- 7 months ago
NSW Treasurer Daniel Mookhey delivers the 2025/26 NSW State Budget. Footage: Parliament of NSW
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00:00I'm on the land of the Gadigal so I offer my respects to their elders past
00:05and present. Speaker, I have returned to the People's House to present the Minns
00:11Government's third budget. For those in New South Wales renting a home, those
00:16wanting to buy a home and those anxious about whether they, their children or
00:21their grandchildren will ever be able to afford a home, this Labor budget delivers
00:26even more investment. For the workers, managers, entrepreneurs, innovators,
00:31investors and businesses wanting to expand in New South Wales, wanting to
00:37create more jobs, wanting to earn or pay higher wages, this Labor budget delivers
00:43even more reform. And for the kids in our schools, the patients in our hospitals, the
00:49tradies in our TAFEs, the commuters on our roads and passengers on our trains, this
00:54Labor budget delivers even more resources to rebuild our essential
00:59services. Today I set forth the next steps the Minns Labor Government will take to
01:06build a better New South Wales. Let me begin by explaining how we intend to build
01:11more homes for a state that sorely needs them. Speaker, in 2023 I stood here and made
01:20a record investment in housing for the state's essential workers. In 2024 I came back to launch
01:29the biggest investment in social housing since World War II. A historic $5.1 billion plan
01:37to build 8,400 homes for social housing. Half of them for the victim survivors of family and domestic
01:46violence. Today I am announcing a nation leading market intervention to get the private sector to
01:53build, build and build even more homes for our citizens to buy and rent. I can announce that the
02:00Minns Labor Government will become the guarantor of up to $1 billion worth of new housing projects on a rolling basis,
02:08bringing forward the construction of up to 15,000 extra market homes over the next five years.
02:15These are the projects that will add more low to medium density housing in neighbourhoods people love to live in.
02:25The most challenging projects to deliver under current market conditions, also the projects we need to get
02:31started and get built to tackle the affordability crisis. For eligible projects, the new guarantee,
02:38the government will say that we will guarantee the sale of a set number of homes, sparing industry
02:44from some of the time and cost of having to convince their lenders that there are enough buyers
02:51for the homes they want to build, letting them get on with building more homes for people to buy,
02:56making sure more of the homes that are getting approved are then getting built. Paired with the pre-sale
03:04finance guarantee is a tax cut to spur the construction of more apartments for people to rent.
03:11The government will make permanent the 50% land tax discount for build to rent projects, ending doubt
03:20about whether these projects can get funding from the market, sending a strong signal that build to rent
03:26is here to stay. We will also make it easier for industry to partner with governments to build the
03:33streets, pavements, lights, schools, police stations and other vital essential services needed in our towns
03:41and suburbs as communities expand. A new works in kind contribution regime will let industry offset
03:49investment in neighbourhood services from their tax bill when it's in the public's interest to do so.
03:57More investment in essential worker housing, record investment in social housing, the pre-sale
04:03finance guarantee, permanent build to rent land tax concessions, a new works in kind works regime,
04:10all policies to build, build and build our way out of the housing crisis.
04:15But we need more people to build them. More plumbers, more electricians, more carpenters,
04:21more constructions workers. That is why the 2025 budget is delivering a record
04:273.4 billion dollar investment in TAFE and skills funding. This is an extra 1.2 billion dollars for TAFE
04:36over the next four years for 23,000 newly trained construction workers, to upskill 4,800 tradies to
04:45be site ready, to launch more school career fairs and to offer 3,000 trier trade opportunities in
04:53constructions. And with 78 million dollars we will retain high quality educators by converting TAFE
05:01teachers from casual to permanent. The forms I announce today complement the reform the government
05:09has implemented already to cut taxes for first home buyers and begin overhauling our planning system.
05:16Since 1 July 2023, 62,000 first home buyers have saved an average of 20,500 dollars on stamp duty.
05:27Meanwhile, the Housing Delivery Authority is streamlining assessments for 53,000 new homes
05:34for people to own or rent. The infill housing bonus has meant we have approved 2,800 extra dwellings,
05:42500 set aside for affordable homes. The Transport Oriented Development Programme has led to proposals
05:49to build thousands of extra homes within 400 metres of public transport in neighbourhoods people love to
05:56live in. Average assessment times for councils have fallen 17 percent and just last month they fell below
06:04100 days for the first time since 2022. Together these measures have meant that more than 70,000 new homes
06:14are under construction. A housing crisis that was decades in the making will not end overnight. So let us all
06:23resolve to keep building, to keep reforming, to make sure that New South Wales never turns into a state
06:30that cannot not afford to house its grandchildren. Because everyone deserves to live in a secure home
06:37they can afford, including children for whom it is unsafe to live at their home. Kids in state care,
06:46the state's most vulnerable children. Speaker, I remind the House, in March 2023,
06:54more than 100 children cared for by the state of New South Wales were sleeping in motels.
