How the state government uses contingency funds to pay for major infrastructure projects
Victorian Opposition Leader Jess Wilson has pledged to reform the state's use of contingency funds if elected. Documents reveal the Labor government used billions in 'Treasurer's Advances' to cover regular infrastructure costs, a practice the opposition argues lacks financial integrity.
Why it matters
It highlights concerns over government fiscal transparency and the potential misuse of emergency funds for routine capital projects.
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Share A A A Opposition Leader Jess Wilson has pledged to overhaul the way the state government funds and accounts for major infrastructure projects as a step towards restoring integrity to Victoria’s finances if the Coalition is elected on November 28.
Documents obtained under freedom-of-information laws reveal that former treasurer Jaclyn Symes last year approved $13.5 billion in “budget supplementation” measures so the Labor government’s cash-strapped departments could pay their bills.
Opposition Leader Jess Wilson. Luis Enrique Ascui The extraordinary sum included $11.2 billion of Treasurer’s Advances – a contingency fund which effectively serves as the state’s credit card – as well as the reinstatement of $1.8 billion of previously withdrawn funding, and a separate “temporary” advance of $466 million from another little-known contingency provision.
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