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The Advertiser
19-05-2025
- Business
- The Advertiser
Hint at budget 'surprises' as debt pile to be laid bare
A state's mounting debt burden will be on full display but the treasurer has hinted she'll look to soften the blow with a few "surprises". Victorian Treasurer Jaclyn Symes will deliver her first state budget on Tuesday after replacing Tim Pallas in the role less than six months ago. She has already leaked out several key fiscal details, including a $1 billion reduction to the forecast operating surplus next financial year and no new taxes. Net debt will stay below $200 billion over the next four years and peak as a share of the economy in 2026/27. But just how high it grows will remain a mystery until Ms Symes takes her feet to give her maiden budget address. "We've got the balance right," she told reporters on Monday. "Can you please everyone? No you can't, and that's tough. We have had to make tough decisions. "But you'll see in tomorrow's budget the focus in what most Victorians expect from a Labor government." The Allan government has already unveiled $727 million to "operationalise" the Metro Tunnel, $61 million to slash stamp duty for off-the-plan apartments, units and townhouses for another 12 months and a $976 million "Better Roads Blitz". Another $318 million has been earmarked over four years for children under 18 to travel free on public transport, saving families up to $755 a year per child. Ms Symes signalled more cost-of-living support could be on the way for cash-strapped Victorians. "There's more surprises still to come," she said. But her budget speech could be overshadowed by farmers and volunteer firefighters swarming the steps of parliament on Tuesday to protest a recently passed emergency services levy. The expanded levy was announced in December and originally forecast to raise an extra $2.14 billion over the next three years to cover more emergency and disaster bodies. It prompted backlash but passed parliament after the government compromised on rebates for emergency volunteers and a slightly decreased levy rate for farmers. Public servants are also in the firing line, with thousands to lose their jobs as the government tries to rein in its ballooning wages bill. Ms Symes said infrastructure spending will continue to taper off following the completion of the Metro and West Gate tunnels and hospitals in Frankston and Footscray in 2025. Monash University economics lecturer Zac Gross was skeptical of that claim given construction was set to ramp up on the first stage of the $34.5 billion Suburban Rail Loop. A state's mounting debt burden will be on full display but the treasurer has hinted she'll look to soften the blow with a few "surprises". Victorian Treasurer Jaclyn Symes will deliver her first state budget on Tuesday after replacing Tim Pallas in the role less than six months ago. She has already leaked out several key fiscal details, including a $1 billion reduction to the forecast operating surplus next financial year and no new taxes. Net debt will stay below $200 billion over the next four years and peak as a share of the economy in 2026/27. But just how high it grows will remain a mystery until Ms Symes takes her feet to give her maiden budget address. "We've got the balance right," she told reporters on Monday. "Can you please everyone? No you can't, and that's tough. We have had to make tough decisions. "But you'll see in tomorrow's budget the focus in what most Victorians expect from a Labor government." The Allan government has already unveiled $727 million to "operationalise" the Metro Tunnel, $61 million to slash stamp duty for off-the-plan apartments, units and townhouses for another 12 months and a $976 million "Better Roads Blitz". Another $318 million has been earmarked over four years for children under 18 to travel free on public transport, saving families up to $755 a year per child. Ms Symes signalled more cost-of-living support could be on the way for cash-strapped Victorians. "There's more surprises still to come," she said. But her budget speech could be overshadowed by farmers and volunteer firefighters swarming the steps of parliament on Tuesday to protest a recently passed emergency services levy. The expanded levy was announced in December and originally forecast to raise an extra $2.14 billion over the next three years to cover more emergency and disaster bodies. It prompted backlash but passed parliament after the government compromised on rebates for emergency volunteers and a slightly decreased levy rate for farmers. Public servants are also in the firing line, with thousands to lose their jobs as the government tries to rein in its ballooning wages bill. Ms Symes said infrastructure spending will continue to taper off following the completion of the Metro and West Gate tunnels and hospitals in Frankston and Footscray in 2025. Monash University economics lecturer Zac Gross was skeptical of that claim given construction was set to ramp up on the first stage of the $34.5 billion Suburban Rail Loop. A state's mounting debt burden will be on full display but the treasurer has hinted she'll look to soften the blow with a few "surprises". Victorian Treasurer Jaclyn Symes will deliver her first state budget on Tuesday after replacing Tim Pallas in the role less than six months ago. She has already leaked out several key fiscal details, including a $1 billion reduction to the forecast operating surplus next financial year and no new taxes. Net debt will stay below $200 billion over the next four years and peak as a share of the economy in 2026/27. But just how high it grows will remain a mystery until Ms Symes takes her feet to give her maiden budget address. "We've got the balance right," she told reporters on Monday. "Can you please everyone? No you can't, and that's tough. We have had to make tough decisions. "But you'll