The Victorian Greens say that today's budget from Jacinta Allan's Labor Government has no long-term vision, and does nothing to fix the big problems Victorians are facing, while continuing to give special treatment to big corporations.
Under-funded schools, healthcare and public services receive very little in this Budget, while Labor continues to give handouts and concessions to property developers, gambling and fossil fuel corporations. And they've failed to invest appropriately to make our community more resilient to the ongoing fuel crisis, instead saying "government can't fix everything".
The Greens say governments can and should make life better for Victorians and take action to protect us from future challenges.
At a time when people are struggling with the cost of everything - rents, mortgages, groceries, bills - the budget could have been an opportunity to tax big corporations and ultra-wealthy to fund schools, health, housing, services and the things we all need, but instead Labor has chosen to:
- Give over $4.4 billion in tax breaks to property developers, land bankers, wealthy investors and owners of multiple homes.
- Hand $397 million in tax concessions to pokies operators, while gambling losses for the Victorian community are surging 22%.
- Pour an additional $344 million into demolishing Melbourne's public housing towers - pushing the total cost to over $2.5 billion for property developers to rip down public homes and replace them with private apartments.
- Leave countless schools and community health services without the funding they desperately need, with Victorian public schools still the lowest funded in the country.
As stated by Leader of the Victorian Greens, Ellen Sandell.
"This Budget shows yet again that Labor has no long-term vision, and they are doing nothing to fix the big problems that everyday people are facing. Meanwhile, their corporate mates continue to get kick backs"
"Under-funded schools, healthcare and public services receive very little in this Budget, while Labor continues to give handouts and concessions to property developers, gambling corporations and fossil fuels. It's a Budget that does nothing to fundamentally fix the big problems Victorians are facing, and does nothing to help us deal with future challenges."
"The Greens are the only party who have the guts to fundamentally change the system and make billionaires and big corporations pay their fair share, to put that money back into the public good, so that everyone can afford a home and the things we need to live a decent life."
