The 2018 Victorian state budget is, at first glance, a good-news pre-election budget: the headline figures look healthy (there’s a net operating surplus, net debt remains below 6 per cent of Gross State Product, and Victoria retains its AAA credit rating); there’s more spending on skills, schools and hospitals; and there’s lots more spending on infrastructure. But the surplus is small, there are no substantial savings measures, and there’s been no attempt to reform taxes in these good times.
As Grattan Institute’s Budget Policy Program Director Danielle Wood says in this presentation to the Institute of Public Administration Australia’s post-budget breakfast briefing in Melbourne, the question remains: has the Andrews Government done enough for long-term budget sustainability?