Jaclyn Symes projects $1bn surplus in Victorian Budget
Victoria’s victorian budget is set to show a $700m operating surplus for 2025-26 and a forecast $1bn surplus for 2026-27. Treasurer Jaclyn Symes said Labor’s budget is in surplus while continuing to invest in the frontline services Victorians rely on.
The 2026-27 state budget is due to be handed down on Tuesday afternoon. The 2025-26 result would be Victoria’s first surplus since before the Covid-19 pandemic, after the state last posted a surplus in 2018-19, when finances were $1bn in the black.
Jaclyn Symes and Jess Wilson
Symes projected the $1bn surplus ahead of Tuesday’s budget and said, “Labor’s budget is in surplus while continuing to invest in the frontline services Victorians rely on.” She also said, “Jess Wilson’s Liberals will do what they always do – they will cut funding, close hospitals and sack workers.”
Wilson, the opposition leader and shadow treasurer, said on Monday, “This doesn’t take into account the billions of dollars that is going into infrastructure spend – into roads, into schools, into hospitals.” She also said, “It’s all well and good for the premier and the treasurer to stand up and talk about a $700m operating surplus but it does nothing to manage the debt bomb that is running under this government.”
Victoria’s Debt and Cash Deficits
The surplus forecast is down by $943m from December’s forecast. The government said the budget would show average surpluses of $1.7bn across the forward estimates period, even as the December budget update estimated cash deficits of $9.68bn in 2025-26, $7.3bn in 2026-27, $6.8bn in 2027-28 and $8.1bn in 2028-29.
That same update put net debt at $165.8bn at June 2026, rising to $192.6bn by 2028-29. Allan said on Monday, “We understand that it is important to drive down the percentage of debt as a share of the economy.” She added, “We also understand in these uncertain times that it’s really important to help people.”
Jacinta Allan and 2.6%
Allan said reducing debt “hard and fast” would hurt households, while the premier said Victoria’s economic growth has averaged 2.6% annually over the decade. The budget’s operating surplus returns the state to black on the headline figure, but the cash deficit and debt path remain part of the same financial picture.
For readers watching the budget for direct effects, the immediate change is a stronger operating result paired with a still-heavy debt load. Tuesday’s budget will show whether the government uses the surplus to keep its spending plan intact while trying to slow the debt rise through the rest of the forward estimates.
