Tuesday, 20 May 2025

Economic policy

James NEWBURY (Brighton) (12:29): My question is to the Premier. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, Victoria’s gross state product fell by 1.2 per cent per capita last year. Premier, why is Victoria in a per capita recession under this government?

Jacinta ALLAN (Bendigo East – Premier) (12:30): I thank the member for Brighton for the preview of his budget reply speech. If this is the kind of quality we are being dished up, bring back the member for Sandringham. The member for Brighton is not correct, and if he wants to talk about ABS statistics, let me share some statistics with him. In Victoria we are leading the nation for building, completing and approving more homes than any other state. That is a hot tip; you can include that, member for Brighton, in your budget reply. I will let you have that one.

The SPEAKER: Through the Chair, Premier.

Jacinta ALLAN: Sorry, Speaker. We will let you have the one that talks about how business investment in Victoria is growing more than in any other state.

James Newbury: On a point of order, Speaker, on relevance, why are we in a per capita recession under a Labor government? Why?

The SPEAKER: The Premier was being relevant.

Jacinta ALLAN: I thought I saw on telly on Sunday night the member for Brighton explaining the budget papers to the Leader of the Opposition. Perhaps we need to offer the member for Brighton a briefing from our Treasury officials, with comments like that. We have worked hard making responsible decisions that are about delivering an operating surplus, that are about delivering on our fiscal strategy and investing in those frontline services that working people and families rely on, whilst also at the same time delivering real cost-of-living support for families right now. Free public transport for every kid everywhere every day is going to save families hundreds if not thousands of dollars a year, and we can only do that because we built the public transport network that we have today – the train lines, the tram services, the bus services. You can only deliver free public transport for kids, you can only deliver free public transport for seniors on weekends, if you have invested in your public transport network. That is what this budget is about.

We appreciate that those opposite will run their narrative, which is false. But not only that, it is a narrative that exposes the truth behind every single Liberal: they will cut. They have done it before, they will do it again. If you would like a contemporary example, Speaker – I know you are looking for me to provide you with a contemporary example – the Leader of the Opposition supports cutting funding to Sunshine station, which would deliver airport rail and which would deliver services to the west. We will invest in frontline services. We will provide real cost-of-living support and deliver a budget that sets up our state for the future.

James NEWBURY (Brighton) (12:33): Can the Premier confirm that gross state product per capita going backwards is a direct breach of the government’s own fiscal strategy to restore economic growth?

Members interjecting.

Jacinta ALLAN (Bendigo East – Premier) (12:34): I heard the Minister for Finance saying that he would provide a briefing to the member for Brighton. I am sure he would be delighted to provide a briefing to the member for Brighton on today’s state budget – a budget that delivers the fiscal strategy, delivers an operating surplus, delivers $11 billion of additional investment in our health and hospital system and delivers on setting our state up for the future. And when you are setting our state up for the future and having and supporting a strong and growing economy, we are also investing in that. I am not going to reveal that right now for the member for Brighton. The Treasurer will have more to say about that in just a few moments. But we are backing a growing economy, because do you know what that means? It means increasing jobs. It is more jobs, and behind every job, behind every one of those ABS statistics, is a worker. And behind every single one of those workers is a family that is relying on that pay packet coming home, and that is exactly who we are backing with this budget.