00:01The bronze statues in Treasury Place honour the few people who've served in the state's
00:07top job for more than 3,000 days, but the state's longest serving Labor Premier won't join them.
00:14I'm not his biggest fan and I would be fine if he wouldn't have any statue.
00:19It's a waste of money to probably build it because it wouldn't have been treated with any respect, rightfully or
00:23wrongly.
00:24Maybe some other ways to remember him other than putting a statue.
00:28Ben Carroll today confirming the $134,000 statue of Daniel Andrews will be spent on a statue of something else.
00:36He says we're grateful to former premiers for their service, but gratitude does not require a taxpayer funded statue.
00:44This week's other money saving measures from Ben Carroll will include promising $2 billion in savings for the suburban Rail
00:52Loop East
00:53and taking the axe to two advisory bodies.
00:56Today, he also flagged tighter guidelines for who gets a state funeral and has reeled in and sunk the $1
01:04.5 million program
01:06handing free fishing gear to school children.
01:08This decision on its own isn't going to shift the dial on Victoria's debt, but I think it is a
01:15symbol of a different attitude on the part of Mr Carroll's government.
01:20Even the government admits some of these measures won't make or break the budget, which this year forecast $200 billion
01:28of debt by the middle of 2030.
01:30But analysts say it could be laying the groundwork for bigger saving measures to come.
01:35They may be making more political room for larger reductions in expenditure that will ultimately be necessary if Victoria is
01:46to get on top of its debt problem.
01:48The election countdown continues.
01:50The election countdown continues.
