The Hon. Beverly McArthur, Member for Western Victoria, Media Release, 23 May 2023

On 23 May 2023, the Premier Daniel Andrews said: “We’re doing everything we promised Victorians we’d do – and we’re not wasting a moment getting on with it”.

What he perhaps should have said was: “We promised some things – we even promised to govern for all Victorians – but we will deliver only some things, dump plenty of others, and govern for a few.”

For me there’s only one headline from this budget: Victoria is broke. It’s alarming. Every single day Victorians will fork out $22m in interest repayments alone, before we even start to pay back the still rising debt.

After every budget in the last Parliament I warned about reckless spending, Government expansion and poor project management – this is the budget where Labor have finally noticed.

Sadly, I think the worst is still to come. This budget holds as much water as Geelong’s promised new swimming pools will after the Commonwealth Games. Was that the advice from the Minister for Commonwealth Games Legacy?

Yes, it’s real. A Minister for legacy. The Minister should be put into bronze and mounted next to the Premier’s, for they will be great friends honouring the failings of the other.

The tax, rates and charges hikes are real, but despite the much hyped 4000 public service job cuts Victoria’s public sector wages bill will actually grow – from $35.3 billion in 2023-24 to $38.3 billion in 2026-27!

Instead of the cuts, this Government will build the bureaucracy by 59,000 in the Lazarus re-creation of the SEC.

What is being cut is health funding, down exactly $1bn from this year to next, following a $2bn cut just last year.

This from the same man who pre-election, and as recently as April, promised to recruit 17,000 nurses and midwives, but now when the votes are in, that number is just 10,000 nurses. Are there 7,000 midwives ready to be recruited?

This economic mismanagement was avoidable stupidity – but it is Victorians who will be paying for Daniel Andrews’ mistakes. 

The Treasurer boasts of increased revenues as if it’s a good thing. But that rise from $83bn this year to $89bn next year is $6bn taken from businesses, rates and taxpayers. This budget reveals Government revenue will hit $99.9bn by 2026/27!

The truth is, whatever Labor says, Victorians pay. Whether it’s big or small business, mum-and-dad investors, wage-earners or consumers – we are all paying for their mistakes. 

We knew about the business wrecking WorkCover jack-up, but rent hikes caused by slugging landlords, rates rises and increased school fees can only cut the legs off any economic recovery.

And we now see what a Daniel Andrews promise to regional Victoria looks like. The budget papers are clear – the Geelong Fast Rail is stuck in the non-existent station, with no spending committed in this budget period, and no completion date. 

The only thing ahead of schedule is the axing of Victoria’s Timber Industry, with the job-destroying foreign-import-promoting ban on native timber brought forward from 2030 to 2024, to appease inner-city environmentalists with no nuanced understanding of the industry.  

A similar level of ignorance or lack of care will see regional roads suffer too: with a drop from $702.2 million to just $441.6 million in the last year, funding has been cut by 45 per cent since 2020.

Regional development suffers a similar slash and burn, halved from $211 million to $106 million, and agriculture sees a cut of more than a third, from $687.3 million to $454.8 million.

The only regional issue this Labor Government is truly addressing is the workforce shortage. Cancelled infrastructure projects, heavy business levies and wallet-busting tax, rates and charges rises will trash our economy – there’s no workforce shortage if there’s no jobs at all.

And while it took this Government more than 500 days to re-open one of Ballarat’s busiest streets after a train crashed through heritage level crossing barriers, the ultimate repairs and upgrade of the crossing are still not done, and in this budget, pushed back until the end of the financial year.

It is hard to believe such simple tasks can be so dreadfully handled.

This budget is a perfect snapshot of Labor Government. On the outside we get outrageous spin, but look under the hood and the figures reveal a state riddled by debt, plagued by poor management, saddled by taxes and facing a stagnant future. 

Joan Kirner’s failed Government would love this budget because it makes her financial disaster look respectable by comparison.

They even built, and named, a hospital after her.

Given Daniel Andrews has surpassed her failings by tens of billions, what should be named in his honour?