06:59Unaccredited emergency accommodation, no proper support, barely adequate supervision.
07:08I further remind the House that in March 2023, nearly one in 10 caseworker positions at the Department of
07:16Community Justice were vacant. DCJ had all but stopped recruiting foster carers and no foster carer had
07:26received a major rise in the foster care allowance since it was introduced over 20 years ago.
07:35But today I can report to this House better news. Since April this year, for the first time in over
07:4420 years, no children are staying in motels. Why? Minister Washington has spent two years leading
07:54reforms to a broken system. Meaning New South Wales can invest more so kids under state care get safe care.
08:03Today I announce the biggest investment in child protection in New South Wales history.
08:09A record $1.2 billion uplist. The first major investment in nearly two decades.
08:16$797.6 million of additional funding will fix what was a chronically and tragically underfunded system.
08:26And $191.5 million is set aside to give 2,126 caseworkers a pay rise. Helping us fill the 200 caseworker
08:38positions still vacant. Letting us create 100 new leading caseworker roles. Paid for by mutual gains
08:46bargaining. Funded from the savings created by no longer having to pay labour hire firms to care for
08:54kids in motels. I can also announce the first major increase in the foster care allowance in 20 years.
09:01Year. It's going up by 20% starting 1 January 2026. For the foster carer of a five-year-old child,
09:10that is $3,411.20 extra per year. For the foster carer of a 14-year-old, that is $4,556 more per
09:21annum. Those we'd love to give a child needing foster care should have the financial means to do so.
09:28Budget 25 makes that more possible. Speaker, last year this government began paying recruits training
09:37to become the state's next police officers at the Goulburn Police Academy. Since then, 4,296 people
09:44have made applications to join New South Wales Police. More than ever before. We also made New
09:50South Wales Police the best paid in the nation. Delivering them a once in a generation pay rise,
09:56paid for by fixing a police insurance scheme no longer fit for purpose. A mutual gain, no wage cap
10:03needed. In Budget 2025, we invest more in justice and crime prevention. There is half a billion dollars
10:11extra to improve access to justice as well as to support the victim survivors of domestic and family
10:16violence. $226.8 million is for the victim support scheme. $34.5 million is for building 15 new courtrooms
10:26including 10 virtual courtrooms to speed up remote bail hearings and reduce delays. There is $272.7 million
10:35set aside to support the state's domestic, family and sexual violence assistance services, meaning their
10:41baseline funding is 50% higher than it was in February 2023. And the government will spend $49.4 million
10:50building a vulnerable person's court hub so children and women no longer have to be in the same room as an
10:57alleged defender when giving evidence. Speaker, Budget 2025 sees the government deliver relief
11:05and reform as families recover from the most severe shock to the cost of living in decades. Doctors bulk
11:13billing more than 80% of their patients in metropolitan Sydney and 70% of patients in regional New South Wales
11:19remain exempt from payroll tax on contractor wages. The New South Wales Motor Waste Corporation begins
11:25operations from next week, seeded with a $58 million investment in this budget as the work of fixing the
11:32privatised toll concessions entered into by our predecessors goes on. Relief initiatives like these
11:41count in the short term, but only if matched with reform for the long term. And the best reform for the
11:47long term is to make sure real wages grow for the families of New South Wales. That is why I'm glad to
11:54report to the House that real wages are expected to grow each year for the next four years. This is the
12:02progress we are making. But further progress is not assured. Real wage growth is threatened if the
12:10Premier State returns to policies that lead to wage suppression. Policies like a wage cap for essential
12:16workers. So any party determined to make living in New South Wales more affordable would immediately rule out
12:24reintroducing the wage cap that applied in New South Wales from 2020 12 to 2023. Speaker, major new
12:34investments in TAFE, in child protection and access to justice are just the beginning. Budget 2526 invests
12:41more in the essential services people rely on. Let's begin with health. Public hospitals should always
12:48be a centre on public health, not private profits. We do not want an Americanised healthcare system here
12:57in New South Wales. We do not want and should never have led private equity firms run public emergency wards
13:05like at the Northern Beaches Hospital. That's why this Labor government banned by law the previous Liberal
13:13government's public hospital privatisation model. We choose to invest in public hospitals. We refuse to
13:20sell them. Hence our 12.4 billion dollars spend on health infrastructure in budget 2025. Work to build
