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Victorian budget

This Month

Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan and Treasurer Jaclyn Symes are delaying any bad news about public service job cuts.

Jacinta Allan to delay cost cuts for months

The Victorian Treasurer has revealed the state Labor government will sit on an independent cost-cutting review, despite receiving it at the end of June.

Treasurer Jim Chalmers is under pressure to find solutions to a budget deficit at the upcoming productivity roundtable.

Federal borrowing to top states as $1 trillion debt milestone looms

The federal government will borrow more money than the states this year for the first time since the pandemic, heaping more pressure on Treasurer Jim Chalmers.

Australian Education Union president Justin Mullaly addresses teacher protesting outside the office of Education Minister Ben Carroll in Niddrie last month.

Teachers’ huge 35pc pay claim is part of a union recruitment drive

The union’s Victorian membership plunged after its last pay negotiations resulted in a 2 per cent rise. Now it’s going for much more and wants non-members to know it.

June

Victorian Treasurer Jaclyn Symes and Premier Jacinta Allan.

Victoria’s debt is among the worst in the world

S&P Global analysis shows the state carries a greater debt burden than 17 comparable jurisdictions and is on track to hit a critical threshold for another credit rating downgrade. 

A jogger passes Melbourne’s CBD. Victoria is one of the most indebted states in the country, a situation that will worsen, S&P warns.

Stop blaming pandemic for state government debt binge: S&P Global

The high-profile credit ratings agency warns that infrastructure spending and more handouts are causing a significant deterioration in finances.

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State debt has increased 150 per cent since 2019 to $661 billion, prompting warnings from credit ratings agencies and calls by economists for premiers to rein in spending,

State debt to top $900b, triple pre-pandemic levels

The gross debt of state governments has increased by 150 per cent since 2019 to $661 billion, prompting calls by economists for premiers to rein in spending.

Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan and Treasurer Jaclyn Symes.

Victorian public service paying for advice it ignores, report finds

Government departments, which spent $130 million on consultants and contractors last year, sometimes hired them with no valid reason or failed to track their work.

Treasurer Jaclyn Symes was in New York this month to speak with investors, businesses and the credit rating agencies.

Victorian treasurer courts Wall Street investors

Jaclyn Symes met investors, credit rating agencies and businesses in New York after handing down her first state budget that showed net debt will grow to $194 billion by 2028-29.

Christine Christian is resigning as the first female chair of the Victorian State Library.

‘It’s been one of the hardest things we’ve had to deal with’

Christine Christian is preparing to end her time at the State Library of Victoria, leaving behind an institution reformed in more ways than one.

Lily D’Ambrosio was grilled about the energy plan costs on Friday.

‘Not about being dishonest’: D’Ambrosio says grid bill still unknown

Victorian Energy Minister Lily D’Ambrosio says cost of the multibillion-dollar renewable energy plan will be known only when all contracts are signed over the years.

Treasurer Jaclyn Symes delivering her budget speech in parliament next to Premier Jacinta Allan, is now in New York talking to rating agencies.

Victoria to spend $81m on advisers. Eslake says he’ll do it for free

Victorian Treasurer Jaclyn Symes has set aside more than $81 million for economic and policy advice this year. Economist Saul Eslake says she could’ve given him a call.

The cost of building new poles and wires in Victoria is expected to be much greater than the $4billion flagged by the government.

Cost of Victoria’s renewables grid plan understated by at least $16b

The state government has not been upfront about the $20 billion it will likely cost to build its new renewables grid, experts say.

May

The Victorian government’s debt pile has grown since it hiked taxes to begin paying down emergency borrowings at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, when the state went in and out of multiple lockdowns and the city came to a standstill.

Vic Labor hiked taxes to pay down debt. Instead, it rose by $5b

The government debt pile will be bigger than ex-treasurer Tim Pallas promised when he hit businesses and investors with higher taxes to pay off pandemic borrowing. 

The Miami skyline. Florida has become a magnet for capital and people because of economic performance.

A complacent Wonder Down Under is heading for a productivity fail

Crazy levels of government spending, and Victoria’s status as one of the most indebted states in the world, helps explain Australia’s miserable performance.

Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan (left) and Energy Minister Lily D’Ambrosio.

Victorian government to increase mining fees by 234pc

Labor argues the revenue is needed to cover regulatory costs, but the industry warns it will drive investment away

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James Newbury presented a bleak picture of Victoria’s economy as he outlined his plans for financial repair.

Budget reply shows Libs have no plan for Victoria’s debt: economists

In a fiery address to parliament, shadow treasurer James Newbury described Victoria as a “run down state” with the highest taxes and biggest level of debt.

Victorian Treasurer Jaclyn Symes and Premier Jacinta Allan.

Numbers Victoria is relying on to kill debt are at odds with the RBA

Official federal estimates don’t support the population growth that Treasurer Jaclyn Symes says will drag the state out of debt.

Caterina Borsato in her restaurant, Caterina’s Cucina e Bar in Melbourne CBD.

The 65-year-old Victorian too taxed to retire

For business owners including this restaurant owner, the raft of increased levies in this week’s Victorian budget just pile on the pain.

Allan seriously thinks – as she claimed – that the federal election results were an endorsement of her government and its policies.

Like the Liberals, Jacinta Allan needs rescuing from her echo chamber

Smart governments learn lessons from victory as well as defeat. There is no sign of that yet in Victoria.

Former Victorian premier John Brumby chairs the $2 billion Breakthrough Victoria fund.

Breakthrough Victoria’s funding slashed amid cost-cutting review

Start-ups and investors claim they have been left in the dark by apparent funding cuts to the government’s venture capital fund, run by former premier John Brumby.

Original URL: https://www.afr.com/topic/victorian-budget-jop