The Nationals leader and Member for Murray Plains, Peter Walsh, says the Allan Labor government’s looting of billions of dollars in taxpayer money set aside for emergencies, is “the final nail in the coffin of this government’s total failure to manage the economy”.
And Mr Walsh says coffin is appropriate because as well as rifling funds not meant to cover its out-of-control spending, Premier Allan has even descended to a de facto death tax to try and find more money to waste on its Big Bill black holes in Melbourne.
“The Allan Labor government isn’t satisfied making you live in Australia’s most taxed state – the Premier is now following you into your grave for one last cash grab,” Mr Walsh says.
“Widespread media reports at the weekend show a historic fund originally established to meet departments’ urgent spending requests is being used as a secret slush fund by Premier Allan and her incompetent cabinet,” he says.
“The Victorian Auditor-General says the reserve is for use in events such as the pandemic. But we can now see it is being used almost as a credit card by the Premier.
“Under the guise of a Treasurer’s advance, which cannot be scrutinised by the Parliament, billions of dollars are being siphoned from this emergency safety net, with more than $5 billion spent on infrastructure in the past financial year – including $1.3 billion for the Suburban Rail Loop.
“Before Labor came to office in 2014, the Coalition accessed just $364.6m in Treasurer Advance funds in its final year in office.”
Mr Walsh says Victorians have been rocked by this tax obsessed government – from its land tax sparking a massive sell-off of investment homes, further smashing the rental market, to its probate charges introduced as a death tax by stealth.
And he says people need to understand the full implication of that new tax.
“For example, if you own a $1 million property, with a $650,000 mortgage, Jacinta Allan doesn’t care. Your charges will be on the total value, not the individual’s equity at their time of death,” he explains.
“This staggering debt, which is now growing even faster than the nightmare scenario we thought we were facing, will be with us for generations and dead or alive, Jacinta Allan will bleed you dry to pay for her pipedreams and to keep funneling money to her CFMEU allies, whose corruption accounts for billions of dollars in Big Bill project overruns.
“It’s fast reaching the point where Victorians can’t even afford to die.”