2022-2023 NSW Budget Summary 21 June 2022 At midday today NSW Treasurer Matt Kean handed down his first Budget, which will be the final Budget prior to the state election next year in March 2023. The Treasurer said this Budget was about reform to build a better, brighter future for everyone in NSW. To see the Treasurer's full speech click here. The two significant areas of reform in the 2022-23 Budget relate to stamp duty and childcare. Stamp Duty Reform NSW Premier Dominic Perrottet has realised his long-held vision to effect significant stamp duty reform by overhauling stamp duty - a tax which he has previously described as being "inherently terrible". As part of the reform, home buyers will be able to elect to pay an annual land tax as opposed to paying stamp duty upfront. Childcare Reform The NSW Treasurer has championed a $5 billion package in an effort to make early education and childcare in NSW more accessible and affordable. The NSW Government has also introduced pre-kindergarten, which will provide an extra year of education for children across the state. Pre-kindergarten will be offered five days per week to every four-year-old in NSW by 2030.
BUDGET HIGHLIGHTS Planning and Environment $60 million to create a 91km pathway around Sydney's water $149.2 million additional funding for the Accelerated Infrastructure Fund $139.4 million to manage the clean-up and removal of flood and storm-related damage from the February and March 2022 floods Health $4.5 billion to recruit more than 10,000 nurses, doctors, and other health workers $3,000 one-off payment to NSW Health employees $1.76 billion over four years to fund 30 new ambulance stations and over 1,850 extra paramedics Treasury Forecasted deficit of $11.3 billion Reforms to stamp duty to offer an optional annual land tax in lieu of an upfront payment Lifting the public sector wage cap to 3% for public sector pay rises Transport and Infrastructure $600 million for Stage 2 of the Parramatta Light Rail, which will connect Sydney Olympic Park to Camellia $606.3 million to complete construction of the WestConnex Motorway $216.4 million to redevelop the area around Circular Quay Education $5.8 billion to offer five days per week of pre-kindergarten education to every four-year-old by 2030 $5 billion set aside to assist private childcare operators expand or build new centres Customer Service $520 million over a two-year period to subsidise road toll users who spend over $1,400 per year on tolls $3.1 million to the Renewable Fuel Scheme Regional NSW $1.3 billion to Regional Growth Fund 3.0 $84.1 million to Regional Events Acceleration Fund $317.9 million to the NSW Rural Assistance Authority Enterprise, Investment and Trade $252.4 million for the Future Economy Fund $12.8 million to deliver the $261.9 million Advanced Manufacturing Research Facility $21 million to Destination NSW Premier and Cabinet $16 million to extend the Return to Work program $4.2 million to deliver the NSW Women Strategy 2022-26 $15 million to deliver 'Community and Place' grants to First Nations organisations Stronger Communities $5.1 million to continue and expand Pregnancy Family Conferencing $481.1 million to support Legal Aid NSW $773.9 million for social housing $1.4 billion for Resilience NSW Never-ending tax:’ the view from NSW Labor
NSW Labor leader Chris Minns has addressed the press pack at Parliament House and unsurprisingly, he’s not a huge fan of this budget. Minns says the budget delivered on Tuesday was motivated by an upcoming election in March and that Labor would never support the stamp duty reform, describing the land tax alternative as a “never-ending tax”. Minns said the budget made a number of “heroic assumptions” in the budget, including for the economy to grow at unprecedented rates over the next 12 months. “While the rest of the world, America and Europe are bracing for a recession, the NSW government believes that we will have huge growth in Australia’s largest state over the next 12 months.” Labor treasury spokesman Daniel Mookhey added that while the world is fearing a global recession, “Matt Kean is singing ‘happy days are here again’.”- Lucy Cormack |