Politics
Victoria
Exclusive
Victorian budget
Victoria set up an offset account to save money. Then it went into the red
An account meant to help drive down Victoria’s borrowing costs was instead put into overdraft, forcing the government to find hundreds of millions of dollars to repay it by the end of this financial year – and possibly billions in the next.
- by Annika Smethurst
Latest
Exclusive
Courts
Court short: New justice hub to sit empty after government cuts funding
New $272 million law courts in Melbourne’s south-west won’t open as planned after building finishes because the state budget didn’t provide staffing and operational funding.
- by Kieran Rooney
Exclusive
Victorian budget
Births, Deaths and Marriages – and more? Victoria’s quiet review of its public assets
Treasury sought advice from investment banks earlier this year as part of a review to see how much money could be raised from privatisation of public assets.
- by Broede Carmody and Sarah Danckert
Exclusive
Victorian Parliament
Inside the push to steal – and keep – Victoria’s businesses
Outside the public eye, the highest-taxing state in the nation is fending off threats from South Australia and Queensland to steal Victorian businesses.
- by Kieran Rooney
Exclusive
Victorian budget
Victoria poised to privatise births, deaths and marriages agency as Labor eyes debt
With the state’s daily interest bill at $25 million, Treasurer Tim Pallas is in talks with private firms to gauge their interest in running part of Births, Deaths and Marriages Victoria.
- by Broede Carmody and Cameron Houston
Independent Kew school to sell part of primary campus to meet new tax bill
Preshil will sell land on its primary school campus ahead of a controversial change to state taxes set to cost the school hundreds of thousands of dollars.
- by Bridie Smith
Chemist Warehouse family’s proposed coastal compound draws ire of locals
The billionaire co-founder of the ubiquitous pharmacy chain is facing a battle over plans to build a luxury 16-bed complex with a pool, cinema and tennis court.
- by Tom Cowie
Melbourne’s migrant and manufacturing heart has taken some hits, but it’s still burning with ambition
Waves of migrants have called Broadmeadows home, wooed by cheap housing and plentiful jobs. As they brace for future growth, residents hope better education and community services are part of the plan.
- by Patrick Hatch
Police union wins battle for nine-day fortnight, endorses new pay deal
Police will get average annual pay rises of 4 per cent over the next four years and better working conditions in a new industrial agreement struck on Friday.
- by Kieran Rooney
The Victorian city that will be plastered in ads to stop violence against women
After three women were killed in two months in the region, Ballarat will be saturated in advertising for four years.
- by Rachel Eddie
Exclusive
Vocational training
Victoria’s worst free TAFE completion rates revealed
Just 1 per cent of Victorians who registered for a free plumbing course in recent years successfully completed their training.
- by Broede Carmody