Victorian budget
Seeing red: Has Labor’s economic reckoning finally arrived?
Surrounded by debt, the Allan government finds itself backed into a financial and political corner.
- by Josh Gordon
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Opinion
Opinion
Pallas says Labor’s promises have been delayed. Many would say they’ve been broken
Parents whose children will never attend promised childcare or see promised school upgrades are unlikely to be satisfied by the treasurer’s postponement of election pledges.
- by Annika Smethurst
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Cancer
‘A crime against cancer knowledge’: World-class Victorian research suffers major budget blow
As cancer rates soar across Victoria, the state government has axed 75 per cent of the funding to the Victorian Comprehensive Cancer Centre Alliance.
- by Henrietta Cook and Aisha Dow
‘Bleakest budget’ for mental health didn’t fund promised new agency
Premier Jacinta Allan’s first budget failed to fund an overdue support service to be run by people with first-hand experience of ill-mental health.
- by Rachel Eddie and Broede Carmody
The three-minute budget: Everything you need to know
Find out what will affect you most in this year’s Victorian budget.
- by Broede Carmody
The school, transport and health projects in your area being delayed
Search to find the more than 100 big builds, programs and services being pushed back in your area to help the Victorian government’s bottom line.
- by Kieran Rooney
Editorial
Editorial
Victoria is driving towards a debt cliff. Here’s one way to hit the brakes
Projections that the state’s debt would rise from $135.9 billion this year to $187.8 billion by mid-2028 highlight a need for drastic action.
- The Age's View
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For subscribers
Sweeping hospital mergers on table after Victoria’s bad-news budget
Victoria’s 76 health services could be slashed to 12 in an efficiency-driven overhaul revealed as the government dropped a budget notable for soaring debt, higher taxes, stalled projects and abandoned promises.
- by Aisha Dow, Annika Smethurst and Kieran Rooney
Analysis
Analysis
Victoria the ‘basket case’ state: This debt isn’t like a household mortgage
Most home owners understand that if you are serious about getting your mortgage under control, you can’t keep borrowing more money to pay for other things.
- by Chip Le Grand
We asked Victorians what they thought of the budget. This is what they told us
It’s a tight budget with a few standouts for families, but Victorians still have plenty to say.
- by Najma Sambul, Lachlan Abbott, Caroline Schelle and Sherryn Groch
More than 100 projects delayed as blowouts hit bottom line
Delays will affect signature projects in education, health and housing as the government shields the budget from rising costs.
- by Kieran Rooney