No 'sugar-coating' Victorian budget, treasurer says
The Victorian state budget is set to be a bitter pill to swallow for some, but the treasurer is signalling it will go down easier on cash-strapped families.
Preparing to deliver his 10th state budget on Tuesday, Tim Pallas conceded tough choices had been made as Victoria’s debt soars following the COVID-19 pandemic and major project cost blowouts.
“They never seem to get easier,” Mr Pallas said at state parliament on Thursday.
“Certainly this budget has had its challenges and we’ve had to have some quite substantial discussions across government about the appropriate way to go.”
The 2023/24 state budget featured a 10-year COVID debt levy on businesses and landlords designed to raise $31.5 billion.
A budget update released in December showed net debt was expected to climb to $177.8 billion by June 2027, $6.4 billion higher than the estimate from May.
The projected rise was blamed on increased infrastructure spending, particularly on the North East Link after its price tag grew from $10 billion to $26.1 billion.
The North East Link’s increased costs have put a significant dent in the budget. (Joel Carrett/AAP PHOTOS)
Mr Pallas said Premier Jacinta Allan had made it clear to him she did not want the state budget to adversely affect households as families face higher cost-of-living pressures.
“We’ll show to the people of Victoria that we’re not going to impose on them or on families inordinate burden as a consequence of us getting our balance sheet in good order,” he said.
No pre-budget announcements have been unveiled so far, apart from a $95 million health programs pledge after the government backflipped on establishing a supervised drug injecting room in Melbourne’s CBD.
Opposition Leader John Pesutto said it was a sign of a “bad news” budget.
“It’s going to be higher taxes. It’s going to be cuts to services,” he said.
The treasurer admitted the lack of lead-up announcements was novel.
“We have never tried to sugar-coat this budget,” Mr Pallas said.
“This was always about recognising as a government we needed to provide responsible fiscal management, recognising that the hard choices really have to affect the way the government govern.”
The 2024/25 budget will be the 10th for Treasurer Tim Pallas. (James Ross/AAP PHOTOS)
Special COVID-related expenditure would continue to be wound back and government infrastructure spending curbed to provide some “breathing space” for the private sector to build housing, he said.
Mr Pallas denied the budget would include a new charge to replace an “infrastructure contribution” on developers building on Melbourne’s urban fringe.
“It’s not our intention to increase the burden either on developers or on business in the context of this budget,” he said.
“Our intention is to make sure that, over the long term, we provide greater clarity for business, for developers about what the multiplicity of charges are.”
No consideration has been given to delaying construction on the first stage of the Suburban Rail Loop, a $35 billion line from Cheltenham to Box Hill, as part of Victoria’s capital works pipeline.
“Every year the government is currently spending $24 billion on infrastructure,” Mr Pallas said.
“Suburban Rail Loop (makes up) in the state budget about $1 billion a year.”
The treasurer was also adamant Tuesday won’t be his last budget.
“You never leave a job half done and there will still be more work to do,” he said.