The Opposition has criticised the Minns Government’s Budget, saying it leaves behind hard working families struggling under Labor’s cost of living crisis and instead rewards Labor’s union mates for their support during the election.
The Budget relies on increased taxes and cuts to programs to offset the Government’s union wage deals.
“Since coming to office the Government has broken a string of promises,” Mr Speakman said.
“The Budget doesn’t account for major expenditure items such as the cost of extending the Eraring power station and assumes employee expenses won’t increase by more than 4.1% per year. This severely undermines the credibility of forward projections and forecasts.”
“This Government’s first priority is rewarding their union mates for their support during the election campaign. Chris Minns lacks vision, and ultimately families and households across NSW will pay the price.”
Leader of the Nationals Dugald Saunders said the Budget failed regional NSW.
“Chris Minns and his Government has again demonstrated that they don’t understand regional NSW. This Budget does little to help communities as they continue to recover from the impacts of drought and natural disasters,” Mr Saunders said.
“Vital cost of living programs that regional communities rely on have been cut, meaning more pressure on household budgets.”
Shadow Treasurer Damien Tudehope said the Budget forecasts, including a return to surplus next year, are entirely dodgy because the ultimate cost of the Minns Government pay deal with unions remains unknown.
“The Budget today revealed that the wages bill (including superannuation) will exceed $55 billion in 2027. There is no prospect of the Government’s $3.6 billion being enough to cover union wage demands for the next four years.”
“Wages are the largest expenditure item in the Budget. We have seen a $17.6 billion tax hike – a massive $5.5 billion in 2023-24 alone – and cost of living measures cut to pay for this deal with the unions. Further unfunded wage increases will wipe out any prospect of achieving a surplus and risk the state’s Triple A credit rating.”
Shadow Minister for Finance Eleni Petinos said that over the coming days the Opposition will scrutinise the Budget and ensure that any secret cuts or creative accounting practices are brought to light.
“The Treasurer has boasted about $13 billion in savings, including $1.4 billion from the Education Department. We want to ensure that these cuts won’t impact frontline services and adversely affect people across NSW,” Ms Petinos said.
“In the midst of Labor’s cost of living crisis, rising inflation and high interest rates, the Government’s ongoing focus should be on providing support to families and households – not cutting essential cost of living programs as evidenced in today’s Budget.”
The Opposition will continue to hold Labor to account and ensure that families and households across NSW are put first.