13:30Western Sydney's first new hospital in 40 years at Rouse Hill continues with an additional 910 million
13:38dollars so the hospital can open with maternity services. A further 700 million dollars will bring
13:45the Bankstown Hospital rebuild to two billion dollars in total. 492 million will establish a new pathology
13:53hub at Westmead. This is combined with a further 158.8 million for regional helicopter bases in Port Macquarie,
14:02Moria and Wagga. In maternity care, 105.7 million dollars will grow the workforce and expand regionally
14:11and culturally responsive care. And 836.4 million dollars will support core health services reducing
14:21overdue surgeries and it will fund the opening of new and upgraded hospitals including the Children's
14:27Hospital at Westmead, the Sydney Children's Hospital at Randwick and Gunnedah Hospital. Our people need
14:34homes, they need skills and they need good public transport. Good public transport makes for more
14:40than just a quick ride home. It hands people back their time. So that is why the budget invests 522.2 million
14:49to improve public transport across the state. There is 369.9 million dollars to maintain and increase bus
14:57services across Western Sydney, adding school routes, improving reliability and integrating the bus
15:03network better with trains and Sydney's new metros. We're also adding 75 new buses with an 82.3 million
15:12investment and we're rebuilding our local bus industry as part of that initiative ensuring what can be made
15:20here will be made here. Turning to energy. The New South Wales Government will be investing alongside the
15:27private sector. This budget includes continued investment of 2.1 billion dollars via the transmission
15:34acceleration facility to fast track five renewable energy zones from the Central West Irana to the Illawarra.
15:42We've completed financing for the Central West Irana transmission project, unlocking 20 billion dollars in private
15:48investment, 5,000 construction jobs and clean energy for 2 million homes. To support this further we're investing
15:57115.5 million dollars in a logistics hub at the port of Newcastle and 128 million dollars is set aside for
16:08community benefits in host regions. With emissions down 20 percent since 2019 2020, New South Wales is now
16:17more than halfway to meeting our 2030 renewable energies target. The Aerotropolis is a major part of Western
16:26Sydney's future. That's why we've invested 1 billion dollars for the first stage of the 15th Avenue
16:32upgrade. Alongside these roads a further 123.6 million dollars this year is allocated for the safety and
16:41minor works needed to get the Aerotropolis ready for opening day. It's just the latest in more than 25
16:47billion dollars of public infrastructure investment in the Aerotropolis from the New South Wales and the
16:52Australian governments. The impact of a directly and globally connected Western Sydney is why we're
17:01spending 5.5 billion dollars for roads across Western Sydney including 220 million dollars for the Henry
17:08Lawson Drive and upgrades to major corridors like the M7 Richmond Road and Townsend Road and roads to
17:15support the new Rouse Hill Hospital. We're also making our roads safer statewide with 731.7 million
17:23in 2025-26 for safer school zones, better signage and thousands of kilometres of new line markings and
17:31crash barriers. And we're investing 500 million dollars to finally deliver Mona Vale Road West. Across
17:43across regional New South Wales we are partnering with the federal government to deliver major new roads and
17:48upgrades. The Riverina Murray region will benefit from 206 million dollars worth of upgraded roads between
17:55parks and the Victorian border, improving safety and reducing delays where inland rail intersects with
18:02state roads. 23.1 million dollars will begin construction to widen the Marshalls Creek Bridge and reduce
18:09congestion in Wagga Wagga. The Illawarra Shoalhaven will benefit from 680.5 million dollars to continue
18:18Princess High Wage projects including upgrades to Jervis Bay Road and the Milton Ulladulla Bypass.
18:24741.7 million dollars will continue construction of the M1 to Raymond Terrace Extension and the Hexham
18:32Strait widening projects. 267 million dollars will fast track construction on the Musselbrook Bypass and
18:40100 million dollars will fund the westbound overpass at the Maitland Roundabout. As for the emergency
18:47services, this government is backing our first responders. Budget 2025 includes 42.2 million dollars
18:56for a new 24-hour fire station at Badgeries Creek servicing Western Sydney International Airport and its
19:02surroundings. 34.4 million dollars is there to lease firefighting aircraft. 50 million dollars will be
19:10spent upgrading police ICT systems and 46.3 million dollars is for a new offshore patrol vessel. And in
19:18an era of growing digital threats, we're investing 87.7 million dollars to strengthen cyber security NSW.
19:27But for the communities that feel the effects of natural disasters,
19:31we know we have more to do. 154.5 million dollars is being delivered to help communities recover from
19:38Cyclone Alfred. 358.3 million dollars is set aside in this budget to respond to the May 2025 East Coast floods.
