Sweeping hospital mergers on table after Victoria’s bad-news budget
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Victorian budget

Sweeping hospital mergers on table after Victoria’s bad-news budget

Victoria’s 76 health services could be slashed to 12 in an efficiency-driven overhaul revealed as the government dropped a budget notable for soaring debt,higher taxes,stalled projects and abandoned promises.

  • byAisha Dow,Annika Smethurst andKieran Rooney

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Cuts,delays and taxes in bad-news budget that fails to rein in debt
Victorian budget

Cuts,delays and taxes in bad-news budget that fails to rein in debt

Treasurer Tim Pallas’ 10th budget includes payments of $400 per child for the families of children in Victorian public schools. But it’s the only bit of good news in a budget that leaves Victoria with a $25 million-a-day interest bill.

  • byAnnika Smethurst andKieran Rooney
The boastful Daniel Andrews tweet that is no longer fit for purpose
Analysis
Victorian budget

The boastful Daniel Andrews tweet that is no longer fit for purpose

Soft tacos or crunchy tacos? We have to choose because Victoria can’t have both - despite promises from now-departed premier Daniel Andrews.

  • byAnnika Smethurst
Relief for struggling families but Victoria’s crushing debt burden to rise
Victorian budget

Relief for struggling families but Victoria’s crushing debt burden to rise

Support for parents of school children and housing affordability will be priorities in a state budget that will show Victoria’s net debt hitting a new peak.

  • byAnnika Smethurst,Kieran Rooney andRachel Eddie
Jacinta Allan needs to do more than walk the protest walk on violence against women
Opinion
Domestic violence

Jacinta Allan needs to do more than walk the protest walk on violence against women

The image of Allan and other Labor MPs leading a march of incensed protesters fed up with inaction and holding signs saying “The system has failed us” felt a bit off.

  • byAnnika Smethurst
Greens councillors tear up membership,slam leadership over ‘surveillance,disinformation,fear’
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Greens

Greens councillors tear up membership,slam leadership over ‘surveillance,disinformation,fear’

Two more councillors have quit the Victorian Greens – and up to five more are tipped to soon follow suit – as a broader internal dispute threatens to split the party.

  • byAnnika Smethurst
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Beware of budget spin:Pallas set to pitch poor economy as a win for Victorians
Opinion
Victorian budget

Beware of budget spin:Pallas set to pitch poor economy as a win for Victorians

It is difficult to decide which is more worrying – Victoria’s precarious economic position or the government desperately trying to spin a tale of success.

  • byAnnika Smethurst
Ellen Sandell the stability choice for ambitious Victorian Greens MPs
Greens

Ellen Sandell the stability choice for ambitious Victorian Greens MPs

Melbourne MP Ellen Sandell is the new leader of the state Greens after Samantha Ratnam stepped down to contest the federal seat of Wills.

  • byBroede Carmody andAnnika Smethurst
Zahid Safi was warned about the Liberals. Now,he is a candidate
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Australia votes

Zahid Safi was warned about the Liberals. Now,he is a candidate

The Afghan-born former refugee had only just arrived in Australia when he was told the man in a suit at his mosque was a candidate for the Liberals and they were against immigrants. A decade on,he wants to be the party’s first Muslim MP in federal parliament.

  • byAnnika Smethurst
Dozens of school upgrades could miss out in budget ‘bloodbath’
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Victorian budget

Dozens of school upgrades could miss out in budget ‘bloodbath’

Labor committed $850 million to upgrade at least 89 schools in 2022,but more than half failed to secure funding to put shovels in the ground in last year’s state budget.

  • byRachel Eddie andAnnika Smethurst
How Liberal mistakes are driving the Greens and Nationals’ succession plans
Opinion
Greens

How Liberal mistakes are driving the Greens and Nationals’ succession plans

A rare reprieve from leadership chatter among Labor and the Liberals has turned the spotlight to other players among the Victorian Parliament.

  • byAnnika Smethurst