Victorian Treasurer Tim Pallas has refused to rule out public sector jobs being put on the chopping block despite government departments being told to cut their funding.
Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews is in talks with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to secure a bailout in the upcoming federal budget. After the world’s longest COVID-19 lockdowns, Victoria’s state debt has climbed to a record $115 billion and is expected to grow to more than $165 billion by 2025-26. Mr Andrews has already confirmed the public sector can expect cuts of around 10 per cent.
The Herald Sun first revealed that public servants are bracing for big job cuts, with government departments told to cut 10 per cent of their funding.
Mr Pallas, speaking to the media for the first time in weeks, refused to rule out whether major cuts would be a key part of his ninth budget.
But he said: “We are always looking to better manage how finances are being deployed … This is a very difficult budget.”
“As a government we’ve always taken the view that the taxpayer deserves to be satisfied that we are placing the effort and spending resources in a way that’s responsible,” he added.
“We’ll continue to look, as we have over the time in government, to where we can best direct effort. We are definitely of the view that the provision of services to the community should not be adversely affected.”
Asked whether he would set a target on the number of public service jobs that should be axed, Mr Pallas responded: “I won’t get involved in discussions about what, if, and how many we are looking at as a government. All of that will be revealed in the context of the budget.”
Mr Pallas said describing it as a horror budget was a “little overly emotive” but acknowledged that it is a “very difficult budget”
“There’s no doubts about that,” he said.
Mr Pallas said Victoria was the only state that had a budget repair strategy, adding that it was still able to meet an operating surplus in 2025/26.
“We’ve basically said that we’ve got a four step plan. We’ll stick to that plan,” he said.