NSW budget leads way on reform

Business Council of Australia

The Berejiklian government’s budget should be a model for all state and territory leaders who want to create new jobs, build confidence, and lay the groundwork for reform to secure our recovery, Business Council chief executive Jennifer Westacott said.

“Every premier and chief minister in the country should be watching because NSW has set the standard for building a strong business-led recovery.

“The government’s blueprint and tax reform agenda will help make NSW the best place in the country for businesses who want to invest, expand and create new jobs.

“While some jurisdictions are talking about reform, NSW is acting.

“NSW has taken the bold step of putting major tax reform on the agenda through a consultation process on reform of stamp duty and property tax. Stamp duty is one of the more inefficient taxes that penalises economic adjustment.

“Payroll tax is a tax on jobs, reducing it for all businesses for the next two years makes sense. We also welcome moves to make the state’s planning system more effective and efficient, so job creating projects can get approved and off the ground quickly.

“This will go a long way to giving the people of NSW confidence that they can come back stronger from the pandemic, with more jobs, more opportunities and a brighter future.

“Critically, the NSW budget puts business at the centre of the recovery by unleashing the job creating power of the private sector.

“For the regions, this is a budget that delivers hope and confidence by investing in community infrastructure through the $300 million Regional Growth Fund and making it easier to get big, job creating projects off the ground.

“We also welcome unprecedented $107 billion investment in infrastructure to create jobs today and position the state for the future.

“Combined with the state’s world leading management of the virus, this budget puts NSW at the front of the pack when it comes to attracting the new investment, we need to create new jobs.

“This budget comes on top of the Jobs Plus package which will see investment flowing back into NSW, creating new jobs and new opportunities.”

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