A deficit of close to a billion dollars for NSW is no cause for celebration, Shadow Treasurer Mike Baird said as the Rees Labor Government released the final audited result for the 2008/09 NSW Budget today.
“Only the incompetent Rees Labor Government could get excited about producing a deficit of close to a billion dollars,” Mr Baird said.
“The Premier described the deficit of $897 million today as ‘welcome news on the budget position’, which is a sad indictment of how complacent the Rees Labor Government has become.
“The State is a billion dollars in the red - no matter how the Rees Labor Government tries to spin it, NSW is only limping out of recession.
“If not for the Commonwealth grants, the position would be even worse.
“More than a decade of mismanagement of the State’s finances and a disastrous mini-Budget that axed infrastructure and raised taxes at exactly the wrong time has dragged NSW down.
“While the Rees Labor Government has promised to get its expenses in check, this claim remains a fantasy with recent expense growth three times the target to get the Budget back to black.
“The Rees Labor Government’s so called ‘major economic stimulus’ equates to $7.3 million in stamp duty incentives, an amount that is close to the cost of their latest advertising campaign.
“Forget about the spin, the facts speak for themselves.
“The Treasurer may get excited by his ‘green shoots’ but he forgets his broken Labor Government is the one that scorched the earth to begin with.
“After 14 years, a broken NSW Labor Government can’t fix the problems they created through failure and incompetence,” Mr Baird said.
MEDIA: Lisa Harrington - 0406 726 880
*Page 5 of NSW Report on State Finances 2008-09 released 29 October 2009
**Premier Nathan Rees, Question Time 29 October 2009
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