Chef Tim Pallas caught cooking the books again

Shadow Treasurer, Michael O’Brien

In today’s Australian Financial Review it has been revealed that Tim Pallas appears to have doctored the budget papers to bury politically damaging numbers.

Tim Pallas has again been caught out cooking the books.

Following the Auditor-General finding that Labor plunged Victoria’s budget into deficit, Treasurer Tim Pallas has now been exposed fiddling the numbers on employee benefits.

The 2015-16 Budget Update falsely states what the 2015-16 Budget papers forecast for public sector employee benefits. This is clearly designed to mislead Victorians and hide what has been an embarrassing blow-out in the costs of the bureaucracy and Labor’s sweetheart union deals.*

Labor is right to be embarrassed about their public sector wages blow-out. However, falsely stating what was in the budget papers, in order to cover up the blow-out, is both dishonest and inexcusable.

This scandal shows once again that Labor cannot manage money and Treasurer Tim Pallas cannot be trusted to tell the truth.

It is also more evidence that Daniel Andrews and Tim Pallas have lost control of Victoria’s budget and the economy.

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Media contact:   Tony Barry   0419 600 879          tony.barry@opposition.vic.gov.au