Wednesday, 1 November 2023

Economy

Gaelle BROAD (Northern Victoria) (18:13): (564) My adjournment is to the Treasurer, and the action I seek is for the Treasurer to outline Labor’s plans to address the skyrocketing state debt. This year’s budget shows that Victoria’s state debt will continue to climb. Victoria has the highest debt of any state, approaching $171 billion, almost $70,000 per Victorian household. We are currently paying $15 million a day in interest just to service the debt. Premier Jacinta Allan’s decision to cancel the Commonwealth Games has already cost Victorian taxpayers $600 million, adding to the state’s staggering debt bill. This $15 million from the pockets of hardworking taxpayers should be channelled into vital public services, including housing, hospitals and infrastructure. Instead it is being squandered on interest payments and should be going towards crucial regional projects.

To provide some perspective, $15 million could be used to upgrade 15 kilometres of road every single day. A week’s worth of interest payments could construct 210 social and affordable homes valued at $500,000 each. Four days of interest payments could fund the creation of a new Swan Hill bridge. With two days of interest payments we could establish a public secondary college in Kilmore, a town with a population of 10,000 that lacks such a facility. In slightly over an hour of interest payments Lifeline Loddon Mallee in Bendigo could have their previously rejected emergency funding request granted. By lunchtime, just a few hours of interest payments, we could cover construction costs for a new swimming pool in Rochester, devastated by last year’s floods.

The scale of Victoria’s debt surpasses the debts of New South Wales, Queensland and Tasmania combined. As our state debt continues to climb, I call upon the Treasurer to outline the Labor government’s plans to curb the climbing debt, because regional Victorians are tired of missing out.