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Speaker 1: Earlier this week, it was reported by The Australian Financial

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Speaker 1: Review that the International Monnet Tree Fund had issued an

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Speaker 1: unprecedented warning that the Federal government may need to bail

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Speaker 1: out heavily indebted states and territories such as Victoria and

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Speaker 1: the Northern Territory, as it called on Treasurer Jim Charmers

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Speaker 1: to press the states to reign in spending and overhaul

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Speaker 1: property taxes now. In its annual health checkup of the

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Speaker 1: Australian economy ahead of charmers May budget, the IMF said

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Speaker 1: a review of spending and tax across the Federation was

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Speaker 1: needed after a big jump in state debt and spending

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Speaker 1: on social areas, cost of living, help and infrastructure since

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Speaker 1: a COVID pandemic. I caught up with Bill Yan, the

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Speaker 1: Northern Territories Treasurer, a little bit earlier this morning. Good

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Speaker 1: morning to you.

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Speaker 2: Bill, Good morning Katie, and good morning to everyone listening

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Speaker 2: up here in the top end.

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Speaker 1: Now, Treasurer, it's a pretty embarrassing situation for the Northern Territory,

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Speaker 1: isn't it. When we've got the IMF basically calling Will

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Speaker 1: saying that we're going to need a bailout from the Feds.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, Well, the IMF had done that report late last

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Speaker 2: week and it speaks about all the states and territories

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Speaker 2: and the spending levels and debt levels of those states

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Speaker 2: and territories, with Western Australia being the only one that

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Speaker 2: I think got a tick of approval because of their

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Speaker 2: wealth through mining. But what was interesting I read the

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Speaker 2: report and I listened to it on radio as well,

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Speaker 2: and I suppose I took a little bit of heart

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Speaker 2: after listening to that report, because the minute we got

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Speaker 2: into government, we've seen the state of finances. We started

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Speaker 2: that work to reduce that spinning and try and reduce

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Speaker 2: that debt level, which some of the other states are

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Speaker 2: certainly not doing. If you look at Victoria hing the

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Speaker 2: wards two hundred billion dollars worth of debt, and the

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Speaker 2: only way that they've got a large population base, which

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Speaker 2: means they've got a large tax base, So they're increasing

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Speaker 2: taxes on the residents of Victoria. Now we can't do

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Speaker 2: that in the territory, of course, but I only got

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Speaker 2: a small population that want tax territories into oblivion. So

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Speaker 2: we've got to look at other ways to make sure

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Speaker 2: that what we're doing with our budget and our spending

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Speaker 2: is in line with good fiscal policy. So we've been

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Speaker 2: doing that work since we got in the government. So

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Speaker 2: we're sorry, Katie go Treasurer.

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Speaker 1: I mean, like it's reported that a large section of

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Speaker 1: this IMF report was actually dedicated to blowing the whistle

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Speaker 1: on the deterioration in state finances, stating that that should

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Speaker 1: state spending continue to accelerate, risks include inefficiency due to

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Speaker 1: rising construction costs and adding additional credit rating downgrades leading

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Speaker 1: to higher interest expenses. I mean, we're already paying a

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Speaker 1: bloody bucket load, aren't we on interest?

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Speaker 2: Yeah, so that our interest is over a million dollars

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Speaker 2: a decade, but there's.

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Speaker 3: We had it has come up here last year.

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Speaker 2: I was really concerned that we're donet just come in

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Speaker 2: the government and we've Inherit horrendous that the previous couple

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Speaker 2: were polling on debt at the rate of a billion

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Speaker 2: dollars and it wasn't just through COVID that was leading

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Speaker 2: into COVID.

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Speaker 3: And over that, and I was really worried that.

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Speaker 2: Moody's were going to come up and look at our

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Speaker 2: credit rating and we were going to get a downgrade.

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Speaker 2: But they had a look at what we were doing.

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Speaker 2: Because we've already done the work around our first budget,

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Speaker 2: they will look on what we were doing into the future.

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Speaker 2: So we've maintained our double A three stable credit rating.

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Speaker 2: We didn't get a downgrade, which was which was our

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Speaker 2: biggest broady because if we get a downgrade, what that.

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Speaker 3: Means is our ability to borrow.

