Saul Eslake has taken the moment of Jacinta Allen’s fall to provide some useful advice to whoever inherits her mess. Eslake tackles Victoria’s net government debt, which has ballooned under Labour, rising $143 billion since it came to power and forecast to hit almost $200 billion by 2029-30 – or about a quarter of the state’s economy. Recent budgets show small operating surpluses, but this is misleading, Eslake argues, because capital spending is excluded while Commonwealth capital grants are included.