Horror budget ahead as voters desert Labor

Ministers have been told to slash programs and services in their portfolios, despite Premier Jacinta Allan’s promise to do more for voters in the wake of Saturday’s calamitous Werribee byelection.

While there is a perception among voters in Melbourne’s west that the Suburban Rail Loop is consuming the budget to the detriment of projects in the area, culminating in a 16.7 per cent collapse in Labor’s primary vote in Werribee, Allan has been in a funding feud with the Commonwealth for more support for the $35 billion eastern leg of the mega-project.

Senior minister Mary-Anne Thomas disputed on Tuesday that Allan was “blackmailing” the Albanese government by refusing to support a federal package for projects such as Airport Rail and the Western Highway unless it included more funding for SRL East.

Jacinta Allan arrives at Labor’s election night bash.Credit: Luis Enrique Ascui

Angry MPs from the western suburbs had been warning that voters in Labor’s heartland no longer felt the party had its back – raising transport and crime as core issues – before Saturday’s byelection.

“None of this is new,” one said, speaking anonymously to speak candidly about the Werribee result. “We weren’t joking.”

But there is limited room in the budget to respond to voter frustrations. Shortly before former treasurer Tim Pallas announced his resignation and quit parliament, prompting the Werribee byelection, he directed ministers to provide a list of programs within their portfolios to cut in May’s budget.

One source, unable to speak publicly about budget deliberations but fearful that valuable services would be lost, said ministers who refused were told they would have decisions made for them. A second minister said the budget cycle always considered which programs were no longer necessary or a priority, but that this year’s budget process had been tough.

A Victorian government spokesman said this was part of the standard budget process.

“We are always focused on making sure that every dollar of investment goes to where it matters most – supporting families and frontline services.”

Asked on Monday whether the state budget would offer more household relief for struggling voters, Allan, who has attempted to paint Opposition Leader Brad Battin as seeking to cut government services, said she wasn’t going to start budget speculation so far out from its delivery on May 20.

Thomas was more forthright on Tuesday that the Werribee byelection result was unacceptable and had to be taken seriously.

Opposition Leader Brad Battin addresses the crowd at the Liberal Party byelection night event in Werribee.Credit: Luis Enrique Ascui

“I found it very humbling to see that result because, quite clearly, the people of Werribee are not hearing what we’re doing, and we are not delivering what they are telling us that they need.”

Thomas said no federal MPs had raised concerns about the SRL and she did not believe the state’s relationship with the Albanese government was fracturing.

“But I will say this, Victoria will always fight for our fair share of infrastructure funding. And to be frank, we’ve never had it. We haven’t received our fair share from the previous Liberal government, and we’re still fighting to get our fair share from the Albanese government,” Thomas said.

Another Labor MP, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss internal party matters, said Allan’s funding feud was fair game “when you get two-fifths of f— all when compared to NSW” and that the federal government should stump up for both Airport Rail and SRL East.

On Tuesday, Battin said the Allan government was going to send the state broke if Labor continued with the SRL without the funding for it.

“What our focus will be is: what is in the best interest of Victorians? What is in the best interest of getting our infrastructure program right? How do we make sure that places like the west aren’t neglected going forward? And how do we make sure that places like growth corridors get the infrastructure they need?”

While the result in Werribee remains too close to call, both major parties expected Labor candidate John Lister to win the seat, which has been in Labor hands since 1979, once the final postal votes are counted on Friday. He holds a narrow lead on a two-party preferred basis, of 50.55 per cent, over Liberal Steve Murphy’s 49.45 per cent.

MPs were also directed last year to halve the number of funding requests for their electorates and to leave infrastructure off their wish lists. Pallas had also privately suggested introducing fees on licences and working with children checks or reducing staff at trade offices, with Victoria’s net debt projected to reach $187 billion by 2028.

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