00:01Ian, you've handed down your second budget today, but there doesn't seem to be any new
00:06cost of living measures for Territorians. Why is that?
00:10Well, there's quite a lot of money going out for cost of living support for Territorians.
00:14We're putting $290 million out there in this budget to support Territorians through these
00:20times where we're seeing an increase in household budgets. The biggest spend in our budget is
00:26the community service obligation to support Territory families. $2,000 for every Territory
00:32family is part of that support to make sure that they're not seeing huge increases in their
00:36power prices. Power prices are going up with an increased cost of gas, so we're doing the
00:42hard yards to make sure that that is not being passed on to mums and dads.
00:46The community service obligation though is an existing policy. Considering how tough Territorians
00:51are doing it right now, shouldn't there be something new?
00:53Well, if you look at overall what we're doing, we have stuff out there for back to school
00:58vouchers, learn to swim vouchers, free swimming lessons for kids, support for our seniors.
01:03We're introduced, we removed the need for inspections on your car. So, these are all small things that
01:10help Territorians with their cost of living issues. So, the money that we're putting out
01:16the CSO is a large part of that and I think it plays a major role in reducing those issues
01:21for Territory families.
01:23The NT is in a huge amount of debt. The interest bills $2.1 million per day. Is that sustainable?
01:31Well, you need to look at the legacy that we were left coming into government. The debt was spiralling
01:36out of control and it's not something you can pull up straight away. So, we've started to flatten that debt
01:41curve. We're seeing $12.5 billion in debt this financial year.
01:46Stabilising it around about $13.2 billion over the next two years post that. And then starting to reduce. So,
01:51we're doing the fiscally
01:53responsible work now to start to reduce that debt and with that, that will reduce those interest payments.
01:58Should you have made more cuts to get that interest bill under control?
02:02Well, you've got to balance up the services that we need to provide to the Territory versus how you pull
02:09back on that spending.
02:10And I think we've had a very, very good balance in this budget. We're rolling things out the door that
02:16Territorians want and expect from us.
02:18All that money we're putting out, the $12.7 billion in law and order, the education spend and, of course,
02:25the $2 billion plus in our healthcare system.
02:28These are what Territorians expect. These are the services they need every day. So, we're very, very focused on delivering
02:34that
02:35and make sure that Territorians get the services that they require.
02:39Last year, you made the decision to go ahead with the Darwin ship lift. It's blown out by another $30
02:45million to $850 million.
02:48Surely, you have to take some responsibility for this latest blowout?
02:52Well, the blowout that we're seeing and the increased costs for the ship lift, again, are a legacy item left
02:57to us by the last government.
02:58They signed off on all the contracts and the deeds before we got into government.
03:02And we've been working with the contractors, Clough, BMD, to make sure we try and maintain those costs.
03:07But there was no way out for us. There was no way out for the CLP. These deals were done
03:12before we got there.
03:13We could have terminated the agreements, but we would have ended off financially worse off.
03:17We're better off now to build the ship lift and back it in because we know it will be an
03:22economic driver
03:23for the Territory longer term in that larger maritime precinct.
03:26The feds have given you a huge bucket of money for anti-hospitals. Will Territorians notice this in the ADs?
03:34Well, the additional funding fills the gap that the federal government left us for many, many years.
03:40The federal government had underspent and underfunded our hospitals for a very, very long time.
03:45It's good now to see that $1 billion deal that the Chief Minister managed to get with Canberra.
03:50So that tops up that $200 million shortfall in funding for our hospitals.
03:55That allows us to have a little bit more flexibility on what we do within our hospitals,
03:58because previously we were borrowing that $200 million every year to fund that shortfall.
04:03You're building new prisons. Have you considered building a new Royal Darwin Hospital?
04:08Well, prisons we need right here, right now today. If you look at the correctional system,
04:13it was neglected by the previous government. Prison numbers were increasing.
04:17They were holding people in watch houses. There was no plan to put additional beds into our correctional services.
04:23That's something that's much needed and we're doing that work as part of the correctional services master plan.
04:29The Darwin Hospital is another piece of work.
04:31I think if we're going to look at a new hospital,
04:33there'll be a partnership with the Commonwealth if we're going to go down that road.
04:37Bill Yan, thank you.
04:38Cheers, thank you.
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