The Nationals’ Member for Morwell, Martin Cameron, has backed the Coalition’s new 10-year economic plan which he says will revitalise the state and make life easier for all Victorians.
The centrepiece of the plan is a commitment to achieve a cash surplus by 2032. Only then will Victoria be raising more money than it spends, allowing for the retirement of debt and reduction in Victoria’s $1 million an hour interest bill. The plan includes:
- Prioritising the essential services and frontline workers Victorians rely on through an Essential Services Guarantee, and a hiring freeze of back-office roles.
- Progressively increasing the land tax threshold to $300,000.
- Signalling Victoria is open for business by increasing the payroll tax threshold to $1.2 million by 2028-29, then reducing the metropolitan payroll tax rate to 4.8 per cent from 2030-31.
- Cleaning up the books by establishing a Charter of Budget Honesty and Real-Time Expenditure Tracker.
- Ending the $15 billion of Big Build corruption by establishing a Royal Commission and new construction sector watchdog.
- Scrapping Labor’s divisive Treaty – saving taxpayers $1 billion.
- Removing Labor’s emergency services levy, repealing taxes on schools, visits to the GP, short-stay accommodation and lifting the stamp duty free-threshold to $1 million for first home buyers.
“Under Labor, Victoria will spend more on interest repayments next year than on Victoria Police, Ambulance Victoria and kindergarten services combined, with $1 billion still left over,” Mr Cameron said.
“This ultimately means less money is being spent in the regions – on our roads, our hospitals, our schools and our police resources.
“After a decade of Labor, our state faces significant economic challenges, and Victoria needs a new approach to managing the books.
“It won’t be easy, but our plan outlines a disciplined and responsible pathway to a cash surplus which will allow us to repay the $200 billion debt burden Labor has left Victorians.”
