For people like our state political reporter Rory McClaren, budget day is on par with Christmas Day. Here’s why he thinks everyone should care about what’s in those budget papers:
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Hundreds of pages, multiple volumes and eye-watering amounts of money might not normally be your thing, but you should care about this state budget.
The third Malinauskas government budget will outline in black and white how it plans to spend taxpayer money — your money — over coming years.
It’s not just spending the revenue it has coming in from various sources. The budget also shows what needs to be borrowed by the government to deliver things like major projects.
When it comes to doing just that, the government has a significant pipeline already pledged and in development, like the $15.6 billion Torrens to Darlington tunnel build and the $3.2 billion new Women’s and Children’s Hospital.
And as Premier Peter Malinauskas and his cabinet struggles with ongoing woes across the public hospital system, health spending already consumes about a third of the entire budget on an annual basis.
That figure will grow further once full details of the programs are revealed as the state government tried to make good on its pledge to “fix” the ramping crisis.
There are always important and worthy stories in a budget. Some the government really want told, others … not so much. And some stories take time to emerge.
From a state political journalist’s perspective, the budget provides further direction and clarity about the government’s priorities.
Especially as the state is now closer to the next election than it is from the last.