Debt cap on state's borrowing will slow SA growth says Premier Jay Weatherill Premier Jay Weatherill speaks during Question Time. Family First MLC Robert Brokenshire. PREMIER Jay Weatherill will kill off a push to put a legal cap on the state's debt level, despite the Labor Party's introduction of a similar ceiling on Federal Government borrowing. Family First MP Rob Brokenshire says he will force a vote in State Parliament next Wednesday on plans to create a $14 billion debt ceiling. He warned the state's finances were in their worst condition since the aftermath of the State Bank collapse. The June State Budget forecasts total taxpayer-funded debt to peak at $13.7 billion in 2016 when the new Royal Adelaide Hospital comes on to the books for the first time. South Australia's total taxpayer-funded debt was $1.6 billion in 2008. Mr Brokenshire said SA's debt was "increasing at an unsustainable rate" and "putting our next generation and beyond into a very difficult position" by placing upward pressure on taxes. Mr Brokenshire said he feared the debt would be further increased unless a cap were in place. "It's time we had a debt limit and that the people, through the Parliament, have a say into debt levels," he said. If the Government have got a sound argument to put to the Parliament, the Parliament will look at it in a sensible fashion. The problem we've got in the state is we have no scrutiny in respect to debt levels. Mr Weatherill said Mr Brokenshire had been "watching too much US television." "It's irrelevant in the South Australian context," he said. You'll see in our midyear Budget review where we're ending up in relation to questions of debt and deficit and our future projections. I think people should reflect on that. Mr Weatherill said a debt ceiling would prevent public spending on state-building projects that "grow the economy," including the new RAH and Southern Expressway duplication. "The state's debt is moderate in both historical and international terms," he said. Former prime minister Kevin Rudd introduced a debt ceiling for the Federal Government in 2007 to send a strong signal that he intended to govern as a fiscal conservative. Federal Parliament is wrestling with proposals to increase the national debt ceiling . Noted economists including Ross Garnaut have called for the measure to be abolished, saying it creates political point-scoring around important matters of financial management. SA Opposition treasury spokesman Iain Evans did not respond to a request for comment.