Victorian budget: Neil Mitchell quizzes Treasurer over what is and is not included
Victorian Treasurer Tim Pallas says the 2022-23 state budget, which he handed down on Wednesday, is “a budget that’s right for the times”.
Neil Mitchell quizzed the Treasurer on what is and is not included in the budget:
Victoria’s roads + the Transport Accident Commission
The state government will take $3 billion in dividends from the TAC over the next four years.
More than half of car registration fees go to the TAC.
Neil Mitchell queried whether the state government had considered cutting registration costs instead.
Mr Pallas says the TAC is “performing very strongly at the moment” but “now is not the time” to be slashing registration fees.
“We just did not have the financial capacity to do it at the moment. You’d appreciate we are running a $17 billion deficit at the moment.”
Mr Pallas says funding allocated for road upgrades and maintenance in the budget is “more than last year”.
On Victoria’s strained healthcare system
The budget includes more than $12 billion for Victoria’s strained healthcare system.
The government says as many as 7000 new healthcare workers will be hired under the plan.
Some $4.2 billion will be allocated to the ongoing pandemic response, while Ambulance Victoria will receive $124 million and ESTA will get $333 million.
Mr Pallas claims the troubles plaguing the state’s health system are “not an indication of anything other than delayed and increased community problems associated with the pandemic”.
On the second supervised injecting room
No money has been allocated to the second safe injecting room in the 2022-23 budget.
Mr Pallas says this is because the government is “still considering” a report from former police commissioner Ken Lay into the facility.
“We’re yet to make a final decision about location and as such any commitment to the resourcing and ongoing operation of a second facility is yet to be made,” he said.
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