Daniel Andrews doubles down on big-spending, jobs formula
The Andrews Government has doubled down on its winning formula — well paid jobs on big projects. It will now hope to keep the public focused on its job-creating spending instead of how to foot the bill, writes Matthew Johnston.
Opinion
Don't miss out on the headlines from Opinion. Followed categories will be added to My News.
There are 115,000 people who will be working on state-sponsored infrastructure projects in Victoria this term.
Most of those jobs are pretty well-paid.
No wonder Labor had a swing towards them at the November election.
Deciding this winning formula — paying for projects that deliver well-paid jobs — was a key to state Labor’s success, Daniel Andrews is turbocharging it with an extra $32 billion in borrowings.
Treasurer Tim Pallas insists this is within Victoria’s means.
He says the key agencies, which can make or break the state’s credit ratings that alter the cost of debt repayments, are fairly relaxed about the plan.
S&P issued a note of caution following the release of Pallas’s blueprint, however, saying the “fiscal outlook is weaker than it previously expected”.
The agency also cast doubt on the ability for the government to taper public sector employee expenses, which have exploded by 27 per cent since 2016.
The treasurer has declared he won’t sit idle and instead will use the state’s “balance sheet to build, grow and leave a positive legacy”.
There is a relatively positive economic outlook for the state, despite a property slowdown, with decent surpluses as a buffer against unforeseen changes — or to be swallowed up by more spending closer to the 2022 election.
Economic growth is forecast at 2.75 per cent a year, and wages are tipped to rise.
But if the national economy slows further, or the global situation worsens, some more “tough decisions” might be needed next year.
MORE: 5-MINUTE BUDGET GUIDE
NEW HOMEOWNER TAXES A ‘SLAP’ TO MARKET
Pallas notes that there would have been an extra $2.6 billion in state coffers if big-spending Bill Shorten had won this month’s election.
Part of the reasons there aren’t a pair of Labor leaders in charge right now might be because voters that benefited from Dan’s big-spending agenda were put off what they thought was Bill’s big tax agenda.
Conscious of this, Pallas has largely kept his $700 million tax hikes to wealthy tennis court owners and luxury car drivers.
At least, that’s how he’s spinning it.
The government will bank on keeping the public focus on its job-creating spending instead, all the way up to the 2022 election.
Join the conversation
Human cost of pandemic goes much further than virus
Whether you are pro or anti-lockdown the grim, unintended consequences of the fixation on coronavirus are undeniable, as other diseases — including cancer and heart disease — go unchecked, and despair from joblessness, poverty and financial stress rises, writes Rita Panahi.
Read more
Premier must outline his plan so Melbourne can recover
As the community overwhelmingly complies with the Premier’s stage four restrictions, he must clearly outline his virus strategy so we can make plans to rebuild confidence and employment in our city, which right now is a ghost town, writes Jeff Kennett.
Read more