Allan was characterised as diligent and dutiful, priding herself on being on top of her portfolios of transport infrastructure, the Suburban Rail Loop and delivering the Commonwealth Games. She expected the highest standards from her department and would forensically grill bureaucrats. Allan appeared to take pride in being across the detail.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Jacinta Allans speaks to the media after becoming Victoria\u2019s 49th premier. <\/span>Credit: <\/span>Jason South<\/cite><\/p>\n When, in June, she appeared before the public accounts and estimates committee to give a progress report on the Commonwealth Games, all those characteristics were on full display. Allan gave detailed answers on the many thousands of jobs that would be created and how the Games would be \u201ca great opportunity for regional Victoria to shine on the international stage\u201d.<\/p>\n There was not even a hint of any issue that could not be resolved. This was an event going full steam ahead.<\/p>\n And yet, on her telling, one day after appearing before the committee, then-premier Daniel Andrews informed Allan he was seeking legal advice from law firm Arnold Bloch Leibler about possibly dumping the Games. The reason for axing the event, now widely known, was a reported threefold increase in costs \u2013 to as much as $7 billion. A cost blowout that Commonwealth Games bureaucrats and Victorian Treasury officials had known about since April, two months before Allan went before the committee to boast of the Games\u2019 progress.<\/p>\n As previously reported by The Age<\/em>, the Office of the Commonwealth Games, the government department responsible for overseeing the planning and delivery of the event, submitted a detailed business case and operational plan to the Treasury before the May state budget asking for a $5 billion funding allocation to cover the increased costs. It also flagged that the cost overruns could require an extra $1 billion on top of its requested budget allocation.<\/p>\n Knowing her enthusiasm for being across her brief, it seems unlikely that Allan was absolutely oblivious to the escalating costs. And yet, according to Allan, the public is expected to believe that when she fronted the parliamentary committee she was completely unaware that the Games\u2019 future was in the balance.<\/p>\n And are we to believe that Andrews told outside private lawyers of the possible axing of the Games on the same day as the minister in charge of the event, who also happened to be his deputy and anointed successor?<\/p>\n For any politician, credibility is fundamental to their public standing. Allan needs to keep this in mind when dealing with this issue, but also more broadly.<\/p>\n Andrews\u2019 nine-year spell as premier was built on his can-do execution of a vast infrastructure program and a progressive social agenda. It has come at an enormous cost to the state\u2019s balance sheet. According to the state Treasury\u2019s May budget predictions, net debt is set to grow from about $135.4 billion by the middle of next year to $171.4 billion by mid-2027. That would represent an extraordinary $146 billion increase since 2018-19, just before the pandemic derailed the state\u2019s economy.<\/p>\n With Labor\u2019s infrastructure to-do list likely to keep costing the state about $20 billion a year for the foreseeable future, this is going to severely limit Allan\u2019s ability to unveil new significant spending with any credibility.<\/p>\n Not only should there be hard questions about whether the state could afford yet another big-ticket infrastructure project, but also whether any initial costings put on the table can be believed.<\/p>\n Allan\u2019s record of containing costs on infrastructure projects is woeful. In 2016, the North East Link was to cost $10 billion. Its price tag is now $16.5 billion. The West Gate Tunnel ballooned from $5.5 billion to $10 billion, while the Metro Tunnel went from $7.5 billion to $12 billion. Even the popular level crossing removals have all had significant cost overruns.<\/p>\n And while Labor continues to plough ahead with the Suburban Rail Loop \u2013 the largest financial albatross around its neck at $34.5 billion just for the first stage \u2013 there will be ongoing questions about its ability to keep the state from sinking even further into debt. The Age<\/em> would hope that Allan pins her credibility as premier on getting the massive infrastructure projects already on the slate completed without further cost overruns, and in a timely manner.<\/p>\n