[Greens-Media] Treasury Secretary's 'cringe' requires Premier's correction to AAA blooper

[John Kaye]

Treasury Secretary's 'cringe' requires Premier's correction to AAA blooper

Media Release: 10 October 2008

NSW Treasury Secretary John Pierce has left Premier Nathan Rees with little choice but to retract his gross exaggeration of the costs of a change to the state's credit rating, according to Greens NSW MP John Kaye.

Mr Pierce told a NSW Legislative Council Committee yesterday that he 'cringed' when he heard the Premier of NSW claim that losing the states' AAA credit rating would result in a $500 million a year interest payment blow-out.

Dr Kaye said: "In response to my questions, Treasury Secretary Pierce admitted that he had sent a briefing note to the Treasurer's office with the correct figures, which start at $15 million to $20 million in the first year.

"Premier Rees and his Treasurer Eric Roozendaal have known for some time that $500 million a year is a spectacular overstatement of the increase to the state's interest bill, yet they have allowed it to stand on the public record.

"Even if Mr Rees and his predecessor Morris Iemma had been misquoted, it is the Premier's responsibility to correct the public record.

"The Premier is allowing the public debate on the state's finances to be badly misinformed.

"NSW is being stampeded towards a slash-and-burn mini-budget. Public services will be cut and infrastructure spending will be delayed.

"It might help the NSW government maintain the myth of the power of the ratings agencies, but it will lead to damaging budget cuts at a time of global economic crisis.

"Nathan Rees and Eric Roozendaal are panicking the state into accepting unneeded financial pain for middle and low income households.

"They are allowing NSW's economic future to be put at risk by cutting back on infrastructure spending, all to appease Standard and Poor's and Moody's.

"It is time that the discredited ratings agencies had less control over NSW's economic policy. Nathan Rees should correct the public record and admit that losing the AAA would not cripple the state's economy," Dr Kaye said. 

For more information:	John Kaye 0407 195 455