A WISHLIST of western suburbs projects looks on shaky ground as the state government struggles to deliver a promised surplus in today’s budget.
The government faced heavy criticism last year for overlooking the western suburbs as it funded election promises made to shore up votes in the east.
All eyes will be on today’s budget to see if commitments are made on key infrastructure such as the St Albans Main Road grade separation, Caroline Springs railway station, the truck action plan, and WestLink.
There will also be a close watch on health and education spending to deal with ageing infrastructure and rapid population growth throughout the west.
Treasurer Kim Wells has warned that the government could be forced to unveil Victoria’s first budget deficit in almost two decades due to the loss of hundreds of millions of dollars in GST funding and stamp duty revenue.
The cooling of the property market has punched a $366 million hole in expected stamp duty revenue, revealing the state’s reliance on a hot property market for a healthy bottom line.
A reduction in spending also means a $428 million drop in expected GST revenue.
Mr Wells said the federal government’s GST formula was unfair and should deliver equal per capita funding.
“We have faced significant challenges in framing the state budget as a result of the unpredictable way in which GST is distributed,” he said.
“We’ve already lost about $2.5 billion in GST across our forward estimates, in large part due to backwards revision of data.”
Keilor MP Natalie Hutchins fears further cuts to spending on the area’s schools.
“In last year’s state budget the Baillieu Government announced $481 million in cuts to education funding, affecting every public school,” she said.
“In this year’s budget the state government needs to invest in public education and support students by recommitting to the school rebuilding program.”
