The NSW budget in five minutes

The NSW treasurer has just handed down the state’s budget.

When the Minns government came to power, it was presented with a $7 billion budget shortfall, and it always said it could not promise to spend big on impressive infrastructure. It has instead had to choose between the “must haves” and the “nice to haves”.

The financial position was made worse thanks to what the NSW government is calling a GST “ripoff”. The state will lose $11.9 billion in GST revenue over the next four years, which means it will be in debt. However, that has not stopped the Minns government from spending big on things it has dubbed essentials.

The economy

• Elevated inflation, high interest rates, and tax bracket creep have curbed people’s income and spending power.
• Unemployment is expected to rise slowly but remain at historically low levels in the coming year.
• While NSW stands to lose billions in GST revenue, it will net an extra $5.1 billion in the four years to 2027, thanks to improved stamp duty and land tax projections.
• The state’s overall economy has been underpinned by strong population growth thanks to ongoing international migration.

Debt and deficit

• The budget deficit of $9.7 billion in 2023–24 will more than halve in the following 12 months before gradually reducing to a deficit of $1.5 billion in 2027–28.
• One of the government’s backhouse accounting moves is to combine several financial funds and replace them with a singular fund called One Fund, which it says will improve the debt position by $1.6 billion.

Social housing to address the crisis hitting parts of the state hard is the signature move of the 2024 budget.Credit: Oscar Colman

Housing

• One of the biggest spending initiatives is $5.1 billion earmarked to create 8400 new social homes and units. The state will also spend $810 million on maintenance to make properties livable again and conduct critical maintenance.
• About $200 million will be spent on healthcare workers’ accommodation in regional NSW.
• A further $450 million will be used to build essential worker housing for nurses, paramedics, teachers, allied health care workers, police officers and firefighters so they can rent a home at a subsidised rate in areas close to their jobs.

Health and education

• The government will introduce bulk-billing support, which means GPs who bulk-bill 80 per cent or more of their patients will not be charged payroll tax, incentivising them to provide affordable healthcare. It will cost $188 million over four years.
• There is $480.7 million over four years for an emergency department relief package, including urgent care services to keep people out of hospitals.
• Another $111.8 million over four years will support community mental health and wellbeing initiatives, as well as $130.9 million for programs to boost lifelong maternal and child health.
• $1.2 million goes to 110 schools suffering significant staffing challenges, paying teachers a sign-on bonus of up to $20,000.

The Tangara trains will be updated in a bid to keep them on the tracks in the coming years.Credit: Louise Kennerley

Transport infrastructure

• $1 billion will be spent on roads around western Sydney’s new airport set to open in 2026.
• The biggest splurge in this budget is one of the few pieces of infrastructure – the second stage of the Parramatta Light Rail at a cost of $2 billion. The 12-kilometre stretch of track from Parramatta’s CBD to Sydney Olympic Park will travel via Camellia, Rydalmere, Ermington, Melrose Park and Wentworth Point, with 14 new stops.
• $447 million will be spent on 55 old Tangara trains to keep them going for the next 12 years.

Social services

• The government will spend $48 million on specialist support workers for children accompanying their mothers to refuges.
• There is also $527.6 million for homelessness services and $224 million to rebuild the state’s foster care system.