"The latest Victorian Auditor-General's report into the State's finances makes for diabolical reading and is a warning to all Australian jurisdictions of the cost of mismanaging their local economies," said Innes Willox, Chief Executive of the national employer association, the Australian Industry Group.
"Just when you thought things in Victoria couldn't get much worse, along comes this report which makes clear the State's financial position is deteriorating by the day with no plan to fix it.
"Victoria already has given itself a reputation as a notoriously difficult and unattractive place to invest and do business. High taxes, charges and levies, project cost overruns, uncertainty over energy supply and ever increasing regulations are making more and more businesses rethink possible investments and even their future in the State.
"The sense of despair from businesses large and small is palpable.
Perhaps the most alarming part of the Auditor-General's report is confirmation that the State has no long-term plan to fix the mess that has been created.
"It is becoming more likely that Victoria will need some form of federal assistance in the future to pay its way. The State is now clearly the sick economy of Australia, needing intervention to help it return to health.
"Industry hopes the State Government quickly manages to reverse course and start finding ways to reduce the business tax burden, cut the growth in regulation, provide energy certainty and get its budget under control. The longer it takes to do so, the longer the journey back to prosperity for all Victorians and the country as a whole," Mr Willox said.
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