Tuesday, 29 August 2023

Budget 2023–24

Brad ROWSWELL (Sandringham) (14:15): My question is to the Treasurer. According to Moody’s, Victoria’s total debt is predicted to hit a shocking $226 billion by 2026–27. Why did the government cover up the true level of debt in Victoria in the May state budget?

Members interjecting.

The SPEAKER: Order! The Assistant Treasurer will come to order.

Brad ROWSWELL: Why did the government cover up the true level of debt in Victoria in the May state budget, hiding the fact that the state is more broke than the budget stated?

Tim PALLAS (Werribee – Treasurer, Minister for Industrial Relations, Minister for Trade and Investment) (14:16): I do not know where to start. I suppose I have got to thank the member for Sandringham for the question, because it gives me the opportunity to school him in the basic principles of accounting – principles that have been effectively applied –

Members interjecting.

The SPEAKER: The Leader of the Opposition will come to order. The Premier will cease interjecting.

Tim PALLAS: The member for Hawthorn is the worst thing to happen to Hawthorn since Buddy went to Sydney.

Members interjecting.

The SPEAKER: Order! Members on my right will come to order.

James Newbury: On a point of order, Speaker, I would ask you to bring the Treasurer back to the question.

The SPEAKER: I ask the Treasurer to come back to the question.

Tim PALLAS: There are two measures, both of which are available and can be read in the budget. There is net debt, and there is gross debt. If you want to go to gross debt, go to budget paper 5. It is hidden away in budget paper 5. But let us look at net debt. Under the issues of net debt, what the state has been able –

John Pesutto interjected.

Tim PALLAS: Speaker, I seek protection from the caterwauling that is coming from the member for Hawthorn.

The SPEAKER: I have asked the Leader of the Opposition to cease interjecting several times.

John Pesutto: I apologise to the Treasurer. I’ll leave him alone.

The SPEAKER: Leader of the Opposition, I did not call you to make comment in the chamber.

Tim PALLAS: The member for Hawthorn has my standing acceptance of his apology, provided we have his standing continuing good behaviour. On the issue of the Moody’s announcement – such as it was, of course, coming out in July – basically what they were doing was effectively looking at the risk profile of any state. They said Victoria had an underlying strength to its economy compared to its peers. Let us remember that Victoria is travelling 10 per cent faster, on the last published data, than any other state in this nation. Let us not forget that we are also producing more jobs in not just percentage terms but absolute terms.

On the issue of debt, this government has been pursuing and producing a very clear fiscal strategy. That fiscal strategy has been meeting its measures of regard. Importantly, those opposite do not appreciate the difference between gross debt, which incorporates the debt incurred by organisations that are trading organisations of the state that have to service their own debt, and net debt, which is funded through the budget sector. The measures that we have applied are the same measures that those opposite applied each and every year that they were in government. Yes, we hid it by applying accounting standards authorised and approved by the Auditor-General.

Brad ROWSWELL (Sandringham) (14:20): By 2026–27 the interest Victorians will pay on Labor’s record state debt will increase to around $10 billion, more than the government will spend on ambulance services over the next four years. When will the Treasurer admit that Labor’s mismanagement is hurting Victorians by making it harder to get an ambulance?

Tim PALLAS (Werribee – Treasurer, Minister for Industrial Relations, Minister for Trade and Investment) (14:20): I thank the member for his question, but I will restate the point: this government has always prioritised the wellbeing of the Victorian people and Victorian businesses. We have used our budget throughout the trepidations of the pandemic to look after households and to ensure that they remain whole, and we set our priorities clear and simply: to do that and to continue to do that as a government. That is why the budget repair strategy that we have put in place, the economic growth strategy that we have put in place, is demonstrating exactly how strong the Victorian economy is. As a government we will continue the efforts to deal with the challenges that we confront with regard to debt, but let us be very clear that as a government the strategies we have put in place are working. We are the only government in the nation that have a fiscal strategy that we have been held to account for and demonstrated progress each and every year.