Another Labor budget of lies, debt and decline

A new Labor treasurer, but the same old Labor spin from this tired Labor government.

This was the eleventh budget from this government and, true to form, it is a deceitful, reckless and irresponsible budget that will leave Victorian families worse off, services underfunded and our state drowning in debt.

Victoria’s debt is now set to blow out to $194 billion by 2028-29.

The sheer amount of debt is scary.

But as a father of two young children, this scares me even more.

Because it won’t just be my generation that is saddled with paying off Labor’s mountain of debt. It will be my children and yours – long into the future – who will continue to be burdened by the waste, recklessness and debt that has come to define this Labor Government.

At $10 billion every year, by 2028-29, $28.9 million in interest will be paid every single day by Victorians.

That’s $1.2 million every hour.

Budgets are about choices, and the choices a government makes has implications.

Every dollar spent on servicing the massive debt that Labor has built up over the last decade is a dollar that is not spent on the essential services that every Victorian relies upon.

That’s why we are seeing crumbling roads, record hospital waitlists and Labor cutting $2.4 billion from our public schools. Victorians are paying more and getting less.

Because Labor have blown the budget.

Responsible government is about choices.

Under Labor worthwhile expenditure gets put to the back of the queue because they haven’t been responsible for over ten years in government.

Labor promised to hold spending steady at 0.2 per cent growth. Instead, they blew the budget by $8.2 billion in just 12 months. That’s a 41-fold increase in just a year. Since their election in 2014 Labor infrastructure blowouts have totalled $48 billion.

How can any Victorian trust this government with a track record like that?

In a cost-of-living crisis, we need a government that puts responsible spending at the centre of their agenda, and one that guarantees all Victorians can access safe roads, essential health care and well-funded schools.

That’s what the Liberals and Nationals stand for, and it is what the Liberals and Nationals will deliver.

After 10 long years of Labor waste, it’s also what Victoria desperately needs.

Evan Mulholland MP is the Liberal Member for Northern Metropolitan Region and Shadow Minister for Major Projects. •