Vic budget moved after 'tawdry' treatment

Victoria has moved its state budget forward to avoid a clash with the federal budget, as the treasurer says the state has been given "tawdry" treatment.

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull moved the May 10 federal budget to May 3 - clashing with Victoria's date - so Victorian Treasurer Tim Pallas said he would deliver his six days earlier on April 27.

"It is something that I think is disappointing, in the sense that what it does reflect is a pretty tawdry treatment of the state of Victoria by the commonwealth," Mr Pallas told reporters on Monday.

"It would have been better if they stuck to their traditional dates, if we all had stuck to our traditional dates."

Mr Pallas said the community deserved to be able to scrutinise both budgets separately.

"The Victorian economy is a $360 billion economy, our budget is a $55 billion budget," he said.

"The people of Victoria deserve the right to scrutinise it, analyse it and either like it or pass their judgment on it unencumbered by the federal budget."

Victoria's Treasury has been working on the assumption that the federal budget would be moved forward since speculation began weeks ago.

The treasurer said the date was brought forward to ensure the budget retained constitutional protections allowing it to pass even if the upper house doesn't agree to it.

Shadow treasurer Michael O'Brien said the government was gagging the opposition by pushing the budget reply back a week after it is delivered, not the usual two days.

But Mr Pallas said the opposition could start replying immediately under current rules.

Mr Pallas also said he wanted to see more infrastructure funding for Victoria coming out of Canberra on May 3.

"We're currently below nine per cent of national allocations - NSW is on 36 per cent. That is preposterous," he said.

"We get a pretty poor return when it comes to our national transport allocations."

But Opposition Leader Matthew Guy said Victoria needed to send more details about major projects to Canberra before the government gets the money it wants.

The Legislative Assembly will sit on April 27 to receive the budget, meaning it will sit one less day the week after.