When Victoria’s budget is revealed tomorrow, it is expected to include a stunning sum to pay down the state’s multibillion-dollar COVID-19 lockdown debt.
The budget of Daniel Andrews’ administration will include a $31.5 billion “COVID-19 Debt Repayment Plan” to pay back emergency money borrowed during the height of the global financial crisis.
According to the plan, funding for 372 programmes that are about to expire, including ones for road repair, domestic violence, and disability support, will be reduced.
The Liberals are preparing for “an absolutely brutal budget,” according to Shadow Treasurer Brad Rowswell.
At a time when Victorians can least afford it, he added, “We fully expect Victoria’s tax take to increase.”
“You believe that the current situation for Victorians is difficult? The situation will only worsen.
Mary-Anne Thomas, the minister of health for Victoria, vehemently defended the government’s actions when questioned about the impending budget on Sunday.
She told the media, “We borrowed money to keep Victorians employed, to keep small businesses growing, and of course to preserve lives.
However, now is the right moment to start repaying the borrowed funds.
Premier Daniel Andrews has argued in the past that Victoria’s debt is so large and expensive because the Reserve Bank has raised the statutory cash rate 11 times in the last 12 months.
Earlier this month, Andrews claimed that state governments were instructed to “go and borrow” at a 2020 national cabinet meeting in order to avert a 25% unemployment rate.
He claimed that if he had been told otherwise, his administration would not have borrowed as much money at the time since “interest rates won’t be going up.”
