THE Canberra Liberals are calling for an independent audit of the ACT’s budget amid fears the territory’s debt is “spiralling out of control”.

Opposition Leader Elizabeth Lee will put forward a motion in the Legislative Assembly tomorrow (August 2), calling for an examination of the territory’s debt position on the same day the budget is tabled.

According to Lee, the ACT’s net debt has grown from a negative $736 million in 2011 to $5.36 billion in 2022.

The 2021-22 Budget Review, released in February, forecasts an increase in Net Debt to $9.1 billion by 2024-25.

“It is incumbent on the Labor-Greens government to be open and transparent with Canberrans about the true state of the Territory’s finances; and have a proper plan to bring the budget back into a manageable position,” said Lee.

“A thorough, truly independent budget audit will give the community an opportunity to have clarity and transparency about how the government will bring the budget back into the black.”

Ms Lee said despite the “constant excuses” coming from Chief Minister Andrew Barr, the ACT went into the covid pandemic in the worst financial position of any state or territory.

But Mr Barr has hit back, saying the call for an audit is “straight from the Abbott, Hockey and Newman conservative playbook.”

“The call for an Independent audit of the ACT budget shows that the party has not changed or learnt anything. It is a tired old refrain from a political party that seeks to cut the public sector and diminish the role of government,” said Barr.

“We have seen this many times before, former Prime Minister Tony Abbott’s ‘Commission of Audit’ resulted in big cuts to health and education funding and around 7000 public service job cuts in Canberra alone.

“Former Queensland Premier Campbell Newman used an “Independent Budget audit” to cut 14,000 thousand public service jobs in that state.

“Canberrans know how this works, and it raises the inevitable question for the Opposition Leader– what does she want to cut?

“If given the chance, would she cut health funding? education funding? public transport funding? community services funding? Would she cut public service jobs and leave thousands of Canberra families without an income?”

Mr Barr says that when the budget is tabled tomorrow, it will show the headline net operating balance (HNOB) “continues to improve each year over the forward estimates, demonstrating a steady trajectory of fiscal repair.”

But Ms Lee says that under Barr as Treasurer, the government has posted a budget deficit every year since 2012, despite repeatedly promising to return the budget to surplus.

“This government is very good at pulling the wool over the eyes of Canberrans in how they deliver the budget each year, which includes changing output classes, line items and reporting periods, which makes any review of the budget akin to comparing apples to oranges,” she said.

“The Labor-Greens government has been in power for over 20 years and with debt spiralling out of control it is time for a proper independent analysis of our finances that will also provide recommendations to return to surplus.”

Mr Barr, however, says government will “stick to the plan they were elected to implement”, which will involve “returning the budget back to balance over the medium term, investing in the services and infrastructure a growing city of our size needs.”

“Now is not the time to embark on austerity budgeting and indulge a failed, ideologically driven, debt and deficit fetish espoused by the right wing of the Liberal Party,” said Mr Barr.