Daniel Andrews taxing regional Victoria more, but giving less

For the third year in a row, Daniel Andrews has arrogantly dished out scraps off the table for the regions, says Deputy Opposition Leader Peter Walsh.

There is no new capital investments for our country hospitals.

There is no money for new police stations or additional police officers despite the statewide crime crisis.

The Country Roads and Bridges Program still hasn’t been restored despite the appalling state of our country roads.

Too many of our country schools will again miss out on desperately needed upgrade funding.

There’s no cost of living relief for families, despite Daniel Andrews introducing nine new taxes after breaking his election eve promise not to introduce any.

There’s no plan for Victoria’s population, and no plan to help our regional cities and towns grow and realise their full potential.

Farmers will be appalled to see Labor has slashed $32 million out of the Agriculture budget. Fears that Agriculture would be swallowed up within the super department look to be true, as no amount of Labor spin can hide this drop in spending.

The Budget also confirms that despite bragging about a surplus, Daniel Andrews won’t spend a cent of State money on his hoax regional rail announcement and Federal Infrastructure Minister Darren Chester will now be asked to fix Labor’s mess.

In fact, for a Government flush with cash after the sale of the Port of Melbourne lease, the lack of new State-funded initiatives for regional Victoria is massively disappointing.

This Budget is about politics, not people, and yet again Daniel Andrews’ contempt for the country is obvious despite Labor’s tricky spin.