Spend now, pay later: State budget has shiny offerings for voters, but the cupboard is bare

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There is a certain political inertia that surrounds budgets in an election year: whatever may be said about the benefits of fiscal prudence, governments seeking re-election are always eyeing shinier offerings to put before voters.

Over the past month, we have seen handouts from the Allan government aimed at cost-of-living pressures, from $750 million for a 20 per cent refund on car registrations to $432 million to extend free public transport until the end of May and introduce half-price fares for the rest of 2026.

Another $100 million has been put towards upgrading bus routes across Melbourne and regional Victoria, $673 million towards 25 new X’Trapolis 2.0 trains and $77.5 million has been earmarked for extra services. More than $760 million has been pledged for new or expanded schools, with another $294 million for upgrades of existing facilities. An extra $1.6 billion for health services and hospitals has also been unveiled by Treasurer Jaclyn Symes.

This is small change though compared with our massive investment in capital works and the state’s associated net debt. The latter figure, massaged over with forward........

© The Age