Victoria’s bulging debt means the Allan government is unlikely to be able to afford the tens of millions of dollars needed to secure the blockbuster ABBA Voyage production, in a sign Labor may finally be constraining spending in the state.

Labor insiders confirmed to The Australian Financial Review that despite enthusiasm for the holographic concert, which is turning over $3 million a week in London, the promoter’s demand for the Victorian government to provide up to a third of the estimated $100 million cost to host it in Melbourne was proving a bridge too far.