Cost of living
Sam HIBBINS (Prahran) (14:22): My question is to the Treasurer. Right now people are struggling with the skyrocketing cost of living, which is pushing many to the margins and into poverty. Yet at the same time corporations like the big banks are posting record multibillion-dollar profits. So I ask the Treasurer: instead of an austerity budget that cuts funding and sacks public sector workers, will the government instead make the profiteering corporations pay their fair share of tax in order to fund what is required to help people in need?
Tim PALLAS (Werribee – Treasurer, Minister for Industrial Relations, Minister for Trade and Investment) (14:23): I thank the member for Prahran for his question, and of course I would have to start my response by saying I will not pre-empt what is in the budget. We will have to wait for budget day to see what is in the budget. Certainly as a government we recognise that many Victorians are doing it tough. We have got rising interest rates and we have got high inflation – coming down off a high – and that has caused pressure on families.
As a government our values have been lived large through the priorities we have set and the decisions we have made. We will live those priorities both in terms of the things that we do in the upcoming budget and as a government, because those are our values. Importantly, we recognise that it is vitally important that as a community we make further and more investment in the things that secure the future for Victorians, and we will continue to do that. Our Labor financial statement outlined our four-year strategy, a strategy that was directed to ensuring that Victorians got the just deserts of a government that was focused on their welfare and wellbeing, and we will continue to do that.
Might I also say that we promised those things to the people of Victoria and we will deliver them, because we do what matters and we ensure that the things that Victorians voted for are respected and delivered. As a government, if you want to know where our values are and what our budget might look like, of course I cannot tell you what is in the budget, but we will live our values large and we will look after those in the community who essentially need the continued support and assistance of the state.
Sam HIBBINS (Prahran) (14:25): On a supplementary question to the Treasurer, the Treasurer in his answer has referred to Labor’s financial statement, which was released two days before the election, and in releasing that statement he said that their election commitments were fully funded and fully costed. The Treasurer went on to say:
Matthew Guy’s Liberals’ plan for cuts and closures would not only hurt Victorians’ jobs and livelihoods – it would put our state’s entire economic recovery at risk.
Given the government was so opposed to cuts prior to the election, will they now honour this commitment and rule out an austerity budget, with no cuts to funding and no cuts to public sector jobs?
Tim PALLAS (Werribee – Treasurer, Minister for Industrial Relations, Minister for Trade and Investment) (14:26): I thank the member for his supplementary question. I make the point that we indicated in Labor’s financial statement that we would deliver all of the things that we promised to the people of Victoria, and we absolutely will deliver on them. Might I also say that in Labor’s financial statement we continued the consistent approach that this government adopts to make sure that efficiencies are delivered. If you look through that statement, you will see line item after line item looking at how we can make the delivery of government more efficient for Victorians. But let me also say this government’s track record has always been about growing the services that Victorians need and value and, up until of course the pandemic, delivering the highest average surpluses the state of Victoria has ever seen. We are a government that is committed to making sure that Victorians get value for money. We will continue to do that and continue to run efficient services.