Victoria Labor’s election promises mystery

Callum Godde | November 24, 2022

Victorian Labor has ruled out any new taxes to fund its election commitments but offered no exact timeline for the rollout of cash for more than $5 billion worth of initiatives.

Treasurer Tim Pallas released the party’s financial statement at the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation in Melbourne on Thursday, two days out from polling day.

It shows Labor now forecasts a budget surplus of $1 billion for the 2025/26 financial year – $135 million higher than in the pre-election budget update.

“Labor’s election commitments are fully funded without privatisation, increasing net debt or introducing new taxes,” Mr Pallas said.

He said Labor would pay for its 81 election promises by drawing down on offsets, including cracking down on tax avoidance and reducing labour hire and consultant costs.

All up, Labor’s election initiatives total $1.6b on jobs, $4b on health, $2b on transport, $934 million on education and $275m on fairness.

But for at least $5.86b worth, no precise timeline is on offer for the allocation of funding over the forward estimates to 2026/27, including in relation to plans to build to a new Queen Elizabeth Hospital at Maroondah in Melbourne’s outer east.

Mr Pallas said it took “substantial time” to work out the rollout of funding for major projects like hospitals.

“It won’t be done in five minutes but it will be done. The government will go about it diligently and consistently and it will get delivered,” he said.

Other measures without specific funding allocations for financial years include Labor’s $1b-plus hospitals plan for Melbourne’s north, $601 million earmarked for more regional train services and $44m set aside for extra PET scanners in hospitals.

Asked about the scanners, Mr Pallas said the lack of a funding timeline didn’t indicate the project wouldn’t be delivered in those years. 

“It essentially means we’ve identified the total cost and when it’s actually applied will be subject to continuing discussion,” he said.

“But we’ve allocated that cost within the forward estimates period so it will be spent in that timeframe. It’s essentially (that) how it’s rolled out in the forward estimates is yet to be determined.”

Victoria’s total expenditure is projected to increase 0.4 per cent a year over the forward estimates as COVID-19 pandemic-related spending tapers off, Mr Pallas said.

Labor’s financial statement does not include an updated net debt figure after the pre-election budget update forecast it to hit $165.9b by June 2026, more than NSW, Queensland and Tasmania combined.

Shadow Treasurer David Davis will release the coalition’s policy costings later on Thursday, with Liberal Leader Matthew Guy already flagging debt will be lower than under Labor.