Tuesday, 5 May 2026

 Jacinta ALLAN (Bendigo East – Premier) (12:35): Budgets are about choices and priorities. They show what governments value, what we fund, what we build and what we are prepared to protect. But more than that, they demonstrate what a government stands for, and in this budget our Labor government has made a very clear choice: to manage the economy responsibly and use that position to help people, to deliver a surplus without cutting into the services that families rely on, to bring down debt as a share of the economy, but still investing – you have got to keep investing in the future of this great state – and also to deliver immediate and real cost-of-living help for families at a time we know they need it more than ever before. This is possible because we have grown the economy faster than any other state. Business investment has grown faster than anywhere in the country, and there are 123,000 more businesses today than there were six years ago. We have approved and built more homes than any other state and created more than 300,000 jobs in just the last three years alone, the highest percentage growth of any state.

We acknowledge that Victoria is not immune from global pressures. No state is. But because we have built a strong, resilient economy we are better placed to face into those pressures, and importantly, because we have made it a priority, we are well placed to help families through them as well. Of course we know there is another way: cut hard, cut fast, cut schools, cut hospitals, cut costs and support for families. That is what those opposite would do if they were given the chance. That is not responsible. Our Labor government has made a choice: to back families and the services they rely on.