Victorian Premier Ted Baillieu sets up a razor gang

TED Baillieu is setting up a new razor gang to slash public service costs as the state's financial liabilities soar by $10 a day for every man, woman and child.

The gang will seek savings across the public sector without touching frontline workers such as nurses, teachers and police.

The Government is scrambling to balance the books and contain debt. It has ruled out lifting taxes, fees or fines above inflation.

Premier Baillieu said his taskforce would look to the private sector and other governments for better ways of delivering services.

The Government yesterday released its mid-year report, which detailed an operating deficit of $341 million as of December.

But it predicted a surplus of $148 million by the end of the financial year, thanks to the arrival of delayed grants from Canberra and land tax income.

Net government debt has grown by $3.5 billion in just six months.

It $15.3 billion by the end of December.

"The debt is increasing because Labor's infrastructure commitments were unfunded," Mr Baillieu said.

Net financial liabilities soared by $10 billion in the six months to December - a rise of $10 a day for every Victorian - to a staggering $51.4 billion, largely due to a $6.5 billion increase in superannuation liabilities.

Revenue from stamp duty on property sales was down $360 million last year compared with 2010.

Despite the gloomy indicators, Mr Baillieu said he did not believe Victoria was heading for recession.

"I don't believe that's the case," Mr Baillieu said.

"I think every Victorian family is concerned about jobs, and we remain concerned about jobs, and that's why we want to ensure we have a sustainable budget position."

The Government's mid-year Budget update, released in December, saw the "sustainable government initiative" introduced, which included 3600 public service job cuts.

Community and Public Sector Union state secretary Karen Batt said job reductions would only worsen economic circumstances.

"(Now is) not the time to be laying off more public sector jobs and withdrawing that spending power from struggling regional communities," Ms Batt said.

Shadow treasurer Tim Holding said the mid-year report was bad news for Victorian families.

"The Budget position is deteriorating, and investment in infrastructure is deteriorating. The economy is grinding to a halt," Mr Holding said.

heraldsun.com.au 16 Mar 2012

Watch taxes go through the roof, as the sector's jobs decline and overworking current employees without financial reward occurs across the board.

Another government scam, that is putting employees into slavery, for the fear of loosing their jobs instilled by the employers.