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Tim Pallas

This Month

Victoria slipped one spot to fourth despite leading on construction work done amid its Big Build projects, according to CommSec chief economist Ryan Felsman.

Victoria’s debt interest bill surges by 28pc

The state’s debt has jumped by $7.4 billion since June and $20 billion in the last 12 months, according to Treasury’s latest quarterly financial report.

  • Gus McCubbing and Michael Read

October

The state opposition has blasted the Suburban Rail Loop as being a ‘gravy train’ for senior public servants.

Suburban Rail Loop’s 100 executives paid an average $332,000 a year

Victorian Opposition Leader John Pesutto has described the Surburban Rail Loop as a “gravy train” after its annual report revealed the salaries bill.

  • Gus McCubbing
Victorian Treasurer Tim Pallas says the state opposition’s proposal to introduce a “US-style debt cap” would result in “US-style healthcare”.

Every Victorian will soon owe $25,000 of debt

The state net debt bill per Victorian is on track to exceed $25,000 by 2027-28, according to figures in a new report by the federal Parliamentary Budget Office.

  • John Kehoe and Gus McCubbing
Victorian Opposition Leader John Pesutto wants to fight the next state election over debt and tax reform.

Victorian Liberals promise to bring back state debt cap

Victorian Opposition Leader John Pesutto has set the stage to fight the 2026 election over debt, after vowing to cap net debt as a percentage of gross state product.

  • Gus McCubbing
Victorian Treasurer Tim Pallas has confirmed foreign purchasers will be included in the state government’s temporary stamp duty concessions.

Stamp duty cuts in Victoria will apply for foreign buyers

Centre for Independent Studies chief economist Peter Tulip argues the Victorian Labor is doing more to improve housing affordability than the federal government. 

  • Gus McCubbing
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Melbourne CBD from Albert Park Lake in August.

Fears for Victoria as economy ‘diverges from other states’

Victoria has fallen behind the rest of the country across a range of economic indicators including for house prices, spending and business conditions as economists warn of a “clear divergence” from other states.

  • Patrick Durkin and Gus McCubbing
Victorian Treasurer Tim Pallas with Premier Jacinta Allan was warned by his department two years ago the state’s financial framework needed updating.

Thirty years out of date: Pallas ignored financial warnings

Victorian Treasurer Tim Pallas ignored a confidential warning the state’s “out of date” financial management framework could lead to trouble.

  • Patrick Durkin

September

Dozens arrested after anti-war protest turns violent

Protesters flooded Melbourne’s CBD to take action against a defence expo and the federal government’s stance on the Israel-Palestine conflict.

  • Updated
  • Gus McCubbing

August

Breakthrough Victoria has invested $37m into World View, a US start up which makes, launches and pilots stratospheric balloons.

Auditors warned against Vic government’s $37m space balloon bet

Auditors expressed “substantial doubt” about the financial viability of a space exploration start-up, a year before Breakthrough Victoria placed a huge bet on the US company.

  • Patrick Durkin and Gus McCubbing
Victorian Treasurer Tim Pallas

Labor’s most indebted state admits it’s reached limit on raising taxes

Victorian Treasurer Tim Pallas says finding the promised $1.5 billion for the state’s hospitals will be challenging amid intense budget pressures.

  • Updated
  • Gus McCubbing

Start-up founder sues Victoria’s VC fund

The Victorian government’s troubled venture capital fund Breakthrough Victoria faces a multi-million dollar legal battle.

  • Patrick Durkin
ABBA’s simulacrums on stage at ABBA Arena in London.

Victoria’s budget woes put ABBA plans on ice

However, despite the state’s debt pressures, the Victorian Chamber of Commerce says ABBA Voyage would generate hundreds of millions in revenue for Melbourne.

  • Gus McCubbing and Alexander Gow

July

Mark Korda was named Collingwood president on Wednesday.

KordaMentha makes play for Canberra consulting work

KordaMentha has joined Oliver Wyman in setting up a Canberra office to take advantage of the gap left by the big four.

  • Maxim Shanahan
Cbus chairman Wayne Swan: still leading a “movement”.

The ties that bind John Setka to Cbus and the ALP

With the CFMEU now in a spotlight so bright even the indestructible John Setka couldn’t ride it out, ties like these drag everyone else into the glare.

  • Myriam Robin

June

Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan her predecessor, Daniel Andrews

Victoria’s $14b Metro Tunnel has been delayed and will cost more

The bill for Melbourne’s long-awaited Metro Tunnel has spiralled past $12.8 billion, in yet another cost blowout for a major Victorian project.

  • Gus McCubbing
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May

The ATO says Melbourne-based eReports owes it $1.4 million in unpaid taxes, while liquidators Cor Cordis says the company owes service providers more than $7.2 million.

Victoria, South Australia exempt GPs from payroll tax

The Victorian decision represents a backflip by the Allan government that will cost the state budget $10 million a year.

  • Gus McCubbing
Victorian Treasurer, Tim Pallas and Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan in the Victorian parliament.

Indebted Victoria faces nurse, paramedic strikes over wages

Treasurer Tim Pallas has vowed to stick to his 3 per cent wages policy as he seeks to head off industrial action by nurses and paramedics, and negotiate new pay deals with firefighters and police.

  • Updated
  • Patrick Durkin
The Victorian government has cut funding to its energy department, which includes its solar program, by more than 30 cent despite touting its “nation-leading” target of net-zero emissions by 2045, budget papers show. 

Energy funding chopped under weight of Victoria’s debt

Experts say this week’s state budget shows the Victorian government has prioritised major transport projects over the energy transition.

  • Gus McCubbing
The 300-year-old River Red Gum in Bulleen wins Victoria's tree of the Year in 2019.

This tree symbolises how Victoria became a financial basket case

After 300 years of withstanding the elements, the River Red Gum in Bulleen forced the North East Link to be redesigned as the cost of the project blows out by billions of dollars.

  • Patrick Durkin
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese with CFMEU workers at Thursday’s North East Link announcement.

Behind the PM’s $3b ‘bailout’ of Victoria’s most expensive road

Experts blame a $10 billion blowout for the North East Link on CFMEU disruptions, a failed tender process and crazy design decisions to pander to community groups.

  • Patrick Durkin, David Marin-Guzman and Gus McCubbing

Original URL: https://www.afr.com/person/tim-hugh-pallas-5l5