Jacinta Allan spruiks economic record as new Liberal leader Jess Wilson vows to tackle ballooning debt
Premier Jacinta Allan has signalled she is happy to fight the next state election on her government’s economic record, as newly minted Liberal leader Jess Wilson zeros in on a debt pile costing Victorians $2m every hour.
Jacinta Allan has spruiked her economic credentials and rebuffed concerns the next state election could be a referendum on the management of the economy as new Opposition leader Jess Wilson targets Labor’s massive debt pile.
Newly minted as the leader of the Liberal Party, Jess Wilson has already vowed to fix Labor’s ballooning debt, telling the Herald Sun it is a “matter of urgency”.
With the debt climbing $2 million every hour and set to hit $194bn by 2028-29, the renewed focus on the debt could add pressure to Ms Allan’s government.
Asked on Wednesday morning, the Victorian Premier deflected concerns that economic messaging could be a weakness for Labor.
“In terms of the economy, we have a strong, thriving economy here in Victoria,” Ms Allan said.
“An economy where we are creating more jobs than any other state. We are building more homes than any other state. We are attracting more business investment than any other state.”
Ms Allan said she led a government that “is focused as much on the economy as on people”, and went on to accuse Ms Wilson’s party of being set to cut services to claw back the debt.
“No matter who leads the Liberal Party, they are still a Liberal and they only know one way and that is to cut: to cut the vital frontline services that the Victorian community relies on.”
Ms Wilson has already said that she will “pause” the government’s biggest infrastructure project — the Suburban Rail Loop — breaking from her predecessor Brad Battin who said if the project continued to the point where tunnelling has begun, he would not cancel it.
“We’ve said that we will pause and review the Suburban Rail Loop,” Ms Wilson said.
But Ms Allan said she was “not focused” on what the Opposition Leader had to say, despite the increasing lens on the state’s debt.
Ms Wilson said that as Labor “continues to ignore (the debt)” she would deliver “a credible plan to fix it”.
“Labor has its head in the sand on debt and has no plan to deal with this massive problem of their own making.
“As leader, my first priority is getting Labor’s spiralling debt under control so we can sustainably invest in the things that really matter and restore hope that the next generation of Victorians will be better off than the last.”
Originally published as Jacinta Allan spruiks economic record as new Liberal leader Jess Wilson vows to tackle ballooning debt
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