see in tomorrow's budget the focus in what most Victorians expect from a Labor government." The Allan government has already unveiled $727 million to "operationalise" the Metro Tunnel, $61 million to slash stamp duty for off-the-plan apartments, units and townhouses for another 12 months and a $976 million "Better Roads Blitz". Another $318 million has been earmarked over four years for children under 18 to travel free on public transport, saving families up to $755 a year per child. Ms Symes signalled more cost-of-living support could be on the way for cash-strapped Victorians. "There's more surprises still to come," she said. But her budget speech could be overshadowed by farmers and volunteer firefighters swarming the steps of parliament on Tuesday to protest a recently passed emergency services levy. The expanded levy was announced in December and originally forecast to raise an extra $2.14 billion over the next three years to cover more emergency and disaster bodies. It prompted backlash but passed parliament after the government compromised on rebates for emergency volunteers and a slightly decreased levy rate for farmers. Public servants are also in the firing line, with thousands to lose their jobs as the government tries to rein in its ballooning wages bill. Ms Symes said infrastructure spending will continue to taper off following the completion of the Metro and West Gate tunnels and hospitals in Frankston and Footscray in 2025. Monash University economics lecturer Zac Gross was skeptical of that claim given construction was set to ramp up on the first stage of the $34.5 billion Suburban Rail Loop. A state's mounting debt burden will be on full display but the treasurer has hinted she'll look to soften the blow with a few "surprises". Victorian Treasurer Jaclyn Symes will deliver her first state budget on Tuesday after replacing Tim Pallas in the role less than six months ago. She has already leaked out several key fiscal details, including a $1 billion reduction to the forecast operating surplus next financial year and no new taxes. Net debt will stay below $200 billion over the next four years and peak as a share of the economy in 2026/27. But just how high it grows will remain a mystery until Ms Symes takes her feet to give her maiden budget address. "We've got the balance right," she told reporters on Monday. "Can you please everyone? No you can't, and that's tough. We have had to make tough decisions. "But you'll see in tomorrow's budget the focus in what most Victorians expect from a Labor government." The Allan government has already unveiled $727 million to "operationalise" the Metro Tunnel, $61 million to slash stamp duty for off-the-plan apartments, units and townhouses for another 12 months and a $976 million "Better Roads Blitz". Another $318 million has been earmarked over four years for children under 18 to travel free on public transport, saving families up to $755 a year per child. Ms Symes signalled more cost-of-living support could be on the way for cash-strapped Victorians. "There's more surprises still to come," she said. But her budget speech could be overshadowed by farmers and volunteer firefighters swarming the steps of parliament on Tuesday to protest a recently passed emergency services levy. The expanded levy was announced in December and originally forecast to raise an extra $2.14 billion over the next three years to cover more emergency and disaster bodies. It prompted backlash but passed parliament after the government compromised on rebates for emergency volunteers and a slightly decreased levy rate for farmers. Public servants are also in the firing line, with thousands to lose their jobs as the government tries to rein in its ballooning wages bill. Ms Symes said infrastructure spending will continue to taper off following the completion of the Metro and West Gate tunnels and hospitals in Frankston and Footscray in 2025. Monash University economics lecturer Zac Gross was skeptical of that claim given construction was set to ramp up on the first stage of the $34.5 billion Suburban Rail Loop.
The Guardian
03-05-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Victoria confounds Liberal hopes of election revival, swinging even further to Labor
Fears of a Labor bloodbath in Victoria in the federal election were utterly confounded, with the Liberals recording a statewide swing against them and the party all but certain to lose several seats. Late on Saturday night, according to the Australian Electoral Commission, Labor had won 23 of the state's 38 seats while the Coalition was at six – three held by the Nationals and three by the Liberals. Independents had three, with six still in doubt. The Liberals have seen a swing of nearly 2% away from them. The Liberals had campaigned hard in the state, running advertising tying Anthony Albanese to the long-serving and and poor-polling state Labor government, led by Jacinta Allan, in the hope of clawing back outer suburban seats such as Aston, Chisholm, Dunkley and McEwen, and gaining seats such as Bruce, Hawke and Gorton. Even senior members of Victorian Labor expected a swing away from the party of about 1.5%-2.5% – with some members of state caucus actively considering a leadership challenge against Allan if several seats were lost. But instead there has been a swing of about 1.8% towards the party, on top of the 54.8% two-party-preferred result in 2022, itself a high watermark. Labor is expected to hold Chisholm, Dunkley and Aston, as well as winning the seats of Deakin and Menzies from the Liberals. In Deakin, one of the most marginal seats going into the election, Labor's Matt Gregg is expected to defeat the Coalition housing spokesperson, Michael Sukkar, while in in Menzies, Labor's Gabriel Ng is on track to take the seat from the Liberal MP Keith Wolahan. Victorian Labor insiders claim the result in the eastern suburbs is a repudiation of the Coalition's election commitment to cut funding to the Suburban Rail Loop – one of the state government's flagship infrastructure projects, which runs through the three electorates. In Macnamara, which stretches across Melbourne's inner bayside suburbs, Labor's Josh Burns is expected retain the seat, defying expectations a result would take days, as it was among the tightest three-cornered contests in the country in 2022. About 10% of the electorate's population is Jewish, making it the second-largest Jewish electorate in the country. The community was angered by what it said was Labor's failure to stand firmly with Israel amid the war in Gaza, sparked by the Hamas attacks on 7 October 2023. Burns, one of a few Jewish MPs in federal parliament, also faced a relentless campaign from Advance Australia and J-United during the campaign. But there has been a 5% swing towards him. 