State budget set for November 24

THE Victorian Government will hand down its 2020/21 State budget on Friday, 24 November, Treasurer Tim Pallas has confirmed.

He said it would “kickstart an unprecedented investment in infrastructure and services our state will need for decades to come”.

“This budget will continue our unprecedented support for Victorian families and businesses, and kickstart our economic recovery from the coronavirus pandemic,” Mr Pallas said in a statement.

“Our success in suppressing this virus mean we are ready to reopen and rebuild, and we will invest like never before in the infrastructure and services our state needs for the future.”

Earlier this month, Mr Pallas said the State Government would take advantage of the historically low cost of borrowing to repair the unprecedented damage caused to Victoria’s economy by COVID-19.

“We need not to pursue surplus, we need not to be so obsessed about debt that we fail to remember our principal obligation is to the wellbeing of Victorians and to use our balance sheet to protect them,” he told reporters on 15 October.

He said the Government would invest in social housing and make a concerted effort to get women back to work, areas many economists said were overlooked in the Federal budget.

– BENITA KOLOVOS/ AAP