Page 79 - Week 01 - Tuesday, 25 February 2014
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The budget review also reflects that, since the publication of the 2013-14 budget and, as I informed the Assembly last year, the release of the Independent Competition and Regulatory Commission’s water and sewerage pricing determination has required the government to revise downwards the payments that ACTEW Corporation will make to the estimates for the government in relation to these charges.
This outcome has had a significant effect on the ACT budget and further constrains fiscal decisions by the government. The ICRC pricing determination, along with the amended timing and the payment of commonwealth grants and higher than expected superannuation expenses, have placed pressure on the headline net operating balance in the budget year, as well as in the forward years. Together these adjustments account for nearly all of the increase in the projected deficit for the current fiscal year. It is important to stress, particularly for the benefit of the shadow treasurer, that none of these are policy decisions taken by this government.
The 2013-14 fiscal result is expected to be a deficit of $360 million. The budget is now forecast to return to balance in the 2016-17 fiscal year. The government will continue to maintain a prudent approach to managing the territory’s budget, and we will ensure that our budget position is sustainable in the long term to ensure the continued delivery of high quality services.
Future expenditure decisions will be considered concurrently with responsible offsetting savings and a continuing focus on the efficient delivery of government services. This approach means that the territory continues to maintain one of the strongest balance sheets in Australia, as evidenced by key indicators such as net debt and net financial liabilities.
This was again recognised by the international ratings agency Standard & Poors when it reaffirmed the ACT’s AAA long-term credit rating in October last year and when it assessed the outlook for the ACT’s finances as continuing to be stable. At this point it is worth noting that only Victoria and the ACT currently hold a AAA stable credit rating.
The territory government, though, in contrast to Liberal state governments elsewhere, will not be making deep cuts to our public services that would seriously affect service delivery to our community.
This government remains committed to building and transforming our city. We want to build new public infrastructure that will provide short, medium and long-term benefits to our economy and to our community. The capital metro and city to the lake projects are significant infrastructure investments that will certainly reshape how our city functions and will also generate thousands of new jobs, both through the construction and operating phases.
The University of Canberra public hospital is a significant new investment in the city’s health facilities, as are the investments in the Tuggeranong and Belconnen community health centres. The government will also continue to roll out a range of transformative social policy reforms, particularly in relation to the national disability insurance scheme and the national education reforms.
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