A debt bomb left on the kitchen tables of Victorian families
Family First Party
Jane Foreman - Family First Legislative Council Candidate
Victoria’s Debt to Hit $199 Billion — Families Face $11.8 Billion Annual Interest Bill
Family First condemns the Allan Government’s pre-election spending binge as a debt bomb left on the kitchen tables of Victorian families
Victorian candidate Jane Foreman has condemned the Jacinta Allan Government’s 2026–27 State Budget as a reckless pre-election spending binge that will leave Victorian families carrying a near-$200 billion debt burden — and commits to supporting a state debt cap.
Today’s budget confirms Victoria’s net debt will reach $199.3 billion by June 2030 — almost ten times higher than when Daniel Andrews came to power in 2014. The cost of servicing that debt will soar from $6.8 billion in 2024–25 to $11.8 billion in 2029–30, as cheap COVID-19 borrowings roll over into debt at today’s much higher interest rates.
Despite the ballooning debt, high spending and rising taxes, Treasurer Jaclyn Symes declared the budget a “disciplined” financial document. The Allan Government has also stashed away an election war chest of up to $70 billion — comprising $37.6 billion in unallocated spending and $32 billion in future investments — to bankroll election promises ahead of the November vote.
“This budget is a debt bomb, and Victorian families are the ones who will have to defuse it,” Ms Foreman said.
“Nearly $200 billion in debt. Interest costs nearly doubling to $11.8 billion a year — that is $32 million every single day. A wages bill for public servants heading to $45 billion. And Treasurer Symes wants to call this ‘disciplined’? Victorians are not that gullible.”
“We need to introduce a debt cap to reign in governments wanting to put wasteful spending on the state credit card.”
The Treasurer unveiled $13.8 billion in new spending over five years — just seven months before the November election — even as the government simultaneously flagged a cash deficit of $11 billion this financial year and $12.9 billion next year. The ‘surplus’ the government is claiming is an operating balance figure that deliberately excludes all capital infrastructure spending and masks the true cash position.
The budget has also significantly downgraded Victoria’s own economic forecasts, with gross state product growth for 2026–27 revised down from 2.75 per cent to just 1.5 per cent — the very growth forecasts on which the government’s surplus projections depend.
“Victorians deserve honesty, not a budget designed for a focus group,” Ms Foreman said.
“The ‘surplus’ the Treasurer is spruiking deliberately excludes all capital spending. The actual cash deficit is $11 billion this year and nearly $13 billion next year. This is not responsible government — it is an accounting trick dressed up as fiscal management.”
Department blowouts exposed in the budget papers paint a picture of a government that has lost control of its own finances. The Department of Education overspent its 2025–26 budget by $250 million. The health department blew its budget by $1 billion. Transport overspent by more than $1 billion. The Department of Premier and Cabinet — Premier Allan’s own department — increased its expenditure by 23 per cent, partly driven by a jump in spending on advisers.
Meanwhile, the state’s public sector wages bill — already almost $1 billion over budget this year at $40.3 billion — is projected to reach $45 billion by 2030. Tax revenue is forecast to soar from $43.2 billion this year to $50 billion by 2029, with land tax extracting $7.5 billion from property investors and businesses by 2029, up from $6.3 billion today.
“Victoria does not have a revenue problem — it has a spending problem,” Ms Foreman said.
“The government is collecting billions more in taxes every year, and yet it cannot stop the debt climbing. Every department blew its budget. The Premier’s own office spent 23 per cent more than planned. Family First will not stand silently while the Allan Government burns through Victorians’ money and hands the bill to the next generation.”
Family First believes government’s first duty is to the family — to leave future generations in a better position than we found them. The party’s platform calls for government spending to be restructured so a young family can raise children, own a home and achieve a comfortable living, without governments passing debt to the next generation.
Victoria’s credit rating sits at AA — the equal lowest of any Australian state or territory. Global credit ratings agencies warned the Allan Government against an election-year spending spree before the budget. Those warnings went unheeded. The Suburban Rail Loop — a $34 billion project still without full federal funding — looms as a further fiscal risk, with the government banking on the Commonwealth to cover more than $11 billion of the project’s cost.
Ms Foreman said the Allan Government must immediately release a credible, independently verified debt reduction plan; commit to structural spending reform; and abandon the election war chest being held in reserve to buy votes ahead of November.
“Victorian families want a future where they can own a home, raise their children, and know their government is not stealing from their kids’ future,” Ms Foreman said.
“The Andrews–Allan decade of debt stands for the opposite. It is time for this government to stop making excuses, stop the spending binge and start acting in the long-term interest of Victorian families.”
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About Family First
Family First exists to restore Australia by restoring the primacy of the family in public policy. This will be achieved through a grass roots political party which raises courageous voices in our nation’s parliaments. More details are available on our website: https://www.familyfirstparty.org.au/
