00:01The current government has made a dreadful mess of Victoria's finances.
00:06And that's part of the reason Labor is staring down its first election loss in 16 years.
00:10State debt is forecast to rise from $160 billion this year to nearly $200 billion in four years' time.
00:17The government has been forced to tighten its belt, but the public sector wage bill continues to rise.
00:21We will repair the budget and restore accountability.
00:25That plan includes a return to a cash surplus by 2032.
00:28Jess Wilson is promising to cut taxes by $7.5 billion over four years.
00:33Strap the tax! Strap the tax!
00:37Including replacing the unpopular emergency services volunteer levy,
00:40reduce payroll tax, slash stamp duty and exempt private schools from payroll tax.
00:45Sold!
00:46It's all contradictory.
00:48She's led with something like $7 billion of tax cuts over four years,
00:52while promising in five years' time to return the budget to a cash surplus.
00:55They've got to close a $9 billion gap to achieve their promise.
01:00Professor David Hayward has crunched the Coalition's pledges,
01:02and says the opposition have not spelled out how it will cut costs and boost revenue.
01:07The Coalition's biggest saving is a $22 billion hiring freeze in the public service.
01:11It relies on attrition over 10 years.
01:14The Coalition says it will fix the budget by stopping waste.
01:17It's all pie in the sky stuff.
01:19So when you look at the actual figures, the figures are actually quite worrying.
01:23Only my team has a credible economic plan.
01:26A 10-year vision for this state.
01:28Policies that are costed.
01:29More Coalition's savings measures are expected to be announced as the election inches ever closer.
01:34But some Liberals are concerned the current fiscal plan is flimsy, leaving it open to political attacks.
01:40Jess Wilson has also cast doubt on whether Treasury figures are reliable.
01:44I think it's simply wrong to suggest that the books have been cooked.
01:49The books look pretty bad, but I don't think they've lied about it.
01:53He's urging Jess Wilson to spell out a proper plan, or face difficult decisions should a Coalition win.
01:58There has to be some combination of spending cuts and tax increases.
02:03There isn't a lot of scope for tax increases in Victoria,
02:06because it's already by a wide margin the highest taxing state.
02:11There's considerable scope for cutting spending in various areas of the budget,
02:17without Victorians having to suffer worse than average levels of public services.
02:23Right now, that plan doesn't exist.
02:25And that plan doesn't exist.
02:27And that plan doesn't exist.
02:28I'm not sure, but I'm not sure.
02:28I'm not sure.
02:28To the future, I'm not sure.
02:28I want to find out what you've been here.
