Ms King lamented the lack of support for the health and education sectors and the failure to match the state government’s recent infrastructure commitment to the Ballarat rail line.

“It (the budget) cuts a further $2.1 billion from health and that includes continuing to introduce cuts to bulk billing (across a range of medical services),” she said.

“It continues to cut from non-government organisations in health and that includes drug and alcohol services.

“There is no commitment for rail duplication, (but) there is a small amount of money for improvement to the Western Highway (under the National Highway Upgrade Program).”

Ms King said there was also no specific commitment to the Ballarat Sports and Events Centre, which still requires considerable funding.

However, she did concede there was “good” investment for small businesses.