Victorian budget
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Hospitals
Shared beds, staff and radiology: The government’s plan to cut costs in our hospitals
A Victorian government plan to consolidate resources and services across hospitals is being slammed as creating mergers by stealth.
- by Henrietta Cook and Broede Carmody
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Victoria keeps nearly $2 billion in debt rather than paying it off
The government has decided to spend almost $2 billion budgeted for paying off debt over the past two financial years.
- by Kieran Rooney
Cash-strapped Allan government spends record $130m on Grand Prix Corporation
Despite record attendances at the Australian Grand Prix, the government-controlled body tasked with staging the event is heavily reliant on taxpayer funding.
- by Carla Jaeger
Editorial
Opinion
Hit the brakes, Premier, for the state’s sake
Victoria’s finances are heading towards a cliff. The government is not doing what’s needed to solve the crisis.
- The Age's View
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‘Strain’ at the top as Victoria looks for ways to improve battered budget
Sources say budget repair has increasingly become a point of contention among key figures in the Allan government, which has considered new fees and offloading Melbourne’s wholesale fruit and vegetable market to reduce state debt.
- by Annika Smethurst and Kieran Rooney
State’s financial watchdog slams ‘reactive’ budget with no long-term plan
The auditor-general has warned that prolonged operating losses and cash deficits are not financially sustainable following a review of the state’s reports for the past financial year.
- by Kieran Rooney and Annika Smethurst
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Tim Pallas
The projects worth billions funded with Victoria’s secretive ‘credit card’ revealed
The state government spent nearly $10 billion on 161 projects – including the Commonwealth Games dispute – using a secretive fund known as the treasurer’s advance.
- by Broede Carmody
Updated
Victorian Parliament
Major Melbourne hospitals left counting cash weekly as budget constraints hit home
Alfred and Monash Health run some of the largest hospitals in the state, but an attempt by the government to enforce budgets has had a dire impact on their books.
- by Rachel Eddie and Annika Smethurst
Updated
Healthcare
$1b in red and going backwards: Victorian hospital cash-crunch revealed
Analysis of dozens of annual reports dumped in parliament on Thursday found some of Victoria’s busiest hospitals failed to meet their target for available cash.
- by Broede Carmody, Rachel Eddie, Carla Jaeger and Kieran Rooney
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Victorian Parliament
More than a quarter of Victoria’s water projects delayed
The blowout in timelines prompted the essential services regulator to warn that water providers were failing to properly forecast costs.
- by Rachel Eddie and Kieran Rooney
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Victorian Parliament
Your water company is paying the state government’s COVID debts
The budget plan to manage pandemic debts by temporarily expanding taxes has led Treasurer Tim Pallas to pull cash from government agencies. Water authorities were targeted the most.
- by Rachel Eddie