Scullion, Higgins demand GST action from Gunner

LETTER TO THE EDITOR
 
Sir – We are calling on the Gunner Labor Government to do the job they were elected to do and finalise the Northern Territory’s submission on the GST funding distribution.
 
It is not good enough that the Gunner Government – with all of the resources of the Treasury Department – has been unable to lodge a submission to this all-important Productivity Commission review.
 
We are calling for:–
 
• Releasing today the full draft submission that has been provided to the Productivity Commission inquiry into the GST and Horizontal Fiscal Equalisation.
 
• Urgently finalising and lodging [the NT Government’s] submission to the Productivity Commission inquiry into the GST and Horizontal Fiscal Equalisation;
 
• Immediately scheduling a Public Accounts Committee hearing to get to the bottom of what has gone so badly wrong and finally get some straight answers on the Northern Territory’s submission.
 
Michael Gunner has spun his way into Government, promising transparency and accountability – but all we have seen are cover-ups, excuses and inaction.
 
Even more concerning are the claims the Gunner Government plagiarised parts of its draft GST submission from Delia Lawrie, the former Labor leader the Chief Minister knifed before the last election.
 
An emergency Public Accounts Committee hearing must be called to shine a light on why the Gunner Government is failing Territorians.
 
Senator Nigel Scullion (pictured)
Minister for Indigenous Affairs
Gary Higgins
Northern Territory Opposition Leader