VICTORIA – POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT

Another exec to board Suburban Rail Loop gravy train

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Original article by Ryan Bourke
The Australian – Page: 6 : 29-Jul-25

The Victorian government is seeking to recruit a director of engineering for its Suburban Rail Loop project. The salary range for the position is beween $290,000 and $419,000. This compares with an average salary of $210,000 to $230,000 for a director of engineering in Australia, according to jobs website Jora. A spokewoman for the SRL says the high salary range is justified, given that the role requires highly specialised expertise, technical skill and experience. She adds that the SRL is competing with major projects in Australia and overseas to hire staff for such roles.

CORPORATES
VICTORIA. SUBURBAN RAIL LOOP AUTHORITY, JORA

Victoria turns blind eye to credit downgrade risk

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Original article by Lily McCaffrey
The Australian – Page: 6 : 4-Jun-25

Victoria’s Treasurer Jaclyn Symes will hold meetings with global credit ratings agencies in New York on Friday. Symes has told parliament’s public accounts and estimates committee that there has been no indication from the ratings agencies that Victoria’s credit rating may be subject to an unfavourable review. The issue came under scrutiny earlier in 2025 when S&P Global warned that the government must demonstrate "fiscal discipline" if it hopes to retain the state’s AA/Stable credit rating, which had been downgraded from triple-A in 2020. The Treasury has advised that it has not undertaken any modelling on the impact of a further credit rating downgrade on the state’s budget position.

CORPORATES
VICTORIA. DEPT OF TRANSPORT, S&P GLOBAL RATINGS

Victorian Labor enters debt-and-tax spiral

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Original article by Lily McCaffrey, Damon Johnston
The Australian – Page: 1 & 6 : 21-May-25

S&P Global analyst Rebecca Hrvatin has responded to the Victorian government’s 2025 budget by emphasising the need for fiscal discipline, particularly in the lead-up to the state election in November 2026. The budget papers show that Victoria’s net debt is forecast to rise from about $155bn at present to $194bn in 2028-29, while the state’s annual interest bill will top $10.5bn by that date. The state’s wages bill is in turn expected to blow out to $42bn in 2028-29, despite plans to shed about 1,200 full-time equivalent public sector jobs. Meanwhile, tax revenue is expected to rise to about $48bn in 2028-29, compared with $36.8bn in 2023-24; this is despite the absence of any new taxes in the budget.

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S&P GLOBAL RATINGS

Allan refuses to reveal details behind Covid curfew call

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Original article by Carly Douglas
Herald Sun – Page: Online : 24-Apr-25

The Victorian government is under scrutiny in the wake of revelations that the decision to impose a two-month curfew on Melbourne residents at the peak of COVID-19 in 2020 was not based on public health advice. The documents obtained via freedom of information laws show that the decision to enforce the curfew was made at a meeting of the government’s crisis cabinet. Premier Jacinta Allan was asked about the curfew at a press conference on Wednesday, but she avoided giving any explaination as to who proposed the curfew and which members of the cabinet had supported it.

CORPORATES
VICTORIA. DEPT OF PREMIER AND CABINET

Allan’s shock confession that bail laws are too soft

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Original article by Shannon Deery
Herald Sun – Page: Online : 4-Feb-25

Victoria’s Premier Jacinta Allan has ordered a review of the state’s bail laws, amid an ongoing crime wave. Allan has asked Attorney-General Sonya Kilkenny and Police Minister Anthony Carbines to review the existing bail laws, which were strengthened just six months ago. Allan says that while these reforms are already making a difference, it is clear that more needs to be done to address community safety. Shadow police minister David Southwick says Victoria has become a lawless state due to the government’s lack of leadership on the issue of crime.

CORPORATES
VICTORIA. DEPT OF PREMIER AND CABINET

‘Uninvestable’: Business blasts Victoria’s financial state

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Original article by Gus McCubbing, Patrick Durkin
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 6 : 26-Nov-24

Victoria’s auditor-general warned on Friday that the state’s finances were not sustainable, with gross state debt expected to pass $228 billion by 2028. With a review by economist Saul Eslake finding that Victoria has gone from being the richest and most powerful state over much of the past century to being one of the poorest against a range of indicators, including household income, CSL chair Brian McNamee says a number of leading fund managers have told him that Victoria is currently uninvestable. Former Victorian premier Jeff Kennett, who has a nine-point plan to turn Victoria’s finances around, says the Andrews-Allan Labor government is the worst the state has ever had to endure in economic terms.

CORPORATES
CSL LIMITED – ASX CSL, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

Victoria’s debt levies haul in far more than expected

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Original article by Patrick Durkin, Gus McCubbing
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 11 : 13-Nov-24

The Victorian government’s budget update shows that the state’s net debt is slated to top $188bn by 2027-28. The update also reveals that the government’s Covid debt levies are expected to raise $529m more over four years than had been forecast in the 2023 budget. The levy on businesses with payrolls exceeding $10m had been expected to raise $3.9bn over four years, and the levy on property investors was slated to raise $4.7bn. Meanwhile, the government’s employee expenses rose by 7.94 per cent to $15.48bn in 2023-24.

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Sacked CFMEU leaders remain in ranks of Victorian ALP

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Original article by Damon Johnston, Ewin Hannan
The Australian – Page: 2 : 4-Sep-24

The militant CFMEU is under renewed scrutiny following revelations that about 300 of its members are also ‘grassroots’ members of the Labor Party in Victoria. They include four CFMEU officials who were sacked after the federal government recently legislated to appoint an administrator to its construction division. One of the sacked officials, Joe Myles, is also a member of Victorian Labor’s public office selection committee, which plays a key role in selecting state and federal candidates at elections.

CORPORATES
CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY AND MARITIME EMPLOYEES UNION, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

Allan govt under fire for keeping credit report secret

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Original article by Shannon Deery
Herald Sun – Page: Online : 20-Aug-24

The Victorian government’s reputation for transparency is under scrutiny following the revelation that it has not released a private credit assessment that was completed two years ago. Treasurer Tim Pallas commissioned the report from credit ratings agency Fitch in March 2022, which included an assessment of the state’s financial position. Meanwhile, rival ratings agency Standard & Poor’s recently warned that Victoria’s credit rating may be further downgraded if the state government proceeds with the Suburban Rail Loop project without federal funding. S&P downgraded the state’s credit rating by two notches to AA in late 2020.

CORPORATES
VICTORIA. DEPT OF TREASURY AND FINANCE, FITCH RATINGS LIMITED, STANDARD AND POOR’S FINANCIAL SERVICES LLC

Victorian politicians get 3.5 per cent pay rise

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Original article by Rachel Eddie
The Age – Page: Online : 2-Jul-24

The Victorian Independent Remuneration Tribunal announced on Monday that the state’s politicians will get a 3.5 per cent pay increase, with the increase to take effect on the day of the Tribunal’s announcement. It is the second 3.5 per cent pay rise for Victorian MPs in two years, and will see Premier Jacinta Allan’s base salary increase to $435,434 a year. Some submissions to the Tribunal had called for MPs salaries to be reduced, frozen or increased by three per cent only, with the public sector wage cap being set at that figure.

CORPORATES
VICTORIA. INDEPENDENT REMUNERATION TRIBUNAL