19:49This budget we've allocated another 27 million dollars to repair water and sewer infrastructure damaged in the
19:552022 Central West floods. In total, this budget sets aside 4.2 billion dollars for disaster relief,
20:05for communities still recovering from disasters over the past several years.
20:09The budget also delivers a record 731.8 million dollars to support First Nations communities across New South Wales,
20:18reflecting our deep commitment to partnership, self-determination and better outcomes.
20:23We are investing 246.8 million dollars in closing the gaps initiatives and we're also committing a further 48.9 million
20:31for housing, new Aboriginal controlled early childhood education centres and other community supports.
20:40Speaker, this government is unapologetically pro-growth.
20:45We want the jobs, we want the homes, we want the innovation that will make us prosper.
20:52In preparing for this budget, I've been meeting with those who are building New South Wales and building
20:57in New South Wales every day. The workers, manufacturers, investors, tech leaders and innovators,
21:04whose decisions help determine the pace of New South Wales' economic growth.
21:10I've asked them directly, what is stopping you from scaling your business? What is stopping you from
21:15creating more jobs? Or paying higher wages? Or spending more on research and development?
21:21Above all, what stops you from investing more in New South Wales? And they tell me,
21:27everything about New South Wales is awesome. Except the time it takes to get major projects done.
21:35Every serious economist agrees, more private sector investment will unlock the next great era of
21:44Australian economic growth. Getting major projects, the projects that drive productivity,
21:50we need to get them built faster. That is why we are creating the Investment Delivery Authority,
21:55modelled on the successful Housing Delivery Authority, to fast-track approvals of non-residential
22:01investments worth over $1 billion. We expect the IDA will help bring forward up to $50 billion
22:10in private investment each year by cutting through red tape and helping projects move from concept
22:16to construction faster. We are talking about the renewable energy projects, data centres, hotels and
22:23logistics precincts that create jobs, lift wages, boost productivity and lift our living standards.
22:30But Speaker, in a modern innovative economy, it has to be paired with education. Education does not
22:37just help our children to lead fulfilled lives, it is an economic investment. Yet we have been confronted
22:44with decades of declining standards and record high teacher vacancies left to us by our predecessors.
22:51More merged and cancelled classrooms. That is why the first budget of this Labor Government injected
22:58hundreds of hundreds of hundreds of millions of dollars extra into education, growing average funding per
23:02student from $14,819 in 2023 to $17,022 in 2025. We have driven down teacher vacancies by 40%. We have
23:15halved the numbers of merged and cancelled classes. But our work was just beginning. In February,
23:23after the leadership of the Deputy Premier, the New South Wales and Australian Labor Government signed
23:29an agreement that would inject $10.4 billion into public education over the next decade. This includes
23:37$5.6 billion from the Minns Labor Government alongside $4.8 billion from the Albanese Labor Government,
23:442020. Meaning more small group tutoring, more specialised support, more advanced opportunities in
23:51our public schools. The agreement fulfils the funding objective promised in the Gonski reforms so long ago.
24:01We're investing $9 billion over four years to build and upgrade schools where they're needed most.
24:06Today's budget includes funding for four new schools that will add 140 classrooms to accommodate 2,500 students.
24:16The South West will have a new primary school in Emerald Hills and a new high school in Wilton.
24:20Grantham Farm in the North West will have a new primary school and West Dapdo in the Illawarra will have
24:26a new primary school which is finally accounted for in this budget. These new schools are accompanied by new
24:34upgrades at Newington, Excelsior, Thornton, Rydalmy East, Ermington West, Asquith, Bayside and Northern
24:42Beaches Secondary College. Since being elected, the Minns Labor Government has commenced construction
24:48on more than 25 new and upgraded schools for growing communities across New South Wales,
24:53with another 30 set to begin before the end of 2025. Good investment for our kids, good investment for our
25:00economy. Showing again that Labor is the party of education and Labor will always be the party of
25:07education. New South Wales relies on selling the intelligence of our people to the world.
25:15We will grow our economy faster by backing our creative industries. That is why there is $586 million
25:22in budget 2025 for tourism, film, screen, games and our other artistic industries. That includes $280.6
25:32million for Screens NSW to bring stories to life right here and a further $100 million for a new film
25:42studio taking our local industry to the world. In addition, $135 million is for Destin NSW to help
25:51us grow our visitor economy. And a further $91.3 million will be spent renewing tracks,
25:56campgrounds and picnic areas in our national parks which attract millions of visitors each year.
