Victoria’s treasurer delivers health-focused budget and promises return to surplus

Tim Pallas announces new hospitals, clearing of a surgery backlog and hiring of thousands of healthcare workers

• Victoria state budget at a glance
• In an election budget, Tim Pallas is fighting a war on many fronts
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The Victorian government will spend $12bn to repair its Covid-battered health system with the treasurer, Tim Pallas, confident the worst of the pandemic is behind the state and a return to surplus will happen in the near future.

Pallas's eighth budget, handed down on Tuesday, includes $2.9bn worth of new health infrastructure. This includes $900m to build a new hospital in Melton, in Melbourne's west, which will include a new 24-hour emergency department, an intensive care unit, along with maternity and mental health services.