South Australians are warned to brace for record levels of State debt as Labor’s Government spending spirals out of control.
South Australia’s debt is expected to hit almost $41 billion by 2026-27, and is forecast to reach $46 billion by 2027-28, and there are concerns this could reach $50 billion by the end of the decade.
Leader of the Opposition, Vincent Tarzia, said the rampant spending under Labor is completely unsustainable and puts all South Australians at risk.
"The reality is, that the only way Labor seems to be paying for their cash splash is by taking money from the pockets of every day South Australians through fees, charges and levies, just like we've seen with the SA Water price hike and GP Payroll tax grab," Mr Tarzia said.
“I am really concerned that this week’s State Budget will spell bad news for those struggling with the cost-of-living and cost of doing business.
"The Government has a poor track record on major projects, with significant cost and time blowouts. So, it follows that taxpayers could also receive a double blow as this Government tries to claw back their spiralling debt with more revenue raising measures.
“I call on Peter Malinauskas and Stephen Mullighan to categorically rule out any additional burden on taxpayers in this Budget, and to provide real cost-of-living relief by immediately cutting their levy on SA Water bills.”
Shadow Treasurer, Sam Telfer, said the level of debt means that South Australia’s capacity to withstand any future economic shock would be extremely limited.
“The Labor Government is mortgaging the future of South Australia’s children through the exponential increase to State debt.
“This puts us at a real risk for any future economic shocks or downturns, which could come from any number of sources in the current global economic environment.”
“Labor cannot be trusted with South Australia’s purse strings, and I have no doubt they will be looking for new ways to raise more money to cover their mismanagement, just like we’ve seen with the Federal Labor’s superannuation tax on unrealised gains”.
Shadow Minister for Finance, Heidi Girolamo, is calling for the wasteful spending from this Government to be brought under control.
“Quite simply, we cannot continue like this. Labor has wasted millions of taxpayer dollars on vanity projects like Hydrogen and record Government Advertising and left a trail of broken promises in their wake,” Ms Girolamo said.
“They promised to fix ramping, but it got worse. They promised to reduce electricity costs, but prices have skyrocketed. They promised ‘no new taxes’ but delivered price hikes and tax grabs.
“Every day we hear from our community that they want real relief to ease the spiralling cost of living and cost of doing business, that’s what they want action on, not vanity projects and glossy ads.”
