This Month
Home sales, tax blunder push out NSW budget gap
Sluggish home sales, more help with energy bills and a $440 million tax miscalculation have increased the budget deficit in Australia’s most populous state.
- Luke Costin
November
Vic, NSW splurge putting Australia’s credit rating at risk: Fitch
Fitch Ratings has warned that state level deficits have risen sharply and were becoming increasingly important in its assessment of Australia’s fiscal position.
- Gus McCubbing, Patrick Durkin and Michael Read
Mortgage brokers back NSW payroll tax inquiry
A NSW parliamentary committee will examine retrospective application of payroll tax laws widened by courts which has angered companies using contractors.
- James Eyers
NSW braces for Trump trade turbulence and bond market shocks
The state’s treasurer has warned an erosion in free trade could make Australians poorer, as the incoming administration weighs imposing costly tariffs.
- Michael Read
October
- Analysis
- Government Observed
From small budget changes, big things grow
Minor technical tweaks by government can drive big changes. Including the economic benefits of First Nations culture into NSW budgeting is a game-changer.
- Tom Burton
Mortgage brokers go to war with NSW over tax grab
Moves by the state to levy payroll tax on aggregators connecting mortgage brokers with lenders will force some of them to quit the industry.
- James Eyers
July
- Updated
- Roads
Review finds Transurban should be forced to renegotiate Sydney tolls
The recommendations put the NSW government on a collision course with the ASX-listed motorway giant, which controls 11 of the city’s 13 toll roads.
- Updated
- Jenny Wiggins
- Opinion
- Chanticleer
Transurban hijacks NSW toll review, raises social licence stakes
Transurban changed its tune in June, promising to be part of the solution. It has six months to come up with something better for Sydney’s drivers.
- Anthony Macdonald
June
- Opinion
- Bonds
Are state governments on the brink of a debt crisis?
Victoria and Queensland have caught the infrastructure fever from NSW and have super-sized it. But financial discipline is in short supply.
- Tim Hext
NSW’s new $47b fund loads up on equities to chase returns
NSW’s TCorp will combine more than six funds into one big fund and shoot for higher returns. It will lean on equities to do the heavy lifting.
- Anthony Macdonald
- Opinion
- The AFR View
Mookhey’s NSW budget misinformation
The truth is NSW doesn’t have a revenue black hole. It has a problem with limiting the size of government.
- The AFR View
Fights over pay rises challenge a bold prediction in NSW budget
A $10.7 billion windfall from soaring property taxes will pay for more public servants but won’t stop NSW posting deficits for nine straight years and risking its AAA credit rating.
- Updated
- John Kehoe and David Marin-Guzman
- Analysis
- GST
NSW budget shows a $6b GST hit, but Mookhey says it’s double
NSW Treasurer Daniel Mookhey insists the state budget has been “ripped off” $12 billion in GST, even though his budget papers show a shortfall of half that amount.
- John Kehoe
- Opinion
- Daniel Mookhey
Mookhey may need a wages miracle to land this budget
NSW is sucking extra tax out of the asset-rich, property-owning class that has enjoyed a massive asset price boom, to spend more on government services, housing and public sector employees.
- John Kehoe
‘Grow a backbone’: Dutton accuses PM of misleading public
The opposition leader claimed the PM must have known how Chinese officials had treated reporter Cheng Lei when he plead ignorance. How the day unfolded.
- Updated
- Nick Bonyhady
NSW’s ambitious plan to build 30,000 new homes
The NSW government will intervene in the construction sector by releasing surplus land that will be used for home building.
- Campbell Kwan
NSW budget winners; Bitcoin ETFs arrive in Oz; 15 ASX stock picks
Read everything that’s happened in the news so far today.
Winners and losers in the NSW budget
Prospective homeowners, essential workers and developers are the biggest winners, while middle-income households facing cost of living pressures lost out
- Campbell Kwan
‘Stealth’ land tax could drive investors from NSW and push up rents
Propertybuyer founder Rich Harvey says the land tax threshold freezes are a tax grab and he is “thinking twice” about buying more properties in NSW.
- Campbell Kwan and Nila Sweeney
- Exclusive
- GST
The secret reason behind NSW’s ‘nonsense’ claim on $12b GST shortfall
NSW’s AAA credit rating is on the line. The federal government, other states and rating agencies believe NSW made an error forecasting GST revenues.
- John Kehoe