With the Victorian budget imploding, Treasurer Tim “Ponzi” Pallas has announced his resignation after a decade in job.
“I’ve had my time for better or worse. I’ve tried my best”, he said.
“Renewal is important, and after 10 years as Treasurer it is time for me to hand over the reins”.
“Importantly, this will allow the Government to establish the strong team that will contest the 2026 election”.
Tim Pallas has left Victorians deep in debt, facing rising debt repayments, escalating taxes, and degraded infrastructure and services.
On Friday, Pallas made a concerted effort to claim that Victoria’s economy and budget were improving.
Pallas claimed that he had overseen a “dramatic improvement” in the state’s accounts and a “profound economic and fiscal resurgence”, pointing to forecasts showing that net debt as a percentage of gross state product will fall for the first time in seven years.
“I don’t want to mislead you to say that the government has effectively declared its fiscal strategy is at an end and concluded”, he said. “What it does tell us is that the strategy is working and working very dramatically”.
Economist Saul Eslake disagreed, noting:
“It would seem to me that they haven’t learned anything, or at least, haven’t changed anything. There is no change of strategy here, there is no more credible path back to cash surpluses than there was at the time of the budget”.
“There is still, it would seem, an inability to control expenditure growth. There doesn’t appear to be any serious attempt to rein in either operating or infrastructure spending”.
The truth is that Tim Pallas has recklessly left a legacy of punishing debt and falling living standards for Victorians.
