Treasurer Dominic Perrottet will seek $3b for Metro West city link
Less than a week out from the NSW budget, the Treasurer pledged that despite worsening debt there would be no tax hikes.
Treasurer Dominic Perrottet will ask the Morrison government for up to $3 billion towards Sydney’s critical Metro West project linking Parramatta to the CBD.
He has also vowed to continue his fight for a greater share of GST as he insulates the state from falling revenue.
Less than a week out from his third state budget, the Treasurer also pledged that despite worsening debt there would be no tax hikes — which he said was crucial to supporting nationally declining consumer and business confidence.
In a pre-budget interview with The Daily Telegraph, Mr Perrottet launched a salvo at Queensland, calling it a “high taxing Labor state” which was “lazy and inefficient” and being propped up by NSW.
And, importantly, he did not conclusively rule out selling further assets to fund his mammoth infrastructure plan, saying “we haven’t got any plans to and we haven’t had those discussions”.
“There is a significant pipeline of infrastructure projects we are invested in delivering and we will always work through financing options as we go,” Mr Perrottet said.
He said selling poles and wires had previously put NSW “on the right side of history”.
“If you look at the first tranche of poles and wires that has turbocharged infrastructure delivering — we asked people if they would rather poles and wires or schools and hospitals and they chose,” he said.
Mr Perrottet was playing basketball on Wednesday with his daughters outside the new Bankwest Stadium, which was one of the government’s infrastructure success stories.
Asked if he believed the government had a mandate to sell further assets or if it needed to take such a plan to the 2023 election, he said “that’s a matter for the Premier”.
Mr Perrottet said economic growth — tied intimately with infrastructure building — was critical to his ethos as Treasurer.
In his strongest comments yet about gas projects in the state, he said NSW needed to “have a conversation” about gas as a form of energy when Liddell electricity station is decommissioned in 2022.
“We need to have a conversation around gas particularly and bring communities with us on the way,” he said, adding the state must resist “ideological fringes” on the issue.
“There’s a lot of work to do to work through those policy implications but we have to move quickly to ensure there’s security and stability,” he said.
The budget theme is “getting it done” — a version of Premier Gladys Berejiklian’s election slogan “Let’s get it done NSW”.
The government faces lower than expected GST receipts from the Commonwealth to the tune of about $2.3 billion over four years and transfer duty writedowns due to a slowing property market, downgraded by more than $10 billion since 2017.
If Labor had won the April federal election, NSW would have been handed $3 billion towards the Metro West line.
The Morrison government has not yet made such a commitment. Asked if he would ask the federal government for funding for the fast underground rail linking Parramatta and the CBD, Mr Perrottet replied: “Yes. At the first opportunity, when I’m sitting down at the next meeting with Josh Frydenberg, that’s an area we would like greater federal investment in.
“It’s the states who are closer (to infrastructure) and it’s appropriate for us to raise it with (the feds). This is a major project for us and absolutely I’ll be (raising it).”
Asked about the state’s rising debt levels, Mr Perrottet conceded there was “no doubt the debt position will increase” but said that needed to be managed in an environment where delivering on infrastructure priorities was critical to the state’s future.
“We have to make sure we have a manageable debt position in the state and we do but at the same time that, combined with the roll out of infrastructure provides challenges for us,” he said.
“We can’t hide away from it. We have to face up to it but we have a triple A credit rating, we’re in a very solid position in our state financially.”
He pointed to the growth of his future fund-style “generations fund” which was revealed at last year’s budget.
The fund is “triple locked” so it cannot be raided by future governments.
It was seeded with $3 billion from balance sheet reserves last year, with an addition $7 billion contributed following the sale of WestConnex.
The Daily Telegraph has been told that investment performance is “well above expectations”, resulting in a fund value of $10.8 billion five months in.
This is projected to grow to $28 billion by 2029 helping to further strengthen the state’s balance sheet.
The budget will primarily centre on delivering election commitments but also offers a strong focus on the bush where the government battled an assault on its vote from the Shooters, Fishers and Farmers party at the election.
This includes a $355 million drought stimulus package which will give farmers access to more subsidies.
TREASURER SHOWS HE IS COOKING WITH GAS
COMMENT
Treasurer Dominic Perrottet is right that NSW must “have a conversation” about gas projects as the state faces a looming energy supply crisis when Liddell Power Station closes in 2022.
