Wednesday 10 April 2019 The Speaker, Ms Hickey, took the Chair at 10 a.m., acknowledged the Traditional People and read Prayers. RECOGNITION OF VISITORS Madam SPEAKER - Honourable members, I draw your attention to the public gallery. We have grades 5 and 6 from the Deloraine Primary School visiting today. Welcome to parliament and we hope you enjoy question time. Members - Hear, hear. STATEMENT BY PREMIER Absence of Attorney-General [10.04 a.m.] Mr HODGMAN (Franklin - Premier) - Madam Speaker, I advise the House of the absence today of the Attorney-General, Ms Archer, due to a family bereavement. I will take any questions in relation to her portfolios and any matters before the House that are her responsibilities. I am sure all members of the House would like to pass on our sincere condolences on the passing of the Attorney-General's mother. QUESTIONS Government Finances - Surplus Ms WHITE question to TREASURER, Mr GUTWEIN [10.04 a.m.] Earlier this year, you said, 'The budget will remain in surplus and as a Government we will always spend less than we earn'. Do you stand by that statement and can you guarantee a surplus for this year? ANSWER Madam Speaker, I thank the member for the question. As the House is now aware, revenues are being written down. GST, stamp duty, as I mentioned yesterday around half a billion dollars, slightly more, will be written down over the coming forward Estimates period. As I made perfectly clear to the House yesterday, the Government will cut its cloth to suit its circumstances. The Government's aim is to provide balanced budgets across the forward Estimates; we will achieve that and that is what we will deliver. Unlike those on that side of the House, when we came to Government, we faced $1.1 billion worth of deficits across the forward Estimates. They were borrowing to pay the wages of nurses, teachers, police and public servants. 1 10 April 2019 Ms WHITE - Point of order, Madam Speaker. Standing order 45 goes to relevance. I ask you to draw the attention of the Treasurer to a straightforward question. Can he confirm whether he will deliver a surplus this financial year? Madam SPEAKER - Thank you very much. You all know the usefulness of standing order 45. The Premier will probably take that on board in his commentary. Ms O'Connor - Not yet, Madam Speaker, about a year off. Madam SPEAKER - That is very helpful, thank you, Ms O'Connor. Mr GUTWEIN - The Premier would be happy to help me out but I will manage this one. As I said, the Government will deliver balanced budgets across the forward Estimates. The budget will be on 23 May and all will be revealed. We will assure that essential services are delivered, that we continue with our record infrastructure spend. We will continue to build the roads, the hospitals, schools and the public housing that Tasmanians want and deserve. The budget will be released on 23 May and I suggest that members wait until then. Government Finances - Surplus Ms WHITE question to TREASURER, Mr GUTWEIN [10.07 a.m.] The revised Estimates report reveals you squandered the forecast $161.9 million surplus and there is now a wafer-thin barrier to deficit of only $7.3 million. That was before your friends in Canberra delivered a half billion-dollar black hole to you including the latest $140 million hit, thanks to Scott Morrison. Can you guarantee that you will deliver a surplus in every year of the forward Estimates? ANSWER Madam Speaker, I thank the member for the question, once again asking a question that they know nothing about because they have never delivered a surplus. Shadow finance minister, I can categorically say you have not delivered a surplus. He is completely distancing himself from the previous budgets even though he was the finance minister. One point I want to pull the Opposition Leader up on is the use of the word 'squandered'. How can you squander $105 million-worth of extra funding into Health? Ms O'Byrne - The golden age, you said. Madam SPEAKER - Order, Ms O'Byrne. Mr GUTWEIN - How can you squander investing $105 million more into Health, which is exactly what that side of the House was calling for. How can you squander $20 million-worth of additional investment into out-of-home care, or an additional $5.5 million into the Justice system? This demonstrates the warped priorities and hypocrisy of those opposite. I have explained to the Leader of the Opposition that you cannot have it both ways. You cannot complain about the size of the surpluses we bring down and then complain when we invest into Health or out-of-home care or into the justice system. That is the height of hypocrisy. 