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Speaker 2: Is more difficult and our interest rates in their borrowing

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Speaker 2: scale higher. So we've maintained that stable credit rating. And look,

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Speaker 2: I'm really hoping to see with the work that we're

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Speaker 2: doing into the future that we may see an improvement

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Speaker 2: in our credit rating. Now we've the previous coupment was

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Speaker 2: building that around about twenty two percent per ADAM, and

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Speaker 2: we now after my EFO which was released mid year,

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Speaker 2: like the financial year, we've reduced that increase down in

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Speaker 2: the single digits.

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Speaker 3: Now.

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Speaker 2: I don't have an exact number that I can give listeners, Katie,

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Speaker 2: and we're working through the formulation new budget for twenty

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Speaker 2: six twenty seven and we'll have those exact figures soon.

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Speaker 2: That we're down into the single digits now in that

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Speaker 2: increase of debt. So we're doing that responsible work to

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Speaker 2: reduce our borrowings increase our revenues so that we get

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Speaker 2: to a point where eventually we're going to end up

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Speaker 2: in surpluses, so we're not having to borrow those huge

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Speaker 2: amounts of money to keep a territory aflow treasurer.

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Speaker 1: You know, I guess for the last sort of eighteen months,

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Speaker 1: the CLP government has gotten away with being able to say,

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Speaker 1: you know, the former government was spending like drunken sailors.

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Speaker 1: You know, we now are paying the consequence for that.

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Speaker 1: But what territories are after now is I guess, you know,

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Speaker 1: trying to find out exactly how are you going to

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Speaker 1: save some money, how are you going to get us

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Speaker 1: out of that debt, rain in the spending and you know,

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Speaker 1: ways that we might be able to become a bit

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Speaker 1: more self sufficient.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, and that's absolutely true, okay, and that's what we're

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Speaker 2: trying to do.

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Speaker 3: So we are.

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Speaker 2: Reducing our spending now. The next budget we're about three

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Speaker 2: leads to twenty six twenty seven, is not going to

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Speaker 2: be an extravagant budget. We said, we're living within our

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Speaker 2: fiscal means, so we're not out. We're spending the money

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Speaker 2: where it needs to be spent, most on things that

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Speaker 2: will benefit territory and overall and improve our economic positions.

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Speaker 2: So rather than borrowing and increasing debt by those billions

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Speaker 2: of dollars a year, we've had a reduction in the

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Speaker 2: twenty five to twenty six budget of that debt level

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Speaker 2: by four hundred and seventy nine and that's three hundred

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Speaker 2: down to three hundred and sixty nine the projected for

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Speaker 2: twenty six twenty seven, and that's it's sort of maintained

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Speaker 2: that when we're working towards dropping that debt level. So

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Speaker 2: off the back of that is doing things to improve

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Speaker 2: the business capability and the economic capability.

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Speaker 3: Of the territory.

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Speaker 2: How do we do that well, we need said, we

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Speaker 2: need to give the private sector and send the message

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Speaker 2: that we're open and ready for business, and we're doing that.

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Speaker 2: We've made those changes through the Red Tape Removals Task

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Speaker 2: Force to make it easier to do business. We change

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Speaker 2: that payroll tax threshold, which it has had a huge

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Speaker 2: impact and a positive impact. Whilst we've figured we were

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Speaker 2: going to see a drop in our revenue because we've

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Speaker 2: changed that threshold, what we've actually seen is now businesses

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Speaker 2: investing in their workforce, improving their wages and what that's

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Speaker 2: a new business is kicking off, which has actually improved

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Speaker 2: our payroll tax revenue. So whilst we we've made that

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Speaker 2: commitment to reducing and changing that threshold to make it

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Speaker 2: easier for business, it's had the effect that business has

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Speaker 2: been able to grow and we've seen an increase in

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Speaker 2: that revenue, which is which is great to see. So

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Speaker 2: that business confidence, that business investment is there, and we've

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Speaker 2: got Beatloo kicking eye. Nold's rare earth goal is increasing

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Speaker 2: and we're seeing new gold mines coming out of the

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Speaker 2: ground or resurrection of old ones, particularly in the Tenant

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Speaker 2: Creek region, which is all working towards creating that additional

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Speaker 2: revenue for the territory. So that's where we're going to

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Speaker 2: see those changes.

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Speaker 1: If you have just joined us, we are indeed speaking

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Speaker 1: to the Treasurer of the Northern Territory, Bill Yang. Bill.

