New treasurer, new(ish) premier, same old story. Jaclyn Symes’ first budget repeated this government’s previous inaction on its rising debt, forecast to reach $188 billion by June 2028. The following year, debt is forecast to reach $194 billion, 24.9 per cent of gross state product. This was Groundhog Day, without the laughs.

The budget again reprised the government’s lack of enthusiasm for significant reform, even in the face of its significant challenges. Once more, too, Premier Jacinta Allan has stuck to an increasingly Pollyanna approach to infrastructure spending.

The mantra of both the premier and Symes was that they were “focused on what matters most”. Given the state’s massive and still-growing debt, Victorians might have expected that is where the focus would sit. Not at all.

What mattered most to Allan and Symes, the headline act, was the surplus. In 2025-26, the government is expecting to deliver an operating surplus of $600 million, about $1 billion less than it forecast six months ago. This is projected to rise each year of the forward estimates to $6.2 billion, $7.9........

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