The South Australian Liberals have outlined a path to tax hikes and service cuts to pay for hundreds of millions of dollars of additional policies outlined by David Speirs in his budget reply.
The Leader today outlined a shopping list of commitments, while at the same time, “putting on the table strategies for debt reduction”.
It follows his finance spokesperson, Heidi Girolamo, responding to the state budget by saying:
“We wanted to see more for business, more for South Australians and less debt as well.”
For the Liberals to commit to more spending but deliver an improved budget position can only mean two things: tax hikes or spending cuts.
David Speirs was a cabinet minister in a government that sacked doctors and nurses, cut the ambulance service, closed Services SA centres, cancelled bus routes, and increased taxes.
As put by Stephen Mullighan
We’ve seen it all before from David Speirs when he was a cabinet minister – huge increases to Land Tax, cuts to our hospitals, the police and education budget – and it’s now clear under his Liberals we’re in for more of the same.
The Liberals are promising hundreds of millions of dollars in new commitments while at the same time bellyaching about debt.
David Speirs needs to be honest with South Australians about how a Liberal Government would pay for this. Which taxes will be hiked and which services will be cut?
