The Victorian government still hasn't set a date for its "unprecedented" budget.
Premier Daniel Andrews hosed down speculation the 2020/21 budget would be released on November 10, after it was added as a sitting day for the parliament's lower house on Thursday morning.
"The treasurer will make announcements about budget day soon. November 10 will not be the budget. It is not the date," Mr Andrews told reporters, explaining the sitting day was added to mark Remembrance Day.
Opposition Leader Michael O'Brien claims the government has been "deliberately holding back" the budget until the inquiry into its failed hotel quarantine program hands down its final report.
"This is all about political spin. It's all about media manipulation," Mr O'Brien told reporters outside parliament on Thursday.
"They don't want to have their budget overshadowed by the failures that will be no doubt reported in the hotel quarantine inquiry."
The Board of Inquiry on Thursday confirmed it will deliver an interim report on November 6, the date it was due to hand over its final report to Governor Linda Dessau.
The final report - containing a full set of recommendations and findings - has been delayed until December 21.
Mr Andrews denied the budget would be delayed by the inquiry.
"The budget is not a distraction," he said.
"The budget will be a budget like no other and it is a big piece of work. We must give all our officials and all our teams the time needed to put together a budget that is unprecedented in size and scale."
Treasurer Tim Pallas has said the government would take advantage of the historically low cost of borrowing to repair the unprecedented damage caused to the state's economy by COVID-19.
"We need not to pursue surplus, we need not to be so obsessed about debt that we fail to remember our principal obligation is to the wellbeing of Victorians and to use our balance sheet to protect them," Mr Pallas told reporters in mid-October.
He said the government would invest in social housing and make a concerted effort to get women back to work, areas which many economists said were overlooked in the federal budget.
It comes as Victoria's Department of Treasury and Finance 2019/20 annual report was tabled in parliament on Thursday.
It reveals the department is working on a funding and financing strategy for the Suburban Rail Loop, a project tipped to cost at least $50 billion and take some 25 years to complete.
Australian Associated Press