2 10 April 2019 Ms WHITE - Point of order, Madam Speaker. Standing Order 45. I draw the attention of the Treasurer to the question which is, can he guarantee that he will deliver a surplus on every year of the forward Estimates? Madam SPEAKER - That is repeating the question. There is no point of order. Mr GUTWEIN - Madam Speaker, I have provided the answer to that question. I have said that we will balance the budget across the forward Estimates and the Opposition will need to wait until 23 May when all will be revealed. It is not my role to provide gratuitous advice but when you call for additional investment into health, do not get up and ask questions and say it has been squandered. That is the height of hypocrisy. National Disability Insurance Scheme - Funding Ms O'CONNOR question to MINISTER FOR DISABILITY SERVICES and COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT, Mrs PETRUSMA [10.11 a.m.] Last week's federal budget papers revealed the surplus your federal Liberal colleagues are crowing about relies heavily on a $6.4 billion underspend on the National Disability Insurance Scheme over this year and next; $2 billion of that shocking immoral underspend is the responsibility of the states. How much is your responsibility? Could you please explain to the House and, more importantly, Tasmanians with disability, their families and carers, why this state is contributing towards a serious damaging underspend on the NDIS? ANSWER Madam Speaker, I thank the member for her question. The National Disability Insurance Scheme is one of the most important reforms that Australia has ever seen. I can assure all members that this Hodgman Liberal Government is meeting its responsibility to people living with disability who are eligible for the NDIS. As we have said on numerous occasions, we are 100 per cent committed to fully funding the NDIS because under a Liberal Hodgman Government the NDIS will always be fully funded because of our strong economy and strong budget management. The budget is back on track in Tasmania because of this Government's strong, responsible financial management. Members interjecting. Madam SPEAKER - Order, please. Mrs PETRUSMA - It does not rely on any changes to the state Government's contribution to the NDIS because we are committed to fully funding the NDIS - Members interjecting. Madam SPEAKER - Order, please. 3 10 April 2019 Ms O'CONNOR - Point of order, Madam Speaker. The only mechanism I have is standing order 45 - relevance. What we need from the minister is an explanation of how much the state has contributed to the underspend and if it is nothing, then tell the House. Madam SPEAKER - That is not a point of order but it was good to clarify that. Mrs PETRUSMA - Madam Speaker, there has been no change to the Heads of Agreement signed by the previous Labor-Greens government that the member has conveniently forgotten about seeing, as she was in government and the minister at the time. Under the Heads of Agreement that you signed the states and territories agreed to make a capped, fixed contribution to the NDIS based on population share. It is only the Commonwealth's contribution that fluctuates, with the Commonwealth paying the full balance of the NDIS costs. As shown in the 2018-19 Budget, Tasmania has fully budgeted for its future NDIS funding requirements. From 2019-20 there is a fixed upfront funding contribution under the full scheme arrangements, which for 2019-20 is $233.3 million, which again is fully funded which even gets escalated at a fixed rate of 4 per cent per annum until 2027-28. I repeat, our contribution is fixed. It is only the Commonwealth's contribution that fluctuates. If the member cares to listen, we are spending more money on people with disability than ever before with a massive $982 million in 2018-19 Budget and forward Estimates, including the $878.7 million in cash and in-kind supports. We are delivering on our commitments to the NDIS. I repeat, this Government is fully committed to our contributions to the NDIS because it is one of the most important schemes. It is one of the most important once in a lifetime generation significant things that people with disability can look forward to under this Government because we are 100 per cent committed to fully fund it. Economic Growth and Job Creation Mr SHELTON question to PREMIER, Mr HODGMAN [10.15 a.m.] Can the Premier please update the House on how the Hodgman Liberal majority Government is getting on with delivering our plan to grow the economy and create jobs? ANSWER Madam Speaker, I thank the member for the question and the opportunity to talk about Tasmania's very strong economy and what we, as a Government, have done and are doing to ensure we keep it that way.