Thursday, 30 July 2026

 Jaclyn SYMES (Northern Victoria – Treasurer, Minister for Industrial Relations, Minister for Development Victoria and Precincts) (14:12): This is a good opportunity to continue on the conversation that I started with Mrs McArthur, because I want to use the opportunity today to talk about the Labor government’s strong financial management. Just this week, as I indicated, S&P released their assessment of Victoria’s finances, and they have found that we have done what we said we would and that our fiscal position is stable. They said that S&P:

… view Victoria’s financial management practices as strong in a global context …

And:

Victoria’s economy is wealthy, well-diversified and fundamentally sound.

They could only come to that conclusion because of the disciplined and measured fiscal strategy that we have implemented – a fiscal strategy that means we have delivered the first operating surplus in seven years and that we will remain in surplus over the forwards. It is a position that is unique among our other state peers, because Moody’s acknowledged it as relatively strong compared with many east coast peers which are in operating deficits. We have achieved this while delivering cost-of-living relief to everyday Victorians without cutting the essential services that every Victorian relies on. And we have done it while collecting less revenue per capita compared to any other state in the nation.

But some in the community are recklessly advocating that we slash our revenue and blow a $40 billion hole in the budget whilst dismantling the infrastructure pipeline that Victorians need. This means no ability to afford new roads or rail, no upgrades to hospitals or schools, no new buses, no new trains, no new fire trucks and tens of thousands of workers sacked. There is a cost to this, a cost to the economy, to business and to workers and a cost to our future. That is why only a re-elected Labor government can be trusted to deliver the fiscal stability we need while providing the essential services that everyday Victorians rely on.