. That was all it was
going to pay for.
Speaker 2 (01:45):
That's all it was going to pay for to do
this job propagating because I think the expectation it was
given to people out there in all the suburbs was
the poles were going to disappear off the streets and
the power lines would go underground and your house would
connect to power on the ground. That's definitely not the
k and that was I think the expectation that was
putting the people out there in an Aldern suburb to
(02:05):
do that, and to do it properly. Is it's one
hundreds upon hundreds of millions of dollars, and it's the
money is at the moment, it's money that we don't have. Labor.
And coming off the lead of the opposition, Selena Hubert,
she was on Labor's cabinet and I believe she was
on the budget review subcommittee for Labor. She knew the
state of the book and she knew where they were
(02:27):
projecting to be.
Speaker 1 (02:28):
Well. She joined us on the show yesterday she said
that you're trying to suggest that this project, which was
budgeted at sixty million dollars over six years, plus the
scrapping of a nineteen point two million dollar upgrade to
the convention Center, is somehow going to save one hundred
and fifteen million dollars over four years. Bill, how have
(02:50):
I mean, how have you come to that two hundred
million dollars?
Speaker 2 (02:54):
Well, there's quite a bit that makes up that two
hundred million, Katie, and what we also have, and again
it's once we've got in and sat down with Treasury,
had a real look at the state of the books.
There's all these unfunded liabilities that Labor have sitting there.
So it's projects that they were going to continue on
with that they hadn't funded and put into the forward
(03:14):
distinates or the forward budgets.
Speaker 1 (03:16):
Can you talk us through some of those milk can
you talk us through some of those projects.
Speaker 2 (03:20):
Well, one in particular, of course, is the Milk Run,
the plane service that runs from Dalen through Catherine TANet
Creek down to Alice Springs. Now that's funded by government,
like government subsidizes the Milk Run. That ends in a
few months time, and Labor hadn't even continued to budget
(03:42):
for that into the future. So the fact that there's
money that we're going to have to look and try
and find if we want to keep that milk Run going,
and we need to because that services the people of
Catherine TANet Creek and down to Alice Springs with that
very important. So so that's just one in particular. Caating
is of course the on all the other stuff. Like
you look at I said, Labor committed to the FAM Supercross,
(04:07):
oh motocross, sorry at Hidden Valley. That's that's a great,
great idea, but they didn't scope it or funded properly
like they It un a cost a million dolls. Well
that's blown out and we're now committed to delivering that project.
So I've got to find extra money to deliver that,
plus deal with the issue around that second access road
into Hidden Valley again. So stuff that labor you'll about
(04:27):
and hadn't budgeted for or hadn't considered. So so I guess, though, Bill,
do you if I keep finding problem which.
Speaker 1 (04:35):
Look, I'm I can certainly understand that. I think that
all territories can look at the fact that we're nine
billion dollars in debt and can certainly see that savings
measures need to be made. Right Like we were receiving
messages yesterday, people going, Katie, if it was my house,
you know, I can't get the most luxurious sort of
laund room or whatever other element to the house if
(04:56):
I can't afford it. So the budget is like a
household budget. You've got to spend within your means. So
people understand that. But what I'm trying to get to
the bottom of is with that two hundred million dollars
in savings, so sixty million dollars obviously over six years
for the undergrounding of power lines nineteen point two, then
for the convention center, what else is going to be cut?
Speaker 2 (05:21):
There's going to be extra money for the NBL team
as well, so how much that it was. It wasn't
just the upgrading of the Convention Center to turn that
into West Stadium. There was payments required game secure the
MBL team into the territory as well. Then I believe
there was also going to have to be another training stadium.
(05:45):
The list just kept going on and on and on.
So and then there's all these unfunded liabilities which we're
looking through right at this point in time. So I've
been sitting down with Treasury for weeks now looking at
all these unkunded liabilities in the future to see what
we still need to keep going, what we can pause,
what we can defer. So it's really sad happen to
(06:08):
do some of this stuff, Katie, because I know the
territories like some of the things that we're talking about,
but at the end of the day, we just we
just can't afford it. All this stuff was being done
on credit. There was borrowing more and more money, which
pushed us further and further towards that debt camp and
the opposition lader was that was part of budget cabinet.
(06:30):
She knew where we were going. So I just I
consider what would Labor have done if they had actually
got back end, because they would have to be making
some of the same measures and deferring projects and reprioritizing things.
Otherwise they would have hit that debt cap because it
was projected we got the state of the books from
Treasury and if we did nothing, this is where we're
(06:52):
going to be. And if we did something, we could
start to work towards pain down not hit that debt
camp because if I ever didn't do anything, they were
sending us to financial booming by hitting that decktat.
Speaker 1 (07:03):
Look, I do not dispute that in any way. In fact,
I think that there needs to be some raining in,
like I think everybody understands that now, and we've got
to stop spending money like it's monopoly money. There has
to be some real thinking about what we're investing in.
But you did touch on then things like the FIM motocross.
(07:24):
I mean, is that still going to be going ahead?
