Opposition crying foul as 256 annual reports released in one day
In a move labelled a sneaky tactic by the Andrews Government to swamp the public with information, the uneasy reality of the state’s financial affairs — including a $1b departmental wage blowout — were revealed in a dump of 256 annual reports.
VIC News
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Victoria’s government department wages bill has skyrocketed by almost $1 billion, despite attempts to rein in a ballooning public service budget.
The massive cost blowouts were buried among 256 annual reports dumped in the state parliament on Thursday, which the Opposition said was an attempt by the Andrews Government to create an information overload.
The biggest rise was in the Department of Education and Training, with the wages bill growing by $472 million last year to $6.97 billion — an increase of 6.4 per cent. Other departments saw rises of between 6 and 10 per cent.
This year, Treasurer Tim Pallas told public sector unions he needed to keep a lid on wages, telling them annual wage increases would be capped at 2 per cent.
But the government was undermined by a remuneration tribunal gifting the Premier a 12 per cent pay rise, worth about $46,000.
As well as major department costs increasing, Victoria’s emergency services also reported big jumps in employee expenses after generous EBAs were signed last term.
Police wages were up $146.7 million to $1.9 billion — about 8 per cent — and ambulance worker expenses rose $43.9 million.
The MFB saw a $48.7 million increase, including a staggering $17 million jump in the overtime bill to $37.7 million for its 2000 operational staff.
Another revelation was that TAC recorded a net loss of $3.8 billion in 2018-19.
However, the sudden dive in value has been attributed to a writedown in bonds. Roads Minister Jaala Pulford insisted the agency’s day-to-day operations were not affected.
The Treasurer said the rising costs were the result of investments in new staff.
“We’ve employed more workers in our hospitals and in our schools to meet the needs of all Victorians,” he said.
“We have employed more police, community corrections and youth justice workers to deliver our community safety agenda.”
Opposition Leader Michael O’Brien said the blowout would cost Victorian families. “These blowouts and the doubling of debt have to be paid for,” he said.
“We know that, when Daniel Andrews runs out of money, he comes after Victorians’ wallets through more taxes and charges. Hardworking families deserve a government who has their back and works to reduce their cost of living.”
The Department of Health and Human Services also contributed to the wages jump, soaring by $335 million.
Premier Andrews’ department, which has 82 public servants on executive-level wages, grew by $28 million to $206 million. The Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning jumped $74 million, DTF rose by 10 per cent to $154 million and, at the Department of Justice and Community Safety, wages rose $72 million.
The Andrews Government defended the move to release all the reports at once.
“These annual reports have been tabled in accordance with the rules of parliament,” a government spokesman said.
“All reports are published on the parliament website and are freely available.”
TRANSPARENCY CONCERNS
Opposition emergency services spokesman Brad Battin said the government had waited until the last sitting day of the parliamentary week to release the reports.
“Daniel Andrews is all about avoiding scrutiny,” he said.
“People don’t want an arrogant government.
“Overall, the government has no control of the finances … Now what we’re seeing is they have lost control of the services and they’re slashing services for Victorians.”
So far the documents, which are still being probed revealed:
PRISON numbers hit a record of 8,044 and that more prisoners were returning to jail sooner because of growth in the remand system.
WAGES have ballooned across multiple government departments.
WARRANTS actioned by the Sherriffs office for unpaid fines was more than 688,000 below expected due to a delay in the delivery of a new IT system designed to improve functionality.
TAXPAYERS poured in more than $60 million to stage this year’s Melbourne Grand Prix — $3.7 million more than last year.
CFA again missed their volunteer targets, with 34,380 Victorians now giving up their time to fight fires below the 39,400 target. While wages jumped from $288.3 million to $319 million as revealed in leaked documents to the Herald Sun.
MFB’s overtime bill jumped from $20.4 million to $37.7 million, more than double since the Andrews Government came to office.
TAC recorded an operating loss of $3.8 billion.
Not all the information is bad news with scores of documents also showing improvements.
TOURISM is booming with Visit Victoria reporting visitor spending has reached $30 billion with regional Victoria increasingly a hit. Chinese visitors topped the list of tourists with total expenditure from accounting for $3.2 billion.
ZOOS Victoria reported a record 2.69 million visitors.
The Andrews Government defended the move to release all the reports at once.
“These annual reports have been tabled in accordance with the rules of parliament,” a government spokesman said.
“All reports are published on the parliament website and are freely available to any interested party.”
SHERRIFF IN A FINE MESS
Delays in the delivery of a new IT system have sparked serious issues and a backlog within the state’s Sheriff’s office.
Annual reports released on Thursday show the number of action warrants for unpaid fines was short of the department’s expected target by more than 688,000.
The result came after a delay in the delivery of a new IT system linked to the trouble-plagued Fines Victoria.
Prison numbers also hit a record high of 8044.
Statistics showed more prisoners were returning to jail sooner because of growth in the remand system.
A taskforce tackling stockpiling of illegal waste issued 109 notices and 24 sanctions as the Environment Protection Authority moved to crack down on dangerous stockpiles.
Several warehouses were found illegally stockpiling chemical waste and are now being cleaned up by WorkSafe and other agencies.
HOSPITALS FEEL THE PINCH
Rising wage bills have added financial strain to key Victorian hospitals, with the Royal Children’s Hospital running at a loss of $20.1 million in the last financial year.
Annual reports show the result was linked to more than $35 million in staff costs, higher operating expenses and loss of federal funding for transplant activities.
The Austin Hospital also reported a loss of $5.96 million while the Royal Women’s Hospital posted an operating deficit of $830,000. It comes after it was revealed in July services could be impacted because of mounting debt pressure for the state’s public hospitals.
At least 18 have asked for assurances of financial support from Victoria’s Department of Health in order to keep operating.
Funding proposals for the current financial year offered by the Andrews Government have not kept up with growing wage costs.
Jeff Kennett and Steve Bracks have recalled the impact of the Geelong Football Club and Billy Brownless had on the 1999 state election, as well as the “unprecedented” death of a candidate on election day.
V/LINE COMPO ON THE RISE
Compensation payouts for V/Line customers who were left waiting at the platform have soared as the regional rail network grappled with rising patronage.
The operator was forced to fork out an extra $80,000 to passengers in the last financial year compared to 2017-18 as more people were impacted by trains that fell below punctuality targets.
Over the same period V/Line ran at a $30 million loss and took in $102.9 million at the farebox.
There were an extra 1.5 million trips recorded across V/Line trains and buses, and the state government now subsidises $24.10 for every passenger on the regional rail network.
Department of Transport figures also show public transport trips have surged by a fifth over the last decade, with more than 605 million journeys recorded every year.
Upgrades to the Hurstbridge rail line blew out by more than $20 million due to the use of complex signalling.
— With Ellen Whinnett and Grant McArthur