Senior Labor Minister Gail Gago has confirmed that Premier Weatherill’s promised return to a budget surplus in 2015/16 is worthless.
Minister Gago let slip on 639ABC radio that Labor won’t deliver a surplus until 2018/19 at the earliest:
Gago: “This Government has been very open and transparent about having to bring our budget back into surplus and we’ve got a strategy to -”
Presenter: “But that’s not happening, is it. The -”
Gago: “We do, we have a budget that is on track to be back in surplus in 18/19.”
Premier and Treasurer Weatherill has previously claimed the budget will be back in surplus by 2015/16.
“Once again we see that Mr Weatherill and his Labor Government can’t be trusted on anything they say about the economy or the State Budget,” said Liberal spokesman Rob Lucas.
“Mr Weatherill and the Labor Government’s economic credibility is in tatters.
“The Labor Government has promised $2.6 billion of surpluses whilst delivering $2.9 billion in deficits in the last seven years.
“Now it appears that the Weatherill Labor Government’s 2015/16 “budget surplus” is another broken promise.
“Ongoing deficits feed South Australia’s enormous debt burden, and just last month, a leaked Cabinet Budget Update revealed a $376 million collapse in the State Budget in 50 days since the December Mid-Year Budget Review.
“That was followed by another Cabinet leak this week designed to undermine the embattled Premier Weatherill which revealed a further blowout in State debt of $212 million in 2017-18.
“Mr Weatherill and Labor have no plan to grow our economy and no plan to put our State back on track.
“South Australians deserve a Government with better priorities to put our State back on track.”