Yesterday
Kerry Stokes ‘cannot cop criticism’
Teal MP Zoe Daniel has accused billionaire Kerry Stokes of anti-democratic behaviour after Seven West Media doubled the cost of printing the AFR. Here’s how the day unfolded.
- Updated
- Gus McCubbing
This Month
Pallas vows to prove rating agencies wrong
Treasurer Tim Pallas has fended off warnings Victoria could face a third credit rating downgrade since 2020.
- Gus McCubbing and Patrick Durkin
Schools sweat on election funding promises as Victorian debt rises
Melbourne’s Hampton Primary School fears the Victorian government won’t follow through on a promise made on eve of the 2022 election.
- Gus McCubbing
- Updated
- Victorian budget
Ratings warning over Victoria’s $188b debt
Rating agencies have put the Victorian government on notice after it revealed state debt would climb to $188 billion, with a daily interest bill of $26 million.
- Updated
- Gus McCubbing and Patrick Durkin
Victoria open to tax breaks to boost home building
Premier Jacinta Allan says her Labor government is open to pulling every lever available to boost housing supply, after developers called for taxation tweaks to boost investment.
- Gus McCubbing
Housing focus as Pallas warns of horror Victorian budget
Economists warn that Victoria has no choice but to cut spending in next week’s budget, after slugging businesses and property investors last year.
- Gus McCubbing
April
Why Melbourne’s housing crisis will get worse before its gets better
Victoria’s population is growing faster than any other state but as housing demand outpaces supply and wage growth, its economic prosperity is at risk.
- Gus McCubbing
Housing angst: 840 days and still waiting on a planning permit
Melbourne architect Michael Smith warns that lengthy council planning approvals can kill good projects at a time when more housing is desperately needed.
- Gus McCubbing
NIMBY v YIMBY as Victoria’s housing crisis grows
A Melbourne council’s plan to increase “vibrancy” by prohibiting apartment developments unless they allow commercial space has been lashed by developers.
- Gus McCubbing
D’Ambrosio gas claim debunked after outburst against Labor’s King
In another Victorian clash over gas with the Albanese government, Lily D’Ambrosio accused Madeleine King of behaving like “a Coalition minister”.
- Jacob Greber and Gus McCubbing
Victoria has been targeting the same suburbs for 40 years
Nearly half of the Victorian government’s 10 suburbs slated for increased density have been targeted in multiple similar plans as far back as 1981.
- Gus McCubbing
Four key Melbourne suburbs haven’t built a major project in five years
Developers are warning that overhauling planning powers alone won’t be enough to fix the state’s chronic housing crisis.
- Gus McCubbing
Rents rise 11pc in Victoria as investors flee: NAB
Victorian property investment declined last year while advertised rents increased by 11 per cent, according to new data from NAB.
- Gus McCubbing
March
‘Legacy of fear’: government watchdog fires parting shot at Andrews
Victoria’s outgoing ombudsman Deborah Glass has warned about the ‘dangerous impact of creeping ‘politicisation’ on the state’s public service.
- Gus McCubbing
Allan, Andrews ‘overstated’ Commonwealth Games blowout by $2b
Victoria’s auditor-general says Labor’s Commonwealth Games debacle cost taxpayers $589 million for “no discernible benefit”.
- Gus McCubbing
No plans to wind up embattled $2b VC fund: Pallas
Victorian Treasurer Tim Pallas has hit back at calls to wind up the state’s venture capital fund, saying there isn’t enough private money to support start-ups.
- Updated
- Gus McCubbing
Pesutto’s leadership in crisis amid new defamation proceedings
Victorian Opposition Leader John Pesutto’s hold on the Liberal Party is in crisis mode under the weight of mounting legal battles.
- Gus McCubbing
Victorian premier goes nuclear on Dutton’s energy policies
Jacinta Allan says Coalition nuclear energy supporters have spent too much time watching The Simpsons.
- Updated
- Gus McCubbing and Angela Macdonald-Smith
- Opinion
- GST
Loser Victoria shouldn’t be a GST winner
Any federal government that’s serious about reforming Commonwealth-state relations would stop rewarding Victoria’s disastrous financial mismanagement.
- John Roskam
Suburban Rail Loop to cost another $16b, Victorian budget office finds
Victoria’s Parliamentary Budget Office has projected that building and operating the first two phases of the Suburban Rail Loop will cost $216.7 billion.
- Gus McCubbing