Record debt is threatening Victoria’s prosperity and economic stability, the state’s financial watchdog has warned, and it says the Allan government lacks a sound strategy to manage it.
Despite Treasurer Tim Pallas’ boast that the state’s economy is “powering ahead”, latest Australian Bureau of Statistics data paints a very different picture.
The cash-strapped state government is under fire after it diverted more than $40m from Victoria’s road safety program to spend on extra speed cameras.
Plans to slash the number of children’s courts across Melbourne mean there will not be a single court or magistrate available to hear matters in the eastern suburbs.
At the rate Victoria is spending money we’ll rack up $200bn of debt by the 2026 election, which is perhaps why tensions between Jacinta Allan and Tim Pallas remain at an all-time high.
Treasurer Tim Pallas has racked up more than $12bn on the government little-known ‘credit card’ — called a Treasurer’s Advance — exhausting the fund historically set aside for emergencies.
Victoria’s transport projects are being boosted by billions of dollars of taxpayer cash, which had been put aside for emergencies.
Victorian debt is growing at almost $25m day more than the government forecast in this year’s budget, with a Friday update revealing it grew by more than $80m a day over the last financial quarter.
Lawyers at the Labor-linked law firm that markets itself with the slogan “fighting for fair” are close to launching industrial action after months of failed negotiations over a new pay deal.
Almost two years after an alleged multimillion-dollar embezzlement was first reported to crisis-plagued Ambulance Victoria, an employee has been referred to police.
Original URL: https://www.heraldsun.com.au/journalists/shannon-deery/page/2