Where would you cut spending or increase revenue to reduce the debt?
The pandemic hiked government spending and borrowing to save lives, but now voters want to know how these bills will be paid.
Opinion
Hey big spenders: Tackling debt doesn’t seem to be either party’s priority
We find ourselves on the eve of a state election in which public debt is worrying a lot of Victorians, but the major parties are turning the other way and vowing to spend more.
- by David Hayward
Editorial
Voters let down as parties dodge debt question
The major parties have not been shy in spruiking their spending pledges, but when it comes to repairing the state’s balance sheet, it’s a different matter.
- The Age's View
Exclusive
Fiscal reality bites Victoria’s spend, spend, spend election campaign
Global credit rating agency Standard & Poor’s says Victoria has the weakest fiscal position of any Australian state since it started keeping records in the 1980s.
- by Chip Le Grand and Josh Gordon
‘Animal spirits’ or eaten alive: Which way is Victoria’s debt heading?
Victoria has the highest debt as a proportion of its economy since the early 1970s. Does it matter? And what would the Treasurer and his shadow do about it?
- by Josh Gordon
Exclusive
Public servants can ‘retire’ one year, return the next
Scores of bureaucrats have opted into the Andrews government’s scheme to shrink the Victorian public service.
- by Chip Le Grand
Exclusive
State deficit forecast blows out by $1.8b as spending arms race ramps up
Victoria’s mid-financial-year budget update will reveal the state is on course to record a $9.7 billion deficit in 2022-23, but the Andrews government is adamant its strategy to pay back debt is on track.
- by Josh Gordon and Rachel Eddie
Pallas insists no debt blowout from rising interest rates
The Andrews government insists rapidly rising interest rates won’t lead to an unmanageable blowout in Victoria’s annual interest bill as public debt heads towards historically high levels.
- by Josh Gordon
Explainer
Where would you cut spending or increase revenue to reduce Victoria’s debt?
Our readers want us to examine how to get the state budget under control, so we will quiz both sides of politics about what levers they intend to pull to shore up the state’s battered finances.
- by Josh Gordon
What Victorians want to hear from politicians
The Age surveyed thousands of Victorians in August and September to help inform its coverage of the Victorian election in November.
- by Rachel Eddie
What is Victoria’s Agenda for the 2022 state election?
For this election, The Age is shifting its approach to focus on what Victorians want to discuss – what matters most to you – rather than what the political parties and candidates want the election to be about.
- by Gay Alcorn