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Speaker 1: If we are, I mean, if we get in a

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Speaker 1: situation here where there is you know, where we're contributing

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Speaker 1: to the national revenue through fracking, would you expect to

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Speaker 1: see the conversation around GSD and fair distribution ramp up again,

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Speaker 1: especially given the generous amounts that the territory receives compared

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Speaker 1: to other states.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, all those discussions are actually being had as we speak.

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Speaker 2: There is the territory. I'm sorry that the Commonwealth are

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Speaker 2: looking at all of that, and they were here last.

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Speaker 3: Week and I had caught.

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Speaker 2: Up with them and had a meeting about GS two

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Speaker 2: revenue and horizontal fish equalization, that wonderful term that we

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Speaker 2: all hear about.

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Speaker 1: I think over a little bit when they hear that bill.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, I know, I hear it. I'm going okay, fellars,

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Speaker 2: But it's about making sure that the territory continues to

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Speaker 2: get its fair share in The difficult that we have.

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Speaker 3: Is we've got a huge land area.

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Speaker 2: We've got a very small population, and then we have

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Speaker 2: to deliver services to that population across the territory, and

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Speaker 2: the Commonwealth understands that. But there's ways that we could

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Speaker 2: do our GST distribution, which makes it easier for the

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Speaker 2: Commonwealth to calculate and it makes it better for us

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Speaker 2: in the longer term. So they're the initial discussions that

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Speaker 2: we're having at the moment with the Feds. They will

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Speaker 2: continue now because they're looking at all states and territories

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Speaker 2: about GST distribution, So we'll hopefully get some outcomes from

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Speaker 2: that later this year into early next.

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Speaker 1: Year, Treasurer, Before I let you go, we've had a

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Speaker 1: lot of discussion in recent weeks, recent months in fact,

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Speaker 1: about health and we've spoken on numerous occasions of the

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Speaker 1: need for a new hospital. Is this something that we

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Speaker 1: could even seriously consider right now when you look at

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Speaker 1: our finances.

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Speaker 2: Look, if there was going to be consideration for a

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Speaker 2: new hospital, a new primary hospital here in the territory,

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Speaker 2: the common will have to come with the part in

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Speaker 2: that we're not in a position to be able to

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Speaker 2: certainly to be able to find that because the expense

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Speaker 2: would be enormous. I think, as everyone would understand, Katie,

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Speaker 2: So any discussions would have to be held with the Commonwealth,

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Speaker 2: because the Commonwealth holds responsibility effectively for healthcare across the country.

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Speaker 2: So they be discussions we'd have to have with the

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Speaker 2: FEDS to see, Okay, this is what we need going

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Speaker 2: forward and this is what the cost will be because

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Speaker 2: delivering here in the territory, unfortunately, because of those tyrannies

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Speaker 2: of distance and construction cost, things cost more up here.

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Speaker 2: Those all would have to be taken into consideration and

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Speaker 2: the commonwealthice and have to have some serious discussions with

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Speaker 2: them about the way forward.

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Speaker 1: Well, Billy and Treasurer of the Northern Territory, just very

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Speaker 1: quickly before I let you go, I'm assuming that you've

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Speaker 1: got some work going on in the background at the moment,

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Speaker 1: you know, preparing our budget for this year. What kind

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Speaker 1: of budget can territorians expect?

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Speaker 2: Well, I said, it's not going to be huge bills

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Speaker 2: and whistles, Katie, and I said, it's not going to

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Speaker 2: be extravagant. Look, it's going to be a responsible budget.

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Speaker 2: Katie will be putting money where it desperately needs to

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Speaker 2: go to make sure we're providing those key services that

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Speaker 2: Territorians need every day, and additional spending will be going

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Speaker 2: into those areas which we know will create economic benefit

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Speaker 2: for the territory longer term. We're not just going to

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Speaker 2: throw money at projects and where we might not see

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Speaker 2: a return. We've been very very careful about where we

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Speaker 2: spend money to make sure that there is that economic

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Speaker 2: benefit and a return for territory and so that if

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Speaker 2: we're spending it all or we're getting a return on it.

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Speaker 1: Billian, Treasurer of the Northern Territory, good to speak with

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Speaker 1: you this morning. I really appreciate your time.

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Speaker 3: Thanks Codie, you have a great date you two.

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Speaker 1: Thank you