The next Victorian government must downsize the bureaucracy

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The Victorian budget is drowning in debt. Net debt is forecast to hit $200 billion by the end of the decade:

Credit ratings agency Moody’s recently forecast that the state would spend $1 of every $10 of revenue earned on interest payments by the end of the decade:

Interest repayments
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Wages are the Victorian budget’s largest expense. The Victorian government’s budget papers forecast the state’s public sector wages bill to rise from more than $40 billion currently to around $46 billion by 2030.

Victorian wage expenses

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About the author
Leith van Onselen is Chief Economist at the MB Fund and MB Super. He is also a co-founder of MacroBusiness. Leith has previously worked at the Australian Treasury, Victorian Treasury and Goldman Sachs.
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