Media Release

Peter Gutwein MP
Shadow Treasurer

Monday 1st February 2010

Aird gagged as Bartlett burns the budget

As the Premier racks up hundreds of millions of dollars in spending promises, the man responsible for finding the money to pay for them, Treasurer Michael Aird, is nowhere to be found.

It appears that after a disastrous 2009, the Treasurer is either in hiding or has been forced to stay out of public view.

The Treasurer, who regularly held press conferences in 2009, only spoke publicly twice last month and on both occasions he was forced out of hiding to account for his performance and the performance of the Government.

What is clear is that the Treasurer is no longer in control of Government spending. Either he is not trusted, or he is a casualty of the Premier’s desperate attempts to buy his way back into power.

If the Government doesn’t rein in its spending, it will take the next ten years to get our finances back on track when we should be investing in the Tasmanian community.

We know that already the Government has spent $215 million more than it budgeted in 2009-10 and has made $443 million of election promises. With the Premier desperate to cling to power, who knows how much he will promise.

What’s clear is that if the Bartlett Government gets another four years in power, Tasmanians will be paying for it for the next ten years. Only a Hodgman Government will provide the sensible, practical financial guidance that Tasmania needs to kick-start our economy.