Daniel Andrews substitutes Gina Rinehart for a touch more debt

Gina Rinehart.

Dan trumps Gina on the netball court but it’s a fair bet the mining magnate would win the battle for best money manager.

The Victorian Premier announced the $15m netball funding injection on the same day his Treasurer declared the budget deficit forecast had blown out by $1.8bn.

That’s just for this financial year. How is the chutzpah?

Insiders familiar with the horse trading that is major events and sports sponsorship in Australia are viewing the Victorian deal as reasonable value for money. Certainly on a par with other similar deals, which are ubiquitous as states fight each other for bragging rights, tourist numbers and the consultants reports that seek to justify the expense.

The political question is whether voters want their money spent on a goal attack or instead used to help pay down easily the biggest debt bill in the country or renovate their local school. Andrews, in his defence, does a lot of the latter, but not much of the former.

In fact, the forecast net debt to 2025-26 in Victoria is $50bn higher than in NSW and due, in part, to the 2020 lockdown that the northern state managed to avoid.

Debt seems to be one of those pesky issues that old people worry about.

Victoria under Andrews has been on something of a spendathon for years, billions thrown all over the joint before, during and after the worst of the pandemic. Most voters seem to understand that governments needed to invest in measures that helped its citizens during the pandemic. Just as they understand that money needs to be spent when the floods rip through large parts of the state.

But when does the debt tap get turned off and does Andrews have a serious plan for it? If you ask Treasurer Tim Pallas, the state is on track, with forecast net debt falling slightly to (just) $165bn by June 2026, with the budget fundamentals due to improve in the out years.

He’s also set up the Victorian Future Fund – with a balance in the medium term of $10bn – under a four-step plan to deal with the debt. The biggest criticism is that Labor is in no rush to repair the budget and a lot of the spending looks like unreconstructed pork barrelling. Which is exactly what the netball sponsorship is.

Andrews will be desperately hoping none of the netballers take exception to his lockdowns and refuse to play for the country. Unlikely to happen, but in an era when Australia’s richest woman is shunned, who knows what could happen next?