Victorian Liberals pledge to halve elective surgery waitlist, Labor vows to reverse 2023 land-tax cuts

Facing a growing elective surgery backlog of roughly 68,730 Victorians, the Liberal coalition pledged a scheme that would allow public patients to receive treatment in private hospitals without charge, targeting an extra 25,000 procedures each year and a 50% reduction in wait times. Funding would come from winding down the Breakthrough Victoria fund, which has recently reported losses and been merged with LaunchVic. The private hospital sector welcomed the plan, citing similar results in Queensland.

Meanwhile, Labor announced it would roll back the 2023 land-tax reforms that lowered the taxable-value threshold from $300,000 to $50,000, a change that added about 250,000 taxpayers and is projected to cost $230 million over five years. Premier Ben Carroll said the reversal would be financed by consolidating the government car fleet and delaying level-crossing projects.