A Billion Dollar Surplus For All Victorians
A re-elected Andrews Labor Government will deliver a billion-dollar surplus in the next term, with Labor’s Financial Statement 2022 today confirming all of our election promises are fully-funded and fully-costed.
Labor is delivering the schools, hospitals and transport Victorians need, creating hundreds of thousands of jobs and growing our economy.
We’ve already removed 67 level crossings, increased our health workforce by 26,000 people and used our balance sheet to help Victorian families and businesses through the pandemic – laying the foundations for massive economic growth across the state. And it’s a plan that’s working.
We’ve created nearly 600,000 jobs since we were elected, with the unemployment rate sitting at 3.6 per cent – giving more Victorians the security and dignity of work.
Victoria’s economy grew by 5.6 per cent in 2021-22 – the fastest in the nation and more than 50 per cent faster than the national average.
But we’ll do more. With increasing cost of living pressures, we know how important it is to keep investing in the projects that will create the security of a well-paid job, while boosting our economy.
And we’ll do it all while delivering a billion-dollar surplus – more than $100 million higher than previously forecast.
We will train and hire an extra 24,000 healthcare workers. We’ll create thousands of jobs through the removal of 110 level crossings, construction of the Suburban Rail Loop and 100 new schools.
And we’ll drive down power bills with government-owned renewable energy, bringing back the SEC and supporting the creation of 59,000 jobs.
Labor’s Financial Statement 2022 shows we’ll fund all our investments while delivering a return to surplus above PEBU forecasts, setting us up to continue driving the economy forward for the next four years.
The figures released today show:
We remain on track to deliver a surplus in 2025-26
The surplus is now projected to be more than $1 billion – a $135 million improvement on the estimate in Pre-Election Budget Update (PEBU)
All our election commitments are fully-funded, without any new taxes or increasing net debt – or the callous cuts of Matthew Guy’s Liberals.
Our operating result will be improved each year compared with the PEBU
We’re investing in the infrastructure Victorians need, with $8.4 billion worth of asset investment announced since the Victorian Economic and Fiscal Update (VEFU) – including more than $4 billion for seven hospitals and more than $2 billion to build more trains and services and deliver better roads.
Our Big Build helped state and local government investment grow by 7.8 per cent – and our investments will mean Victoria’s economy keeps powering ahead, forecast to grow by 3 per cent in 2022-23.
It’s part of our clear plan for recovery from the global pandemic – growing our economy, getting our state back to surplus and stabilising debt levels, creating thousands of Victorian jobs in the process.
The figures come on the same day that Victoria has taken out top spot in Infrastructure Partnership Australia’s Budget Monitor rankings – with an $85.3 billion four-year allocation to infrastructure, 22.7 per cent of the state’s total general government expenditure.
Our allocation is comfortably above New South Wales, currently sitting in second place at 17.9 per cent.
It’s in stark contrast to Matthew Guy’s Liberals, who are promising to slash the Big Build and the thousands of jobs that go with it – at a time when our economy needs growth, not the Liberal Party’s savage cuts and closures.
While Matthew Guy’s Liberals want to try to cut and close and call it good management, we’re proud to be investing in the projects and the people that will grow our economy.
All Labor election commitments have been independently costed by the Department of Treasury and finance.
Quotes attributable to Treasurer Tim Pallas
“We’re creating thousands of jobs, putting power back in the hands of Victorians and investing in the schools, hospitals and transport Victorians deserve – all while returning to surplus of more than $1 billion.”
“Our election promises are fully-funded, providing a massive boost to the economy without privatising, increasing net debt or introducing new taxes.”
“Matthew Guy’s Liberals’ plan for cuts and closures would not only hurt Victorians’ jobs and livelihoods – it would put our state's entire economic recovery at risk.”