Next month, the Victorian Treasurer will head to New York to speak with international credit rating agencies. Downgrades ahoy.
Victoria now takes seven cents on the dollar more than its fair population share of the federal GST allocation. The Victorian Government forecasts almost 10 per cent of state expenditure to be interest payments by 2029.
We need our second-biggest state, a major piston in the national engine, to fire for Australia to be prosperous and so my three Victorian teenagers are not saddled with intergenerational debt.
As our Victorian Executive Director Cath Evans said politely yesterday,
“Taxes have the industry in a chokehold, with a myriad of government fees, costs and charges that have continually increased and stifled investment…
“Since last year’s budget, we have [championed] an easing of the tax burden to promote investment, greater support for first homebuyers and feasibility solutions to increase supply.”
Spot on Cath.
This is a government that desperately needs non-government and often overseas investment to keep building the best parts of Victoria and to ensure the investable market for assets is liquid enough to attract scale investors.
As Cath tells us, taxes on foreign investment alone have cost Victoria 81,000 homes, a $93 billion addition to the economy and nearly 90,000 local jobs.
Ahead of the November 2026 state election we need:
A three-year freeze of foreign surcharges to build the assets Victorian needs
To scrap the supply killing windfall gains tax
To reduce the 43 per cent tax burden on the cost of every new home in Victoria, with a clear roadmap for tax reform and simplification – including the fire services levy, congestion charges, infrastructure charges and beyond.
Looking forward to discussing this with Victorian Treasurer in Q&A with me next Tuesday 27 May at the Sofitel in Melbourne – join us and get in quick.
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Next week: productivity in Queensland
Hat tip Ruth Palmer (and wonderful family teammates Chloe and Dallas) for a brilliant Darwin breakfast with NT Treasurer the Hon Bill Yan and Chief Minister the Hon Lia Finocchiaro to talk about their fiscally responsible budget.