Northern Territory debt is approaching 14b$, the highest per capita in Australia

ABC NEWS (Australia)

The Northern Territory's debt will reach more than 12 billion dollars next financial year with the budget forecasting a further increase to nearly 14 billion by 2029. The country liberal party government's first budget has revealed a deteriorating fiscal position for the territory, which has a population of around 255,000 people.

Transcript

00:00Over the morning we've been in budget lock-up, poring over the budget paper.

00:06This is just one of the budget books that we've been looking through this morning.

00:11There's actually about five or six of them, so lots to go through and sort through.

00:15But so far we have a couple of takeaways that we can share with you.

00:19Firstly, that crime and law and order is the big winner from this budget.

00:23We know that restoring law and order has been a really big priority for the country Liberal government

00:29since they were sworn into power last year.

00:32And there's a $1.34 billion spend on it in this budget.

00:37And that's what they're calling a record spend on law and order.

00:41But the other big takeaway is that there is going to be a continuous climb in the net debt in the Territory.

00:48So next financial year the debt is predicted to reach $12 billion.

00:53And by 2028-29 it's projected to hit $14 billion.

00:58But in terms of any other big winners and losers from the budget,

01:02healthcare is probably a big winner in that there's been a $25.3 million increase in primary healthcare.

01:10That is mostly through federal funding, including commitments like the Medicare Urgent Care Clinic

01:16that was promised during the election for Darwin.

01:20The other potential big winner, depending on which way you look at it, is infrastructure.

01:25There's been a record spend in that area.

01:28So we've had $4.34 billion spent on infrastructure in this budget.

01:33However, the majority of the increase in spending there is not necessarily new projects,

01:38but it's big blowouts in existing projects, such as the ship lifter,

01:42which is a beleaguered project that's been in the pipeline for years and years,

01:46an increase in cost multiple times.

01:49There's an extra $305 million cost for the ship lift in the budget this time.

01:54The big losers, we can say so far, Aboriginal justice.

01:57There's been a reduction in spending of more than $2 million on that line in the Attorney General's department.

02:03The tourism and film industry also will see a reduction.

02:06And consultants, the government's promised to reduce its spending on consultancy by 20%.

02:13Now, the government has defended this budget, saying that essentially it's not the time for austerity measures

02:21and to ultimately boost the economy and get the budget back in shape.

02:26What needs to happen is more spending to encourage investment into the Territory.

02:30Shoot народ Not--"

02:37That's a real Tarot.

02:40That's welcome.

02:42Bill Hick 110 says,

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