Victorian budget as it happened: Treasurer announces budget surplus alongside cost-of-living measures; Battin criticises Allan government’s fire services ‘tax grab’

Thank you for following our live coverage today.

To recap, here’s our main takeaways:

• Treasurer Jaclyn Symes’s first state budget revealed a $600 million operating surplus – the first since the pandemic – and was centred on modest cost-of-living measures, including free public transport for kids.

• But Victoria’s debt will still cost taxpayers $36 billion over the next four years in interest – more than the projected cost of the entire first stage of the Suburban Rail Loop.

• The state government plans to save $3.3 billion over the forward estimates – including cuts to 1200 full-time public service positions – but Victoria’s net debt is still projected to rise to $194 billion.

• Hospitals across Victoria will receive an extra $9.3 billion to cover operational costs over the next four years as the Allan government seeks to avoid another damaging feud with the sector.

• The trouble-plagued rollout of the new myki ticketing system to allow travellers to tap on with bank cards and smartphones has suffered a $136.7 million cost blowout and been delayed by up to 18 months.

• Victoria Police will have to rein in spending despite the state government’s law and order push and a $779 million investment to fund prisons and create new beds.

• Major developments in Arden and Fishermans Bend are still in question, and despite the ongoing housing crisis, only $407 million has been allocated to housing in this year’s budget.

Thanks for your company on this rolling blog.

Keep an eye out for more standalone stories from our reporters in coming days and hours as they wade through pages of a budget papers.

But this is where we will end our blow-by-blow coverage for today.

Goodnight.

Liam Walsh, 29, and Rosalina Prasetio, 31, got married last year, run a successful mental health and disability support service, and now want to have kids. But the Frankston couple face one last barrier: they don’t own a home to raise children in.

Liam had mixed feelings after reading about the state budget on Tuesday afternoon. He liked the budget surplus, but questioned the reliance on private developers to deliver housing.

“I understand they’re trying to make the conditions for it, but … I just don’t really feel like we can rely on the private sector to get things done,” he said.

He believed a $12 million spend to “unlock” greenfields developments in Melbourne’s outer suburbs was “a drop in the ocean” and lamented development precincts like Fishermen’s Bend had stalled.

Victoria’s debt will cost taxpayers $36 billion over the next four years in interest – more than the projected cost of the entire first stage of the Suburban Rail Loop.

At the same time, government spending will add an average of $9.6 billion a year to the state’s mounting debt pile.

While the state has passed the peak of its Big Build infrastructure splurge, with the long-awaited Metro Tunnel and West Gate Tunnel projects both expected to open by the end of this year, the 2025-26 budget papers reveal the government has a whopping $213 billion in capital projects in the works.

To pay for this and the bill still outstanding from Victoria’s COVID-era health and stimulus spending, government debt is forecast to reach $155.5 billion by the end of the current financial year, $167.6 billion by June 30 next year and $194 billion by 2028-29.

Read more here.

Victoria Police will have to rein in spending despite the government’s law-and-order push and a $779 million investment to fund prisons and create new beds.

The government splashed $1.6 billion on new crime and justice initiatives in the 2025-26 budget, compared with the $535 million in new funding allocated last year.

Overall, the government anticipates crime and justice spending to increase by 6 per cent (from last year’s budget) to $10.2 billion.

But Victoria Police’s budget to deliver services has been cut to $4.5 billion, compared with the $4.55 billion it expects to spend this financial year. The budget has set aside $2.8 million in new funding next financial year for police recruitment campaigns, $2.6 million in 2026-27, and nothing in the years thereafter.

Read more about Victoria’s justice funding here.

Victorian Opposition Leader Brad Battin has cast doubt on the state government’s plan to deliver $3.3 billion savings, accusing it of lacking transparency and credibility.

Asked on Tuesday afternoon whether the government should go beyond the 1200 public sector job cuts identified by Treasurer Jaclyn Symes, Battin did not respond directly.

Instead, he questioned the feasibility of the government’s savings target.

“I don’t think they’ll get anywhere near the $3.3 billion in savings,” Battin said.

“They’ve put – what, barely half a page in the budget to talk about it? At least be honest with the Victorian community and tell them what you’re going to do.

“The government said last year that they were going to be looking at efficiencies when it comes to staff costs, and they’ve blown it out by $400 million. We can’t trust what they say.”