Treasurer Michael Ferguson has begun the big task of selling his third budget which sets the state on course to accumulate $8.6 billion dollars in debt in four years. He is facing backlash over the debt from public servants worries about how departments will find $450 million dollars worth of savings over the next four years.
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00:00A big workload weighs heavy on public school teacher Laura Russell.
00:07Working in this system I now feel like I let students down all of the time because I'm
00:11not given the opportunity to give them the support that they need to take those next
00:15steps in their lives.
00:16Yesterday's budget requires the Education Department to find $80 million in savings
00:22over the next three years, with teachers and support staff worried about what programs
00:27and jobs face the axe.
00:29I'm a teacher but I can't do my job without TAs, without our admin staff, without our
00:32facility staff.
00:34I just don't see how anyone who works directly in a school could be anything other than a
00:37frontline staffer.
00:38So there's nothing there that can be cut without having an adverse impact on all of our students.
00:44Launceston General Hospital nurse Chantelle Smith shares the same anxiety as the Health
00:49Department tries to save $134 million in three years.
00:53If I had the pressures of knowing that there's going to be more staff cuts and not supporting
00:58us, our roles as nurses are going to be a lot heavier.
01:02Treasurer Michael Ferguson has begun his budget sell.
01:06He says there's fat to cut in the public service and savings from the efficiency measure only
01:11make up 1.6 per cent of expenditure.
01:14We believe that the bureaucratic side of a big department can be more efficient.
01:19The state isn't projected to balance the books until the end of the decade.
01:23The Treasurer says it's then that work will start on reducing soaring debt levels, projected
01:28to reach $8.6 billion in four years' time.
01:32The return to surplus is beyond the forward estimates.
01:34I accept that and I've explained why.
01:37But when you return to a proper surplus, that's the point when you cap out your borrowings.
01:43And that's the plan.
01:44I don't think you can believe the figures in this budget.
01:46I think every budget update we will see in this financial year will see further deterioration
01:51in the position.
01:52The Government's ruled out huge spending cuts to balance the budget or introducing
01:56new taxes to increase revenue.
01:58But the Treasurer isn't closing the door on selling a government business enterprise
02:02if the right deal comes along, although he's ruled out parting with Hydro Tasmania.
02:07We'd be open to an individual asset being considered, but only if it was in the overall
02:14best interest of the state.
02:15We certainly don't need to sell assets to service debt.
02:18But history will tell us that is a public disaster.
02:22That would be the worst thing for Tasmanians if any of our fantastic GBEs were flogged
02:27off.
02:28A budget being marked harshly.