In her Victorian budget debut on Tuesday, May 21, titled Focused on What Matters Most, Treasurer Jaclyn Symes dug into the state coffers for a $2.3 billion cost-of-living package.
Another round of the power saving bonus will be rolled out in August at a cost of $50 million but it is limited to a $100 discount for concession card holders.
An extra 27,000 rebates will be handed out for home owners to install electric heat pumps and solar hot water and solar hot water systems, and $18 million set aside for pharmacists to treat more Victorians without a trip to the doctor.
The package includes $1.3 billion to help families and kids at school and kinder and TAFE students, including forging ahead with the state's transition to free kinder.
The big-ticket item — $320 million in free public transport for children under 18 every day and seniors over 60 on weekends from January 1 — was unveiled in the lead-up to budget day.
Premier Jacinta Allan has called getting millennials into homes the fight of her life but there wasn't fresh housing help beyond $61 million to reduce stamp duty for off-the-plan apartments, units and townhouses for another 12 months.
Ms Symes described the budget as “responsible”, delivering on the government’s fiscal plan and providing real help with cost of living.
“This is support you can feel — at the kitchen table, at the school gate, at the train station,” she was set to tell parliament.
Net debt projections came in at $194 billion by mid-2029, with interest payments to service it rising to $29 million a day by that point.
Victoria’s debt as a share of the economy is expected to peak at 25.2 per cent in 2026/27 before falling ever so slightly.
Ms Symes will travel to the United States in coming weeks to meet with credit rating agencies after they called for the state to demonstrate “fiscal discipline”.
The state was gifted an extra $3.7 billion in GST revenue from the Commonwealth Grants Commission for 2025-26, $1.5 billion higher than forecast.
Ms Symes said the government decided to deliver a smaller forecast operating surplus next financial year to fund more cost-of-living measures and service delivery, including a record $31 billion for health.
The budget does not contain an exact number of job losses stemming from a review, led by Helen Silver, of the Victorian public service.
But it banks on $3.3 billion in savings from ceasing and redesigning programs, reducing duplication and cutting about 1200 full-time equivalent positions.
“Redundancies will be to come but they’ll not be as high as the ultimate number,” Ms Symes said.
More savings will follow after Ms Silver’s final report is handed to the government in June.
“What I found pretty compelling in Helen’s initial work was Victoria has over 500 entities and 3400 public boards and committees,” Ms Symes said.
“You can’t tell me there’s not some fat in there.”
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