Leader of the Opposition and Shadow Treasurer, Jess Wilson, has today launched the Victorian Liberals and Nationals' 10-year plan to secure Victoria's economic future.
The centrepiece of this plan is a commitment to achieve a cash surplus by 2032.
Only then will Victoria be raising more money than it spends, allowing for the retirement of debt and reduction in Victoria's $1 million an hour interest bill.
To support this commitment, our comprehensive plan implements responsible and disciplined measures to ease cost pressures for households and businesses and encourage economic growth. The plan includes:
- Prioritising the essential services and frontline workers Victorians rely on through an Essential Services Guarantee, and a hiring freeze of back-office roles.
- Improving household affordability by progressively increasing the land tax threshold to $300,000.
- Signalling Victoria is open for business by increasing the payroll tax threshold to $1.2 million by 2028-29, then reducing the metropolitan payroll tax rate to 4.8 per cent from 2030-31.
- Cleaning up the books by establishing a Charter of Budget Honesty and Real-Time Expenditure Tracker.
- Ending the $15 billion of Big Build corruption by establishing a Royal Commission and new construction sector watchdog.
- Scrapping Labor's divisive Treaty - saving taxpayers $1 billion.
- Removing Labor's emergency services levy and repealing taxes on schools, visits to the GP, short-stay accommodation and lifting the stamp duty free-threshold to $1 million for first home buyers.
Under Labor, net debt has increased tenfold, and Victoria will spend more on interest repayments on this record debt next year than on Victoria Police, Ambulance Victoria and all kindergarten services combined, with $1 billion still left over.
Victoria needs a new approach to managing our state's finances - one that is honest about the challenges we face and treats taxpayer's money with respect.
Leader of the Opposition and Shadow Treasurer, Jess Wilson, said: "Today, my team has launched a comprehensive plan to clean up the books, repair the budget and turn our economy around.
"After a decade of Labor, our state faces significant economic challenges and Victoria needs a new approach to managing the books.
"It won't be easy, but our plan outlines a disciplined and responsible pathway to a cash surplus which will allow us to repay the $200 billion debt burden Labor has left Victorians."
Shadow Minister for Finance, Bridget Vallence, said: "Labor's legacy of financial mismanagement and waste has put our credit rating and the essential services that Victorians rely on at risk.
"Victoria needs a fresh start with responsible economic management that will restore confidence and transform Victoria's economy, and will protect the essential services Victorians expect and deserve."
