Territorians love the financial position of the Northern Territory, Treasurer Eva Lawler told Budget Estimates hearings on Wednesday, and are “stopping me in the street” because everyone is “optimistic” about the government’s books.

Ms Lawler said Territorians tell her how “lucky” she is to be Treasurer at such a great time, thanking previous treasurers Michael Gunner and Nicole Manison for doing “the heavy lifting”.

“You mean heavy spending,” Opposition Leader Lia Finocchiaro interjected.

Ms Lawler said the government had laid out its plan for budget repair, but did not provide details of what exactly that means, repeatedly saying how optimistic “everyone” was.

“I think if you actually talk to people out and about in the Territory, which I do, they are feeling very positive, very optimistic about the future of the Territory,” she said.

“We’re seeing that as I said, we see that every day. We have those conversations, whether it’s the banking industry, whether it’s people who are wanting to invest in the Territory, we’re seeing those positive conversations.”

Independent Member for Araluen Robyn Lambley asked why Ms Lawler thought she was “lucky” to inherit an $8.7 billion debt that the previous two treasurers had racked up from $1.7 billion when Labor was first elected in 2016, eliciting laughter throughout the hearing room.

“You have an $8.7 billion debt, what’s so lucky about that,” Ms Lambley asked.

“There are fundamental problems fiscally in the Northern Territory and yet you’re gloating over being the Treasurer and arguing that you’re lucky that you’ve got it sorted out. I think most Territorians would see it completely differently though.

“That’s them,” Ms Lawler replied.

“And it’s not being negative,” Ms Lambley continued.

“It’s just looking at the figures and seeing it for what it is. You can put lipstick on a pig but it’s still a pig. By the nature of the role [as Treasurer] you have a responsibility to have major concerns about parts of the economy. It’s not all positive. There are problems with our fiscal position. Positivity will only get you so far.”

Last month’s Budget, delivered by Mr Gunner, claimed the government was in a better financial position than it had been in years, thanks primarily to higher-than-expected GST revenue. The Budget also predicted a return to surplus over the next four years but the details of how the government have will achieve that have not been revealed.

Ms Lawler said part of the plan was to lobby the Federal Government for more GST revenue.

She continued to point to the Langoulant report, also known as the Plan for Budget Repair report, and said its recommendations were helping the government save money and had produced a “roadmap” for the government.

“That fiscal strategy panel put together a plan for budget repair that provides the roadmap for all of us ministers around what we need to do as a Territory to return to surplus,” she said.

However, during Tuesday’s hearing, the Auditor General explained again that the government does not have a comprehensive system in place to assess the actual savings in different departments. Her latest report found the government had not properly implemented many key budget repair measures it claimed it had and had no effective way of measuring government savings or whether it can ever get back to a sustainable financial position.

“Obviously we take very seriously the Auditor General’s report and any recommendations that come from a report we will take measures to address those,” Ms Lawler said when questioned about it.

‘No plan to grow revenue’: CLP

Ms Lawler was at pains to explain exactly how the government intended to save $300 million on wages in the public service it budgeted for over the next two years, suggesting some of it will be achieved by COVID-19-related staff having their jobs ended, but could not explain how many jobs, nor where the rest of the projected savings will come from.

Ms Lawler was installed as Treasurer last month by Chief Minister Natasha Fyles, while also carrying the massive Infrastructure, Planning and Logistics portfolio and Education.

Ms Finocchiaro said after the hearings that she was concerned the Treasurer had no plan to get out of debt, except to raise fees, slash the public service and “go cap in hand to Canberra”.

“The Treasurer admitted she can’t balance the budget if the NT’s slice of the GST pie isn’t as big as NT Labor is predicting – despite promising a return to surplus in 2024-25,” she said.

“The Treasurer couldn’t point to a single measure to grow own-source revenue which could outpace the current reckless and escalating government spending, with a measly $32 million predicted over four years.

“You can’t tax and slash your way to prosperity, but that’s exactly what Labor is trying to do because it has completely crippled our economy.”