Wednesday, 21 June 2023

Department of Treasury and Finance

Budget papers 2023–24

Georgie CROZIER (Southern Metropolitan) (17:30): I would like to make a short statement – it will not be the first – on the 2023–24 Victorian budget. As we know, the budget had some absolute shockers in it, and there were many broken promises. But what Victorians are very concerned about is the increasing debt level of the Andrews Labor government. It is projected to be $171 billion in just a few years time, and in 10 years time the Parliamentary Budget Office is saying that it could be up to $300 billion. That is an extraordinary amount of money that Victorians are expected to pay down. The government in their budget papers have a lot of information, but they are not talking about what it actually will mean to the lives of every single Victorian. We know that it is a budget that is burdening every single Victorian because of that increasing debt.

There are more taxes and there are cuts. There are cuts across the budget. This government for years has spoken about not cutting budgets, and I have to say that the one budget statement that comes to mind is from last year when we pointed out the $2 billion cut in health, including $107 million in community health being cut. It was denied by the Premier, who said, ‘These are not cuts,’ and then this year, when the community health budget came out and there was a $100 million cut in it, the Premier came out and said, ‘This was identified in last year’s budget.’ You cannot believe a word this man says when it comes to good economic management.

In fact there are a lot of things you cannot believe. We have just gone through a debate today. In circumstances previously he supported legislation to keep people behind bars, and today for whatever reason the government did not support a very sensible, reasonable bill that would have put to rest so much concern for so many people. Nevertheless, I digress slightly. I want to get back to what I am talking about, which is the budget, and I will have, as I said, more to say on it.

This budget is premised on division and class warfare. We have seen that with the schools tax and the government just again voting against a very sensible motion to highlight these issues. Mr McCracken knows, as a former principal, the importance of education.

Joe McCracken: Teacher.

Georgie CROZIER: Teacher, beg your pardon. Dr Bach was a principal.

Melina Bath: Give him time.

Georgie CROZIER: Give him time; that is quite right. I am elevating you. Nevertheless, you have actually got experience in the field of education and you understand the importance of education, and the point is that so many children are now going to miss out because of this divisive schools tax and so many Victorian parents who want to have choice – they want to be able to send their kids to independent schools – are going to have to choose between what they can manage in their own households. The government does not seem to understand that. They are going after people who just want to have a fair go. This budget taxes aspiration and it targets people that least can afford it. Those that are extremely wealthy, those like the Premier’s mates when he is down at Portsea on the clifftop with the Foxes, this budget will never affect. But it is the middlemen, the middle Victorians, who are absolutely going to be smashed by this budget, and it is their children and their grandchildren who will be paying for this government’s appalling debt, where we are paying $10 million a day in interest repayments alone, rising to $22 million in just a few years time. That is the legacy of this Andrews Labor government. I will leave it there because I have much more to say on the 2023–24 budget.