An estimated $15 billion+ of direct waste in Victoria – no surprise to anyone who has been monitoring the cost blowouts. And who knows how many countless billions of dollars more across the rest of the country, although Victoria remains the #infrastructure epicentre?
But it’s more than just the extra costs on #boondoggle infrastructure projects. That $15,000 million is added to Victoria’s heaving debt pile, which is quickly approaching $200 billion.
The wasted amount alone translates to some $700m+ of unnecessary, wasted interest paid each and every year, on top of the rest of the debt. What could be done with an extra $700m per year?
Instead, taxes of all kinds, mostly on property, are being raised just to keep up with the growing interest bill. Making the state increasingly uncompetitive and uninvestable.
It gets worse. The entire construction workforce has seen high wage increases across all sectors, in an attempt to keep up with the disproportionate salaries being offered on government/CFMEU infrastructure projects. Building anything, but especially desperately needed affordable housing, is now materially more expensive.
The upshot: • Higher taxes • Higher building costs • Fewer new homes • Every Victorian (Australian) pays
🤔Letting things go unchecked for so long will leave lasting impacts on all Australians for decades to come. The damage is already done.