Yesterday
Energy funding chopped under weight of Victoria’s debt
Experts say this week’s state budget shows the Victorian government has prioritised major transport projects over the energy transition.
- Gus McCubbing
- Opinion
- Public service
Why headcount matters when it comes to budgets
As any finance chief will attest, the number of bums on seats tells you most of what you need to know about an organisation’s underlying size and costs.
- Tom Burton
This tree symbolises how Victoria became a financial basket case
After 300 years of withstanding the elements, the River Red Gum in Bulleen forced the North East Link to be redesigned as the cost of the project blows out by billions of dollars.
- Patrick Durkin
This Month
Kerry Stokes ‘cannot cop criticism’
Teal MP Zoe Daniel has accused billionaire Kerry Stokes of anti-democratic behaviour after Seven West Media doubled the cost of printing the AFR. Here’s how the day unfolded.
- Updated
- Gus McCubbing
Pallas vows to prove rating agencies wrong
Treasurer Tim Pallas has fended off warnings Victoria could face a third credit rating downgrade since 2020.
- Gus McCubbing and Patrick Durkin
Schools sweat on election funding promises as Victorian debt rises
Melbourne’s Hampton Primary School fears the Victorian government won’t follow through on a promise made on eve of the 2022 election.
- Gus McCubbing
- Opinion
- Opinion
Victoria cannot tax its way to prosperity
Victoria arguably has some of the most complex rules and highest property tax imposts in the country. Will it work?
- Matthew Cridland
- Updated
- Victorian Parliament
Ratings warning over Victoria’s $188b debt
Rating agencies have put the Victorian government on notice after it revealed state debt would climb to $188 billion, with a daily interest bill of $26 million.
- Updated
- Gus McCubbing and Patrick Durkin
- Opinion
- Tim Pallas
Labor dodges difficult debt decisions
Treasurer Tim Pallas has not delivered the “horror budget” he prepared the ground for, nor a clear path back from the state’s crippling debt levels.
- Patrick Durkin
Victoria adds $700m to home buyer scheme – and calls time on it
There were minimal housing policies in the Victorian budget, but the state government is hopeful of a pick-up in sales next year to boost its finances.
- Updated
- Michael Bleby
Size of Victorian government to be cut for first time in 15 years
Tight control over salaries and operating expenses will result in reduced average expenditure of 2.2 per cent over forward estimates.
- Tom Burton
Victorian budget winners and losers
There are no new taxes or levies for the first time in several years – although the state’s waste and fire levies are increasing – but the budget avoids many tough decisions save for a slowdown in infrastructure spending.
- Patrick Durkin
Victoria has become a poor state: economist Saul Eslake
The southern state’s high dependence on property and population growth has a fallout felt beyond its borders.
- Michael Bleby
Victoria open to tax breaks to boost home building
Premier Jacinta Allan says her Labor government is open to pulling every lever available to boost housing supply, after developers called for taxation tweaks to boost investment.
- Gus McCubbing
Allan flags budget handouts amid debt, inflation warnings
Premier Jacinta Allan vowed her government would not “put our heads in the sand” over a 20 per cent cost blowout in Victoria’s $80 billion project pipeline when the budget is handed down on Tuesday.
- Patrick Durkin
Housing focus as Pallas warns of horror Victorian budget
Economists warn that Victoria has no choice but to cut spending in next week’s budget, after slugging businesses and property investors last year.
- Gus McCubbing
- Opinion
- Melbourne house prices
Melbourne property market is due for a comeback
Oxford Economics predicts the median Melbourne house price will grow 21 per cent over the next three years, outpacing Sydney’s forecast 18 per cent expected growth.
- Sam Tamblyn
April
- Exclusive
- Electricity
Former Labor leader to chair Victoria’s SEC
Simon Corbell, a former ACT deputy chief minister, will chair Victoria’s revised State Electricity Commission, after its advisory board was disbanded.
- Ben Potter and Patrick Durkin
Why Melbourne’s housing crisis will get worse before its gets better
Victoria’s population is growing faster than any other state but as housing demand outpaces supply and wage growth, its economic prosperity is at risk.
- Gus McCubbing
Victoria has been targeting the same suburbs for 40 years
Nearly half of the Victorian government’s 10 suburbs slated for increased density have been targeted in multiple similar plans as far back as 1981.
- Gus McCubbing
