Leader of the Opposition, Lia Finocchiaro, says the Health Minister will be forced to answer
questions over a multitude of failures including significant changes to clinical procedures since
the Gunner Government forced AUSMAT from the Howard Springs quarantine facility,
keeping the public in the dark over critical bed shortages at Royal Darwin Hospital as well as
the shambolic amalgamation of Territory health services, when she faces Estimates today.
“It comes after an astonishing first day where the Chief Minister’s caginess was on full display,
as he ducked and weaved at every opportunity to avoid facing up to his failed leadership. We
know the Chief Minister loathes scrutiny, but the extent he went to in sidestepping questions
yesterday was downright disgraceful.
“We started with Michael Gunner dodging questions around whether he – or his office –
edited Labor’s ‘COVID 19 Financial Statement’ which was criticised by the Auditor-General as
‘misleading’.
“This dodgy fiscal update was a key plank in Labor’s re-election platform, but the AuditorGeneral exposed fundamental parts of the report as misleading. No wonder the Chief Minister
went to extraordinary lengths to avoid answering whether he had a hand in fudging the
figures.
“It’s a shame the Chief Minister couldn’t be as forthcoming as the Independent Commissioner
Against Corruption, who went into an extraordinary amount of detail around a whistleblower
who alleged improper conduct from inside the ICAC office, which is currently under
investigation by the ICAC Inspector.
“A key feature of Michael Gunner’s incapacity as Treasurer came when he couldn’t
acknowledge or admit to the lasting damage his government’s financial ineptitude has caused
the Territory by more than tripling our debt since he came to power. Instead, the Chief
Minster blamed the previous CLP Government, GST, and the Productivity Commission for the
monumental budget blowout of $7.7 billion this year.
“We called out Michael Gunner for his so-called ‘debt ceiling’ which is actually a ‘borrowings
ceiling’ with ZERO consequences for the Government or Ministers if they hit the staggering
$15 billion limit – this was met with absolute denial. The fact that the Chief Minister heralded
our current budget position as some sort of celebration just shows how little understanding
he has of the debt.
“If we hit the $15 billion debt cap, the Territory will be on track for a severe Moody’s
downgrade which could result in the NT dropping below ‘investment grade’.
“If the Chief Minister can legislate a borrowing ceiling that supposedly can’t be breached –
then why doesn’t he take this same approach to crime and make laws that cannot be broken?
“The first day of Estimates concluded with nearly half an hour of the Chief Minister squirming
through questions about his lack of transparency and refusal to concede he’s banned the
public service from dealing with the NT Independent media outlet. That’s despite the fact his
CEO revealed Territorians fork out nearly $12 million each year to pay for a media unit in the
Department of Chief Minister, and Protocol.
“It capped off an extraordinarily lacklustre day for the Chief Minister. With five more days to
go, it’s going to be a long fortnight for Gunner Government,” said Ms Finocchiaro.
ENDS