Every value on this site, and where it came from.
The discipline of this project is that every chart is traceable to an official primary source — a Treasury Budget Paper, an ABS dataset, an RBA statistical table. This page lists every metric currently on the site, the publisher, the exact source document, and whether the values have been verified against that document or are still v0.1 seed values pending verification.
5 of 5 metrics are currently verified against their source. The rest are flagged below.
| Chart | Publisher | Source | Status | Verified |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Annual Interest Expense fiscal | Australian Bureau of Statistics | ABS GFS 2024-25 — Vic State GG Operating Statement | Verified — XLSX | 2026-05-17 Rob Ward + Claude (sum of 'Interest on defined benefit superannuation' + 'Interest expenses n.e.c.', $m to $bn) |
| Net Debt fiscal | Department of Treasury and Finance, Victoria | DTF Historical Aggregates (2026-27 Budget release) | Verified — XLSX | 2026-05-17 Rob Ward + Claude (manual transcription from XLSX rows, sheet 'Net Debt - Gen Govt from 1987', col 1) |
| Net Debt as % of GSP fiscal | DTF Vic / NSW Treasury / ABS | Net debt: state BPs; GSP: ABS 5220.0 | Verified — XLSX | 2026-05-17 Computed from verified inputs: Vic net debt + NSW net debt (both verified against state Treasury Historical Fiscal Indicators) ÷ ABS 5220.0 GSP (verified). QLD comparator line uses v0.1 net debt seed. |
| State Tax per Capita tax | Australian Bureau of Statistics | ABS 5506.0 + ERP (ABS 3101.0) | Verified — XLSX | 2026-05-17 Computed from verified inputs: ABS 5506.0 state tax aggregates (verified) ÷ ABS 3101.0 ERP (verified), deflated by RBA G1 CPI (verified). |
| State Tax Revenue by Line tax | Department of Treasury and Finance, Victoria | DTF Taxation Revenue annual XLSX (2023-24 Budget Update release) | Verified — XLSX | 2026-05-17 Rob Ward + Claude (one sheet per tax line item, col 1 for FY actuals; 2023-24 from forecast col 3 since this dataset predates actuals lock) |
Verification process
A metric is marked verified only after a human has compared every year's value to the cited source document and confirmed they match within rounding. Where a value comes from a forward estimate published by the source (rather than an actuals figure), the value carries the same status the source assigns.
v0.1 seed values are placeholders entered from memory of public Budget Papers during initial scaffolding. They are usually within a few percent of the verified figures but should not be cited externally until upgraded to verified status.
Sources we deliberately do not use
- IBAC investigation reports (defamation risk, partial fact patterns)
- Media reports of “scandals” (selection bias)
- Opposition party material (selection bias)
- Government media releases (spin)
If it's not in a Treasury document, an ABS dataset, an RBA table, a Crime Stats CSV, or an Auditor-General report, it is not on The Victoria Ledger.