In its latest budget, the Allan Labor government’s betrayal of regional Victoria is now complete.
On May 7 Ms Allan had the gall to issue a 1700-word media release trumpeting how her government’s budget will offset the cost-of-living crisis we are all facing.
In her own words: “The Victorian Budget 2024/25 is firmly focused on helping regional families, investing more than $2 billion to support the infrastructure, services and projects that matter to regional Victorians”.
Note that number.
It sounds like a lot of money. Two whole billion dollars. That’s a 2 followed by nine zeros – $2,000,000,000.
Regional Victorians are 25 per cent – give or take a small town or two – of the Victorian population.
So it makes mathematic, management and moral sense the rest of Victoria should only get $6,000,000,000.
A total of $8 billion – 75 per cent for Melbourne and 25 per cent for us.
Right?
Bullshit.
We get $2 billion; Melbourne gets $96 billion.
Regional Victorians make up a quarter of all Victorians but will be given barely 2 per cent of the budget spend on new initiatives in infrastructure and services.
How much does $2 billion really help regional Victoria when Melbourne gets $96 billion?
Nowhere near enough, I can assure you.
But for the moment, let’s accept the government needs to spend all that money in Melbourne to bribe, sorry, buy votes.
Instead let’s just look at the current budget overruns on major Melbourne projects – currently overrunning at around $40 billion (give or take a rail loop or two).
And then apply just those budget overruns to some of the key issues facing regional Victoria.
For example, there are 23,000km of freeways, highways and byways supposedly maintained by VicRoads. Assuming on current figures it costs $1 million per kilometre for a new road, it means every inch of those roads could be re-sheeted and it would cost just $23 billion.
Leaving us another $17 billion to spend on fixing the health system. Finding doctors, specialists, upgrading existing hospitals, building news ones, saving our local hospitals from being merged into regions and controlled by faceless people far away – just to save money and prop up this bankrupt-bound government.
Oh, and did I mention, there’s the small matter of the $25 million – and climbing – you and I are paying every day, 365 days a year, in interest on all this brilliant financial management by the Allan Labor government.
Just six weeks of that wasted money would give every local government authority in regional Victoria $25 million each to dedicate to all those smaller council owned and maintained roads.
And after those first six weeks of money for the roads, we could take the next six weeks of interest and turn our attention to education.
Where we could, every day, day after day, build a new school and childcare centre in town after town – and staff them. And still have plenty of spare change. Which we could perhaps use for a gym at each school, and a pool, and a whole lot more.
Every day, day after day.
Six weeks later and we could turn our attention to sporting facilities. I reckon we could build a new sporting complex in just about every town with a few teams looking for a home.
I am sure you are following me here – we could be doing so much, and, in the end, we are being given so little.
And now for another word from Premier Allan: “This is my first Budget as Premier, and I’m proud to say – it’s a Budget that’s all about helping regional families”.
“Many regional families are doing it tough right now. With this Budget we’re helping ease that pressure and give families one less thing to worry about.”
“We’ll always deliver for regional Victoria. This Budget continues our record of investing in regional Victoria and delivering more schools and better healthcare for families, closer to home.”
She said it, not me, and the figures prove she doesn’t mean a damn word of it.
Hang your head in shame Premier.