'I honestly didn't think this night would happen. We had blue to the right and green to the left, but the red army turned up,' Burns told party faithful at Port Melbourne Bowling Club. 'We have had a lot thrown at us and the lesson is one where you have to be true to yourself and this party.' The Greens leader Adam Bandt suffered a 5.4% swing against him in his seat of Melbourne, leaving the seat in doubt on Saturday night. Bandt remained ahead on primary votes, but Liberal preferences were expected to flow to Labor. Bandt did not address the swing against him when speaking to supporters, but said the party was confident it would retain between one and four MPs in the lower house. He said he was confident the Greens would retain the Queensland seat of Ryan. The Greens were also behind in the seat of Wills late on Saturday night, despite a huge campaign mounted by the former state leader Samantha Ratnam. 'From the numbers we have tonight, we have had at least a 10% swing towards us,' Ratnam told the Greens election party in Melbourne. 'We still have a lot of counting to go – watch this space.' The Liberals' attempt to win back ground from the teals also looked set to fail, with Amelia Hamer in Kooyong and Tim Wilson in Goldstein both behind Monique Ryan and Zoe Daniel respectively. Speaking at Trades Hall, Allan said Victoria had yet again defied the polls. 'A lot of commentators and conservative politicians have built a career on kicking down on our state, our party and our unions – and every time we prove them wrong,' the premier said. 'The incredible results for Labor in our state aren't despite what's happening in Victoria, but because of what's happening here in Victoria.' Tony Barry, a former senior Liberal staffer now with the political consultancy RedBridge, blamed the Liberals' poor showing in Victoria on the state branch, which has been bitterly divided since the former leader John Pesutto expelled Moira Deeming from the party room in 2023. At the end of 2024 Deeming won her defamation action against Pesutto, who then lost the leadership of the party. She was promoted by the new leader, Brad Battin, as his 'representative to the western suburbs' days before the federal prepoll opened. 'The great problem for the Liberal party as a whole is to rebuild such a broken institution,' Barry said.
Yahoo
22-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
'Exit strategy' call amid doubt over rail loop benefits
Fresh doubt has been cast on the cost of a major infrastructure project that will take decades to complete as an assessment found its benefits had been "overstated". An Infrastructure Australia report on Melbourne's Suburban Rail Loop (SRL) urged the state government create an "exit strategy" in case the orbital train line cannot be delivered. It called on the Victoria government to release up-to-date costings as the $34.5 billion price tag for the first section of the line from Cheltenham to Box Hill, known as SRL East, was calculated in 2020 before construction costs soared. "Based on the information provided, we have low confidence in the cost estimate for SRL East, presenting a major risk to the SRL East project and the SRL Program as a whole," the report says. The proposed 90km orbital rail loop is intended to run from Cheltenham in Melbourne's southeast to Werribee in the outer west via the airport at Tullamarine. It's due to be completed in four stages over several decades. The Victorian government is relying on the Commonwealth to fund one third of SRL East and so far it has handed over $2.2 billion. The report found the economic benefits of the first two sections had been "overstated" and calls for more rigorous assessment to justify why the rail line is a priority for the state. The independent statutory body also urged the federal government to hold off committing more money until Victoria hands over further analysis, updated costings and financial documents including its funding strategy. Suburban Rail Loop Minister Harriet Shing said the state government was working with Infrastructure Australia but did not expressly commit to providing the requested information. She said the project was within the expected price band and the government stood by the loop after taking it to two state elections. "To be really clear, the Infrastructure Australia report is the basis upon which the recommendation occurred to release $2.2 billion (from the federal government)," Ms Shing told reporters. "As we deliver long-term projects an orbital rail loop around the city, we will see benefit, not just for the people who immediately access the benefits of living and working closer to rail." Opposition major projects spokesman Evan Mulholland described it as a "damning assessment" and urged the government to halt construction and review contracts immediately. "This is sobering reading, it's a blistering assessment of (Premier) Jacinta Allan's vanity project," he told reporters. "It obliterates the SRL business and investment case that was cooked up back in 2020."