26:04Speaker, this budget sets a clear direction that NSW is open for business, we're a great place to
26:11innovate and invest and we're ready to grow. The growth sometimes starts small. So the new $79.2
26:18million innovation blueprint will back emerging technologies, commercialisation, advanced
26:23manufacturing and ensure young entrepreneurs can connect with the incubators, accelerators and
26:29capital they need to scale. We're also investing $472.9 million in long-term biodiversity protection and
26:38land management to secure and protect regional economic growth and regional primary industries.
26:45But getting projects built faster, investing more in the skills and talents of one of the world's best
26:52workforces, backing our creative industries, all these policies will boost growth. But their effect
27:01will be undermined if 340,000 small businesses have to pay 36% more in workers' compensation premiums
27:10because the parliament has refused to reform a workers' compensation system that is failing injured
27:17workers, failing small businesses and failing the taxpayers too. Speaker, the Legislative Assembly has
27:24done its part. Your House did what our citizens expect MPs to do. Grapple with facts, make hard decisions,
27:32do not make the perfect the enemy of the good. You sent a bill to the Legislative Council. But heretofore,
27:39the Council has even refused to debate the bill. Because reform is blocked, the budget is hit by $2.6
27:46billion in additional workers' compensation liabilities. Most of those expenses fall in the current budget
27:53year and next budget year. So those blocking reform need to explain why this is a good use of public money,
28:00especially since it's public money that we could invest in preventing workplace injuries and getting
28:05sick and injured workers back to work, let alone pumping more money into our schools, hospital, roads or
28:12public transport. Every dollar injected into a failing system denies that dollar to our essential services.
28:19Speaker, fixing a broken workers' compensation scheme, countering the housing crisis, supporting
28:27the state's most vulnerable children, backing business and workers, investing even more in our
28:32schools and hospitals, building the roads and public transport of the future. This is the progress we can
28:37make in Budget 2526. Progress made possible by Labor's careful management of the public's finances.
28:45This budget improves our state's fiscal position without privatisation or an unfair wages cap.
28:53And I'm pleased to report that it outlines a pathway to a $1.1 billion surplus by 2027-2028.
29:02It will be the first surplus since 2018-19 and represents a major turnaround from New South
29:08Wales' worst ever budget deficit, the $15.3 billion reported in 21-22, a recovery staged despite New
29:17South Wales losing $12.6 billion in GST income last year. Our careful spending will see the deficit fall
29:25from $10.7 billion in 23-24 to $5.7 billion in 24-25, a $5 billion improvement. In 25-26, tight spending
29:34discipline will see the deficit fall again to $3.4 billion. Then in 26-27, the deficit is likely to
29:41be $1.1 billion. And finally in 27-28 and 28-29, we are on track to report two consecutive
29:49surpluses of approximately $1.1 billion each year. I can further report expense growth is now projected
29:56to average just 2.4% a year, down from 6.2% under the previous government. This is responsible,
30:05sustainable budgeting, delivering real investments while building long-term resilience.
30:11We've also stabilised the state's debt. The $188.2 billion of gross debt projected in the 2023
30:20pre-election budget update is now set to be $178.8 billion by June 2026. Almost $10 billion of
30:30coalition debt has been avoided. And it's been done while delivering one of the largest infrastructure
30:35programs on record. By avoiding this debt, we save around $400 million in interest payments each year.
30:43This is $400 million that is helping secure the future of our essential services.
30:50As for the state's economic outlook, Treasury's analysis shows the New South Wales economy is
30:55returning to normal following the disruptions primarily caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
31:01For most of the last three years, the rising cost of living and higher interest rates
31:05have put pressures on households and dragged on economic growth.
31:10The challenge now is no longer high inflation, but low growth.
31:16In this budget, we show that cost of living pressures and interest rates are easing,
31:21and opportunities for economic growth are emerging.
31:23In this budget, we will be able to increase the cost of living and higher interest rates.
31:30In this budget, we will be able to increase the cost of living and higher interest rates.
31:34And more than 38,000 new small businesses have been created in New South Wales in the two years to June 2024.
31:43While global developments always pose economic risks, the underlying economic fundamentals of New South
31:49Wales point to a pickup in growth over the coming years. Our robust balance sheet equips us to support
31:57the New South Wales economy come what may. Speaker, the Min's government is focused on the future of
32:04economic growth. It's focused on the future of families, their jobs, their businesses, their wages,
32:09their hospitals, their schools, their essential services. The budget shows how in each year of this
32:16young government, we make progress. We have added to our ambition, we are building a better New South
32:22Wales. So I return to the other players, proud to commend these bills to your house.
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