Speaker 2 (07:27):
Yeah, yeah, No, we're locked into that, Katie, because there's
clauses and now if we don't do it, then the
cost us money if we don't do it. So these
are things that these are legacy issues that we've said
we've got from labor I think the Ceiling Prairie was
another one. They dropped the ball on the negotiations for
that contract. So I think we're only in. I was
(07:48):
thinking we're in for a week or two as Treasurer
and the Infrastructure Minister, and all of a sudden, that
bomb at my desk and we've had to work quickly
and closely with Ceiling so that we can provide those
as the people of Man and see we I mean,
we're going to drop the ball on that one. And
that's of course that's cost us extra money, money that
we don't have. So I've got to find savings elsewhere
(08:10):
to cover that.
Speaker 1 (08:12):
Well, so that's what I'm posted, that's what I'm gathering
bill from our conversation. So you know, we've said that
there's two hundred million dollars in savings, but then you know,
you have just identified obviously some of their overspending, all
those unfunded things that Labor was planning to do, i e.
The milk run, the motocross sea link services. So they're
(08:33):
not being cut. We're still having to find the funding
for those. But what else is being cut to add
up to that two hundred million.
Speaker 2 (08:40):
Dollars, Well, it's looking at those und part of the liabilities,
and it's we're going through that as part of the
budget process at the moment case. So we're working now.
We're starting to work right now, I suppose this week,
next week, and for the next month or two to
formulate our budget moving into twenty twenty five, twenty six.
So we're this asking all of these things sitting down
(09:01):
on my treasury. I'll be sitting down with all the
other ministers and their CEOs over the next month working
up the budget lines for those agencies and for all
those organizations to see where that looks. And unfortunately, we
don't have any extra money. There's all these wonderful things
I love to do, Katie, but I just I can't
do it. So agencies are going to have to live
(09:22):
within their means. They're going to have to live within
their budgets. There's no new money, so.
Speaker 1 (09:28):
Really some of that savings that some of those savings
are going to have to come from from departments towing
the line and not overspending.
Speaker 2 (09:37):
By the sound of it, absolutely, Katie, and I think
all the departments know that the money's just not there,
So we don't have any money to do lots and
lots of new things. If we want to do something
and we need to do something, we've got a look
within the budget that we have reprioritize funds from elsewhere
if we need to do one specific thing. So it's
(09:59):
it's about looking at what we get as best value
for territories across the board. So rather than a little
bit of money to support one specific group over there, well,
I'm looking at where we spend our money to make
sure that all territories across the board get some benefit
from that. So it's about spending the money that we
have very very wisely, very very efficiently, and making sure
(10:21):
we're not wasting money.
Speaker 1 (10:23):
Well, some people might look at the announcement earlier in
the week and the skate park for ouris springs and go, well,
is that spending money wisely?
Speaker 2 (10:32):
Well, what we've done, particularly down here in Central AUSTRAI Katy,
that was money that was put aside to move anzac
Oval out to kill Gareff. So by keeping anzac over
where it is, we're able to reprioritize that money and
again that goes to the benefit of all the people
here in our springs in Central Australia. So we're working
in conjunction with the council deliver that and the library.
(10:54):
So it's not new money. We're not borrowing any more money.
We're using money that was already existing to deliver that
project and reprioritize. And the same goes for the gallery here.
The budget was one hundred and fifty mil for the
gallery and I've seen the plane and there's no way
that could have been built for anything under three hundred
and fifty or four hundred MILS. So Laye was going
(11:14):
to be going out and borrowing another couple of hundred
million dollars to pull a gallery off. So be very
clear with the agency that they've got one hundred and
fifty million dollars to spend on the gallery.
Speaker 1 (11:24):
Look, there is no doubt that there's going to need
to be some serious work to reign in the budget.
I do want to ask you, though, Judith's been in
contact with us this morning, and this is something that
we have spoken to the Australian Medical Association about before
as well, asking Judas asking is there any chance that
we could have another entry into Royal Darwin Hospital. It
(11:47):
is crucial. There was an accident a couple of days
ago and there were so many people also, ambulances backed
up trying to get in.
Speaker 2 (11:56):
Yeah, okay, I had heard about that, Katie. That's as
certainly a new one to me. Yeah, I'd have to
go away and talk to d I about that and
have a little bit of a look at what the
access arrangements are to the hospital. I've been in there
a number of times. But yeah, I haven't supposed No, oh.
Speaker 1 (12:15):
Good, we can follow that up. Hey, young Bill, whata'ts
your reaction to the US election Donald Trump's back in?
Speaker 2 (12:22):
Yes, well, I suppose I look at it from the
point of view what is it going to mean for
us here in the territory. I know that Trump is
of course big on defense, and we have a big
defense spend up here in the Northern Territory with Tindall
and up in Day and so I look at that
and go, well, if he's committed to that defense spend,
(12:43):
that's going to be good for us longer term. So yeah,
I look at it. What it's going to mean I
suppose for us here in the territory. So I'm hoping
we're going to do okay out of it.
Speaker 1 (12:52):
Well, we'll wait and see. Time will tell bill Yan,
Treasurer for the Northern Territory. Thanks so much for your.
Speaker 2 (12:57):
Time this morning. Jeez, do you have a great there
you two.
Speaker 1 (13:00):
Thank you
Popular Podcasts
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.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
The Breakfast Club
The World's Most Dangerous Morning Show, The Breakfast Club, With DJ Envy, Jess Hilarious, And Charlamagne Tha God!