Over the past few months many have contacted my office complaining about cuts to services and programs impacting them and new taxes they are paying, and all are justified.
However, they’re only the symptom of a much bigger problem most overlook or wish to ignore in their advocacy.
Whether it be the hospital or roads funding cuts, the reduction in fisheries officers and Parks employees, the reduction in elder abuse services or the increases in land tax (I could go on and on), it all comes back to one underlying crisis.
You cannot have all the things you want or need without managing the finances that provide these services. It’s as simple as that.
Our ballooning State debt is forecast to hit $187 billion next year with interest repayments on that debt of over $1 million per hour, or $26 million per day, or $182 million per week or $1 billion over six weeks.
It’s scary however you say it – and that’s just on interest repayments before any debt is paid off.
Our liability is higher than Queensland, New South Wales and Tasmania combined, largely due to financial mismanagement and cost over runs.
The present Labor Government wants to refer to it as “Covid debt” but that is simply not true, it is financial mismanagement.
Covid expenditure makes up barely a third of the debt and all the above mentioned states also had Covid and navigated it far better.
When any government is faced with this level of financial disaster, things cannot continue as they are, it is simply not sustainable.
We must start living within our means as debt has to not only be reined in from increasing, at some stage it needs to be paid back.
The question is how you do this when Government has already allowed it to get out of control? Spend wisely and within your means is a good start.
Our current Labor Government’s response is to push on with the Suburban Rail Loop (SRL), of which the first two phases of the project will cost another $216.7 billion to build and operate according to the independent Parliamentary Budget Office.
With the debt level that we have, and which is continually increasing, it is staggering to think anyone believes we are in a position to be able to afford to push ahead with this project.
The Liberals and Nationals’ policy is to pause the SRL and put this money into health, roads and other areas of importance, as well as managing the increasing debt. The concern we have, is what this Premier will sign us up to (contract wise) before the November 2026 election.
But one thing you can bank on is that while we have this level of liability and a Government committed to a project like SRL, there is much less money to go around everywhere else.
If it proceeds, you can expect to have the things important to you reduced, it cannot be both. It is one or the other and you are already seeing this.
You will see it increasing in reductions to services you rely on and programs you are engaged in may no longer available – as well as increasing business and household taxes to fill the black hole.
Over recent weeks, my office and that of every MP no doubt, has received increasing numbers of emails from constituents and groups complaining about a service or program being cut.
However, none of these generic campaign emails address the underlying issue that has caused the problem – overall financial mismanagement of the state.
It is the elephant in the room that those impacted don’t want to address – they simply want their service / funding restored.
We will always fight to maintain services and programs we need and while users and beneficiaries will naturally focus on what is directly important to them, we shouldn’t lose sight of the fact they are just a symptom of the bigger problem.
The chickens are coming home to roost for the Labor Government, and we are all paying the price.
To avoid suffering from the symptoms, take up the fight against signing us up to the SRL. That is one of the fights we need to win to avoid the pain of having our services cut at grass roots level.
