Victorian budget
Editorial
Victorian Parliament
Victorians are deserting Labor and its own budget contains the reason
The state’s surging debt and the government’s shelved promises laid out in this month’s budget have sent support for Labor to a fresh, and deep, low.
- The Age's View
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Labor’s secret $75.7b war chest raises budget transparency fears
The Allan government has squirrelled away billions of dollars for future policy announcements while Victoria lags in deficit.
- by Josh Gordon
Editorial
Hospitals
A promise no one asked for and cuts no one wants to see
The state government owes it to Victorians to be up front about its plans for the health system.
- The Age's View
Victoria’s hospitals are driving up costs by competing against each other
Health Minister Mary-Anne Thomas has flagged the state is considering amalgamating Victoria’s 76 health services because they are spending money competing against each other.
- by Broede Carmody, Kieran Rooney and Aisha Dow
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Healthcare
Hospitals put on notice: No bailouts if budgets blow out
The Allan government’s tough talk has again stoked fears that Victoria’s hospital funding shake-up will lead to amalgamations and erode patient care.
- by Broede Carmody, Aisha Dow, Kieran Rooney and Annika Smethurst
The $600 million economic shock buried in the state budget papers
The state government’s budget predictions hinge on a consumer spending splurge that may never materialise.
- by Josh Gordon
Editorial
Opinion
State’s finances tied to a runaway debt train of government’s own design
Victoria is the financially weakest state in the federation. It didn’t have to be this way.
- The Age's View
Seeing red: Has Labor’s economic reckoning finally arrived?
Surrounded by debt, the Allan government finds itself backed into a financial and political corner.
- by Josh Gordon
Opinion
Opinion
Pallas says Labor’s promises have been delayed. Many would say they’ve been broken
Parents whose children will never attend promised childcare or see promised school upgrades are unlikely to be satisfied by the treasurer’s postponement of election pledges.
- by Annika Smethurst
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Cancer
‘A crime against cancer knowledge’: World-class Victorian research suffers major budget blow
As cancer rates soar across Victoria, the state government has axed 75 per cent of the funding to the Victorian Comprehensive Cancer Centre Alliance.
- by Henrietta Cook and Aisha Dow
‘Bleakest budget’ for mental health didn’t fund promised new agency
Premier Jacinta Allan’s first budget failed to fund an overdue support service to be run by people with first-hand experience of ill-mental health.
- by Rachel Eddie and Broede Carmody