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Summary
- Victoria state budget focuses on healthcare.
- Treasurer says that budget will create 38,000 jobs over the next four years.
- State is set to invest AU$50 million on vaccine facility.
The healthcare space has come out as priority in the Victoria’s provincial budget for 2021-22, as the COVID-19 pandemic exposed the fault lines in the global healthcare system.
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The state has allocated an additional AU$7.1 billion in this budget for hospitals and healthcare.
“It’s funding that will ensure top-class care and support new jobs,” the state treasurer Tim Pallas said in his budget speech on Thursday.
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The fresh allocation also includes funds to manage the pandemic, with an additional AU$1.3 billion appropriation.
The state will also invest AU$50 million in vaccine manufacturing within its borders.
“We will also take the first steps towards critical new mRNA vaccine manufacturing capability in Victoria,” Mr Pallas said.
“And we’re expanding the future pipeline of Victoria’s healthcare workforce, with 200 000 additional student placement days,” he added.
Another AU$3.7 billion would be allocated to further strengthen the existing healthcare system – including hiring more emergency department staff and support new wards.
In a bid to rebuild the economy after the pandemic, the state government said that this year’s budget investments will help create 38,000 jobs in the state over next four years. This year, the government is planning to spend AU$86.2 billion in the state.
“This state’s current success as an economic and jobs powerhouse owes a lot to Victoria’s Big Build. Victoria has the biggest infrastructure pipeline in the history of the state, and our building program will have generated 177,000 jobs since 2014,” the treasurer said.
In the 2021-22 Budget, more than $144 billion of State capital projects are either commencing or underway, he added.
The pandemic has exposed the massive fault lines in global healthcare and budget allocations. Post-9/11 terror attacks in the US, as the fears of another deadly terror strike grew, the global governments started spending more on military capabilities – on expense of the healthcare and social sector. Hence, when pandemic struck in 2020, it caught the world off-guard, as most of the countries started scrambling for health infrastructure.
