The Liberal Party is the party of lower taxes.
Today I addressed the 2014 States' Taxation Conference in Hobart where I reaffirmed our commitment to no new taxes in the coming budget.
The reason the State Budget is in its current unsustainable position is because Labor and the Greens had a spending problem, not a revenue problem.
Over the three years from the 2011-12 Labor-Green "austerity" budget, revenue forecasts were about right, yet they continued an uncontrollable spending spree of around $1 billion more than budgeted at the same time.
The former Labor-Green Government left a $1.1 billion budget black hole, 1,000 job cuts embedded in the budget, rising debt and rising interest payments.
The Liberal Government will fix the budget mess. We will be responsible, this will not be a slash and burn budget. However there will be some tough decisions, such as pausing public sector wage increases to save jobs whilst also reining in expenses.
In a nutshell we will keep our promises, clean up the budget mess and lay the foundations for the future.
We are also determined to make sure Tasmania remains one of the lowest taxing states in Australia.
Tasmania will have a key role to play in national discussions around tax reform when the White Papers on Federation and Taxation are released next year, but if we are going to get Tasmania back on track we have to start now.
The Liberal Government is already laying the foundations to make Tasmania the most competitive state to do business. Our policies, including the payroll tax rebate, removal of water and sewerage headworks charges, buy local policy and reducing red and green tape, are already seeing results.
Since the March election, more than 2,000 new jobs have been created and business confidence has dramatically increased.
Retail spending, business investment and population growth are all showing positive signs.
The Liberal Government is putting the budget on the pathway to sustainability and creating a brighter future for all Tasmanians.