Daniel Andrews and Labor have spent more than $24.4 billion since coming to government in November 2014 on consultants, contractors and labour hire in the major government departments, Victoria Police and Court Services Victoria. These figures do not include the hundreds of Victorian government statutory authorities and agencies beyond the listed central government agencies.
The spending on contractors, consultants and labour hire has surged under Labor, lifting from $1.281 billion in 2014-15 to $4.497 billion in 2021-22 and an estimated $4.8 billion in 2022-23, an increase of $3.52 billion or 275 per cent.
This 275 per cent surge in spending is a measure of Labor’s waste and mismanagement.
The number of consultants, contractors and labour hire surged quickly under Labor in these central government agencies with spending on departments in 2015-16 at $1.504 billion, lifting to $1.788 billion in 2016-17.
The wasteful spending took off further, reaching $1.929 billion in 2017-18, $2.309 billion in 2018-19, $2.708 billion in 2019-20. By 2020-21 the consultancy, contractor and labour hire spend in these central agencies had rocketed to $3.614 billion; surging further in 2021-22 to $4.497 billion.
The figures reported to the Public Accounts and Estimates Committee show that the year-to-date estimates for contractors, consultancies and labour hire in 2022-23 are $3.609 billion but incomplete with 13 agencies or departments providing figures to varying dates between the 31st of December 2022 and March or May 2023. When the deficiencies are extrapolated for the remainder of the year, the estimated spend on contractors, consultants and labour hire in 2022-23 will exceed $4.8 billion.
The attached spreadsheets and graphs demonstrate clearly the surge in consultancy, contractor and labour hire spending under Daniel Andrews’ Labor government.
Daniel Andrews’ extravagant spending on consultants, contractors and labour hire has occurred at a time when he has increased the size of the public service from 222,920 in 2014-15 to 290,932 in 2021-22, the most recent available figure, and Victorian public sector employment spending has increased from $19.834 billion in 2014-15 to a budgeted $36.623 billion in 2023-24. The spending on consultants, contractors and labour hire highlighted in the tables and spreadsheets is in addition to the surge in the size of spending on public sector employment.
Labor promised before the 2014 election to cut the number of consultants.
The size of Daniel Andrews’ spending on consultants, contractor and labour hire is just marginally less than the estimated land tax revenue in 2022-23 of $5.1 billion.
This analysis deals only with the major government departments, Victorian Funds Management Corporation, Court Services Victoria, Major Transport Infrastructure Authority, Parliament of Victoria and Victoria Police. There are hundreds of authorities and agencies which do not comprehensively report their spending on contractors, consultants and labour hire. If these agencies were included, the spending would be billions of dollars more.
Daniel Andrews’ spending on consultants, contractors and labour hire has surged by 275% – vast amounts of this money have been squandered and should have been used in relief for Victorians facing heavy cost of living pressures.
Andrews should not have squandered Victorian taxpayers’ money on highly paid contractors and consultants.
Labor have lost control of departmental and agency spending on these consultant and contractor fat cats, many of them Labor mates.
Victorians have got to ask whether this extraordinary spending is value for money and what taxpayers have got as Daniel Andrews has reached into their pockets to pay for his pet consultants and contractors.
Labor’s contractors, consultancy and labour hire gravy train is costing taxpayers dearly.
David Davis MP
Shadow Special Minister of State
June 2023
Channel 7 News – my interview can be viewed here.