Hansard debates

Mrs McARTHUR (Western Victoria) (17:46): I rise to speak on the Appropriation (2020–2021) Bill 2020. In his budget speech the Treasurer told the other place that, and I quote:

… we are borrowing to keep Victoria’s economy and livelihoods afloat.

Net debt will reach $87 billion by the end of this financial year and will grow to $155 billion by June 2024. The Treasurer argues that this colossal debt is necessary to salvage the economy which has been obliterated by business-destroying lockdowns amidst Labor’s second wave—a second wave for which Labor are totally responsible because of their failure in hotel quarantine. But no-one it seems will accept responsibility for that debacle. Understandably, significant public expenditure would go towards building infrastructure. The problem is, as many other speakers have said, this government cannot manage a single project on time or on budget.

I do wonder, however, why this bill entails substantial increases in the budgets of every government department. Does the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning seriously require a 29 per cent budget increase? I would love to hear the Treasurer explain how more money spent by DELWP agency Parks Victoria on reintroducing dingoes into the Grampians National Park, shooting deer from helicopters and getting in the way of fuel reductions to prevent catastrophic bushfires, rock climbing or roadside grazing somehow provides vital economic stimulus. They just cannot possibly need that amount of money. Is the Department of Premier and Cabinet, for example, going to single-handedly save us from economic catastrophe now that they have a 32 per cent budget increase? However, when scrutiny of government is needed now more than ever before, funds are being deprived—indeed starved—from our important oversight agencies, like IBAC. It is this dishonesty by the Treasurer that is most troubling. The reality is that the government is using the pandemic as a cover for bloating the budgets of every bureaucracy. And future generations of Victorians will bear the brunt of it—a cruel legacy for our children and their children.

The government had an opportunity in this budget to invest in rural and regional Victoria. Road and rail infrastructure could have been significantly funded, enabling vital industries to grow and underpin the state’s economic recovery. Instead only $50 million of the $250 million required for the Murray Basin rail project was provided. And many other road and rail projects go unfunded. This is enabling infrastructure vital to improve productivity in the primary industry sector.

Regional Victoria was devastated by fires last summer and now finds itself a victim of a belligerent communist dictatorship’s trade restrictions, but the government’s focus is where it always is—inside the tram tracks of Melbourne. Much of the investment that was announced for regional Victoria turns out to be a sham. Warrnambool Base Hospital was promised $384 million for a redevelopment but will only see $3.3 million this year, $23.7 million next year and $58 million the year after that. The government even boasted prior to the budget of their long-awaited decision to invest $75 million to build a new Melton hospital in my electorate, but as it turns out the Treasurer will only provide $100 000 in this budget for the hospital. Most of the money will not arrive until after the next election so they can head to the polls and recycle an already announced promise to try and save, in this instance, the member for Melton or, I understand, maybe a new candidate for that seat after their failure to stop the dumping of toxic soil in the electorate of Melton.

So where did the money go in this budget? The Department of Jobs, Precincts and Regions had their budget more than doubled, with an increase of $1.3 billion. It is a big number but vague on details. The department lists on its website as the first and largest item of expenditure that it will undertake a $1.46 billion expenditure for the first phase of the Melbourne arts precinct transformation. Is this seriously the most pressing issue facing the state? Just $300 million was announced to fix regional roads, but apparently nearly $1.5 billion is needed for cultural infrastructure in the CBD. Perhaps in a time of great prosperity and long-term stability it could be more justifiable, but we are on the cusp of an economic crisis only saved by incredibly low interest rates. Wait till we get back to the Keating period of 22 per cent interest rates that devastated so many people. We need enabling infrastructure that will allow industries to enhance their productive capacity in the regions, not buildings and art inside the tram tracks that will be easy on the eye. If this expenditure explains the enormous increase in the Department of Jobs, Precincts and Regions budget in this bill, then there are serious concerns. Of course this is the department that was responsible for the initial hotel quarantine welcome packs et cetera; that is what Global Victoria were responsible for. Maybe this is just helping them fix up the mess that they created at that time.

The government has also announced a $619 million investment in Jobs for Victoria, which reportedly is a six-month wage subsidy for 10 000 Victorians. That works out to be $61 900 per worker for six months, annualising to a salary of nearly $124 000. Is this a wage subsidy or is it a wage substitute? Further, it is a textbook example of government giving with one hand and taking with the other. Businesses are forced to pay significant payroll tax on wages for their employees, which will be funnelled into consolidated revenue, distributed into the pockets of inefficient bureaucracies and bureaucrats and then provided back into the hands of businesses—all at enormous cost. The churning of taxpayer dollars should always be avoided, but a Labor government loves to churn taxpayer dollars. Rather than providing payroll tax credits as this government has announced, they could have simply reduced or even abolished the tax totally—this terrible tax, which is a tax on jobs—and there might not have been a need for such extraordinary expenditure.

As others have said, if you tax those that create the wealth and create jobs, you actually are not providing an efficient way of expanding the economy and expanding job opportunities for many. But this bill is emblematic of Labor’s economic mismanagement, their lack of concern for future generations of Victorians and their neglect of regional Victoria. This state will be paying the price of Labor’s second wave for decades to come.

Following speeches incorporated pursuant to order of Council of 15 September: