June
- Opinion
- Bonds
Are state governments on the brink of a debt crisis?
Victoria and Queensland have caught the infrastructure fever from NSW and have super-sized it. But financial discipline is in short supply.
- Tim Hext
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
May
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
Governments ‘should report cost blowouts just like companies do’
State governments should be held to the same reporting standards as ASX-listed companies when it comes to major projects, Marion Terrill says.
- Gus McCubbing
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
House builders can’t compete with states’ cash splash
In the race for talent and materials in Australia’s construction game, housing has consistently run in second place to the infrastructure sector.
- Michael Bleby
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
- Opinion
- Public service
Why headcount matters when it comes to budgets
As any finance chief will attest, the number of bums on seats tells you most of what you need to know about an organisation’s underlying size and costs.
- Tom Burton
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
Kerry Stokes ‘cannot cop criticism’
Teal MP Zoe Daniel has accused billionaire Kerry Stokes of anti-democratic behaviour after Seven West Media doubled the cost of printing the AFR. Here’s how the day unfolded.
- Updated
- Gus McCubbing
Pallas vows to prove rating agencies wrong
Treasurer Tim Pallas has fended off warnings Victoria could face a third credit rating downgrade since 2020.
- Gus McCubbing and Patrick Durkin
Schools sweat on election funding promises as Victorian debt rises
Melbourne’s Hampton Primary School fears the Victorian government won’t follow through on a promise made on eve of the 2022 election.
- Gus McCubbing
- Opinion
- Opinion
Victoria cannot tax its way to prosperity
Victoria arguably has some of the most complex rules and highest property tax imposts in the country. Will it work?
- Matthew Cridland
- Updated
- Victorian Parliament
Ratings warning over Victoria’s $188b debt
Rating agencies have put the Victorian government on notice after it revealed state debt would climb to $188 billion, with a daily interest bill of $26 million.
- Updated
- Gus McCubbing and Patrick Durkin
- Opinion
- Tim Pallas
Labor dodges difficult debt decisions
Treasurer Tim Pallas has not delivered the “horror budget” he prepared the ground for, nor a clear path back from the state’s crippling debt levels.
- Patrick Durkin
Victoria adds $700m to home buyer scheme – and calls time on it
There were minimal housing policies in the Victorian budget, but the state government is hopeful of a pick-up in sales next year to boost its finances.
- Updated
- Michael Bleby
Size of Victorian government to be cut for first time in 15 years
Tight control over salaries and operating expenses will result in reduced average expenditure of 2.2 per cent over forward estimates.
- Tom Burton
Victorian budget winners and losers
There are no new taxes or levies for the first time in several years – although the state’s waste and fire levies are increasing – but the budget avoids many tough decisions save for a slowdown in infrastructure spending.
- Patrick Durkin
Victoria has become a poor state: economist Saul Eslake
The southern state’s high dependence on property and population growth has a fallout felt beyond its borders.
- Michael Bleby
Victoria open to tax breaks to boost home building
Premier Jacinta Allan says her Labor government is open to pulling every lever available to boost housing supply, after developers called for taxation tweaks to boost investment.
- Gus McCubbing