These forward-leaning comments — the strongest remarks the Treasurer has made about gas projects in the state — are underpinned by Mr Perrottet’s obsession with economic development.
He is trying to grow the state with a massive jobs-boosting infrastructure program but refuses to hike taxes, even as debt looms. It’s no easy feat.
Put that against a backdrop of Liddell going offline and the government has more than a few things to worry about. Cheap and reliable power are crucial to the state’s finances.
This strictly has nothing to do with next week’s Budget but both have everything to do with the state’s future.
“Liddell closing is going to put greater pressure on our state and we need to work through it,” Perrottet said.
“We need to have a conversation around gas particularly and bring communities with us on the way. I think we get too caught up on the ideological fringes and we don’t actually focus on how do we bring communities with us to ensure stability and security of supply.”
There is a school of thought that the government must fast-track the approval process for the Narrabri gas project, which could supply up to half of the state’s gas needs.
We now import about 96 per cent. Add to that hundreds of jobs and likely gas royalties and you can see why the project is appealing to a treasurer like Perrottet, who wants the state to make money from building and development.
It is not lost on several senior ministers that Liddell going offline is impeccably timed with the 2023 state election.
No one wants to be campaigning off the back of a summer of blackouts.
The task ahead of Perrottet is bigger than the Budget but his promise to keep building and his refusal to tax is a clear indicator of his intent for the next four years.
SYDNEY IS LOSING TOURISM ALTITUDE
By Edward Boyd
Sydney Airport boss Geoff Culbert says Sydney is losing its lustre as a world-class city and needs to work harder to continue attracting tourists.
The head of the nation’s busiest airport believes Sydney is facing an “identity crisis”, lacks a clear vision and needs to build new infrastructure and bid for cultural and sporting events to remain relevant.
Mr Culbert said Sydney is starting to fall behind New York, Paris, London and Los Angeles, and even beginning to slip behind interstate rivals as a tourist destination.
“Melbourne’s got the Australian Open, the Formula 1 Grand Prix, the Spring Racing Carnival; Brisbane is looking at making a bid for the 2032 Olympics — what’s Sydney bidding for, what are we going after?” Mr Culbert asked.
“We need to be courageous and recapture the pioneering spirit that made Australia great and made Sydney great, and we need to have a vision for the future. Whether it be classic pieces of architecture or infrastructure, or major events — they bring tourists to Sydney, they create jobs and they drive the economy.”
Greater Sydney Commission chief commissioner Lucy Turnbull said while Sydney was already doing “so much so well” there was always room for improvement. “We have the best New Year’s Eve on the planet and the Sydney Opera House draws people from around the world,” she said.
“We need to keep our imaginations alive about what more we could do and how to make what we do now even better.”
Sydney Business Chamber policy director Chris Lamont said while events were important, so was shopping after 5pm.
“International visitors come from cities that often don’t sleep, so it can be a real disappointment … to visit Sydney only to find that half of what was promised is only open eight or nine hours a day,” he said.
A record 44.4 million people passed through Sydney Airport last year, with 16.7 million from overseas. Mr Culbert said reducing operating restrictions at the airport would make Sydney more attractive to airlines, which are limited to landing a maximum of 20 flights every 15 minutes from 6am to 11pm.
While he supports the “sacrosanct” curfew, he said the 15-minute window was too restrictive, particularly when there are weather delays.
“We believe if we had a daily cap or weekly cap — not increasing the overall number of flights that are allowed to land — then we would be able to reduce delays, diversions and the amount of aircraft circling that goes on,” he said.
Mr Culbert said Western Sydney Airport, set to open in 2026, would also open up more opportunities for Sydney.
“When Western Sydney Airport opens, we will be handling close to 50 million passengers at that point … and still growing,” he said.
Tourism and Transport Forum CEO Margy Osmond said that, “NSW needs to start making hay while the sun shines in terms of tourism and securing major events that help drive tourism and economic growth”.
Labor’s flagship policy yet to deliver a single home
It was meant to build 30,000 homes within five years — but as the federal election looms, a flagship Labor policy is yet to deliver any completed projects.
Driver miraculously escapes after car smashes into Sydney home
A driver has miraculously escaped with only minor injuries after an SUV crashed into a home in Kellyville, causing significant structural damage and prompting a specialist rescue response.