Well before Covid hit in early 2020 the Andrews government was racking up debt with wild abandon

Look behind the smokescreen and you’ll see the real reason Victoria has the largest debt in the nation – more than NSW, Queensland and Tasmania combined.

Don’t be fooled by the political spin that is blaming Victoria’s dire economic state on Covid and rising interest rate rises.

Look behind the smokescreen of spin and you’ll see the real reason we will soon be nudging $200bn of debt: the Andrews government.

It would be unfair to blame the entire financial disaster on government mismanagement.

There can be no doubt that both Covid and relentless interest rate rises have wreaked havoc with the economy.

Don’t be fooled by Daniel Andrews’ political spin. Picture: Ian Currie

But they were both exacerbated by government decisions: keeping Victoria locked down for the better part of two years, and excessive borrowing when money was cheap.

These decisions carried inherent risks.

This is not a government that is finding its feet having just come to office.

It is a government that has been in control of the purse strings now since 2014 and has a proven track record on economic management.

Well before Covid hit in early 2020 the Andrews government was racking up debt with wild abandon.

In 2018 the government doubled the state’s debt ceiling from $30bn to $60bn to supercharge an ambitious road and rail building spree.

The Andrews government is trying to is blame Victoria’s dire economic state on Covid and rising interest rate rises. Picture: David Crosling

Annual debt growth was projected to be 12 per cent, and it was expected our daily interest bill would be about $3.5m a day.

Annual debt growth has actually blown out to 38 per cent and we are paying $10m in interest each and every day.

Daniel Andrews blames the $40bn it was forced to shell out in Covid-related spending for the current financial crisis.

But that accounts for just a third of our projected debt levels.

Major cost blowouts, the soaring cost of our public service and general financial mismanagement cannot be discounted.

And yet, until now there appears to have been little effort to try and curb additional spending.

We have committed billions of dollars to the Commonwealth Games, $1.7bn to an Arts Precinct upgrade, and stumped up millions for Netball Australia.

There appears to have been little effort to try and curb additional spending. Picture: Nicki Connolly

Government agencies, including Fire Rescue Victoria and Homes Victoria, are running hundreds of millions of dollars in the red and we’ve added billions to our public servant wages bill.

Until last week the government had also ploughed full steam ahead on its massive infrastructure agenda.

And it has stubbornly refused to back down on the controversial $125bn Suburban Rail Loop project.

The Premier has also blamed Reserve Bank governor Philip Lowe for lulling Victoria into a false sense of security over its borrowing capacity.

It’s not Philip Lowe’s fault Victoria was locked down for two years, or that we can’t keep our public service or major projects in check.

Nor is it his fault that Victoria naively borrowed money on a cautioned prediction that interest rates wouldn’t rise.

Mr Andrews has compared the difficulties facing Victoria’s finances with those affecting mums and dads in middle suburbia.

But mums and dads don’t have hundreds of bureaucrats on hand who are paid to protect us from financial ruin.

Every other state and territory suffered Covid, and are battling interest rate rises.

Yet Victoria has the largest debt in the nation: more than NSW, Queensland and Tasmania combined.

Victorians are already paying the highest taxes in Australia, and you can bet your bottom dollar we’ll be paying more from Tuesday.

This mess is the making of the Andrews government.

They need to own it.

Originally published as Well before Covid hit in early 2020 the Andrews government was racking up debt with wild abandon