It's a claim that reflects well on him, of course, since he has held the position of Treasurer since the party came to power in 2014.

His eighth budget continues the theme with the repeatedly used line that it is "built on strong foundations".

In his speech, Mr Gutwein stressed that "we had a strong financial position" before the pandemic hit, with "$788 million in net cash, deposits and investment".

The implication, conveniently, is it was COVID-19 that has made all the difference, but this isn't actually true.

In the 2019-20 budget, released before any of us had ever heard of coronavirus, the government was already planning for deficit spending and net debt, arguing it was necessary to invest in infrastructure.

For this year, the deficit is expected to grow to $689.9 million, while returning to a moderate surplus in 2023-24 and a more significant one in 2024-25.

Of more concern is net debt, which is set to reach just shy of $3.5 billion by 2025, or - on our current population - about $6500 for every single Tasmanian.

Mr Gutwein says it's manageable, particularly since we have a growing economy, and it's certainly true that interest rates are low.

It's not so far from memory though when interest rates were anything but low, and those times will likely be back when we least expect - or can afford - them.

Debt isn't intrinsically bad; especially when it helps to build infrastructure that serves the community and grows economy activity, such as TT-Line's new Spirits.

But there must always be a plan to ensure it can be repaid, and preferably not leave us in a situation where at some point this government, or a future one, has to dramatically cut spending to get it under control.

Debt may, on the other hand, be a lesser concern if the government fails to achieve its infrastructure commitments, given it massively underspent last year.

This is true of the budget generally since it is, after all, only a plan. The onus is on the government to deliver.