NSW Liberal leader Mark Speakman pledges to establish AI minister
NSW Opposition Leader Mark Speakman has pledged to establish a minister for artificial intelligence and slammed the Labor government's budget as a 'Band-Aid' written in 'red ink' amid soaring cost of living.
Treasurer Daniel Mookhey delivered Labor's third budget on Tuesday, with a new housing developer guarantee scheme and funding for vulnerable children.
In his budget reply speech, Mr Speakman pledged to address low productivity growth in the state, which the budget said would continue 'without meaningful technological breakthrough', by embracing 'responsible artificial intelligence across public service processes'.
Mr Speakman said the controversial technology would improve services and free up teachers, healthcare professionals and public servants to 'engage directly with people in problems, instead of being tied up with unnecessary administrative burdens'.
'This work would be preceded by the development of an AI opportunities action plan, as in the UK, overseen by a dedicated minister for artificial intelligence,' he said.
'For small and medium business owners looking to get ahead using AI, a Coalition government would set 'AI for biz' – a zero, low-interest loan scheme for small and medium businesses looking to introduce responsible AI into their business operations.'
Mr Speakman used his address on Thursday to make his pitch on what a future Coalition government would look like, more details of which would emerge in the many months to come before the next state election.
Among his pledges were to advocate for the restoration of the First Home Buyer Choice Program, 'removing the burden of stamp duty for young people trying to get into the market', and exempting stamp duty for eligible older Australians looking to downsize.
On cost of living, Mr Speakman said he would call on the state government to reinstate the Full Active Kids Program as well as introduce a 'fairer' payroll tax scheme for small and medium-sized businesses, establish preventive health hubs, expand telehealth, and prioritise emergency care.
Mr Speakman earlier praised the former Coalition government as the state's 'most successful' and accused Labor of failing to deliver more infrastructure.
'Labor has no plan to replace the pipeline of projects that have underpinned job creation, economic growth, and service delivery across the state,' he said on Thursday.
'Instead, under Labor, there's a whopping cut of public infrastructure investment as a share of the economy.'
Mr Speakman described the budget as being 'written in red ink'.
'A budget of debt, not discipline, a budget of vagaries, not vision, a budget that's about papering over the cracks rather than building for the long term.
'A budget putting Band-Aids on the major problems faced by the state, like housing, cost of living, infrastructure and health.
'A budget that will be forgotten, even if the costs, the waste, and the missed opportunities that it presents linger long afterwards.
'Past this parliament and a budget which, after two years in office, shows the mettle of this government.
'A government sleepwalking through its term already out of steam.
'A government more focused on spin and soft congratulations than results, while everyday people see this state go backwards.'
Mr Speakman said Labor had failed to deliver any additional cost-of-living support and was 'investing less in the future while letting debt spiral'.
'It's ordinary families who are paying the price while the government is building less, it's borrowing more on its own,' he said.
He went on to describe Labor's projected 2028 budgetary surplus as a 'fairytale'.
He noted there was also no provision in the budget for potential public service wage rises above the government's current offer.
Originally published as NSW Liberal leader Mark Speakman pledges to establish AI minister in budget reply
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More than $16 billion was wiped from superannuation balances at the start of the year as uncertainty over Donald Trump's tariffs impacted Australians' net worth. The nation's collective household wealth grew by 0.8 per cent to $17.3 trillion in the first three months of 2025, the Australian Bureau of Statistics reported on Thursday. But it would have increased by more if not for the value of super accounts falling for the first time since September 2022 as global uncertainty weighed on share prices, ABS head of finance statistics Mish Tan said. The increase in wealth was again mainly driven by an increase in residential property values, which rose 1.2 per cent to $125.3 billion. House prices have rebounded from a brief slowdown at the end of 2024 as interest rate cuts boosted buyer demand. With as many as three more cuts predicted by December, and market expectations rising for the next one as soon as July, property values are set to keep growing. 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The Advertiser
an hour ago
- The Advertiser
Labor's pork-barrelling answer managed 'effectively'
A controversial community grant scheme spreading $37.2 million across 93 electorates has been cleared of pork-barrelling claims but conflicts of interest concerns linger. The NSW auditor-general on Thursday published its verdict after two years of consternation from the coalition over the integrity, efficacy and value of Labor's taxpayer-funded Local Small Commitments Allocation scheme. The grants program, announced by Labor before it swept to power in the 2023 NSW election, allowed each Labor candidate to nominate projects for $400,000 in funding. Nominations could be made by candidates with no prosect of winning. Several coalition MPs described the scheme as a "slush fund" where "taxpayer money is being used to try to buy votes". But Auditor-General Bola Oyetunji said the government had effectively administered the program and complied with grants administration laws as it divvied the pot between 644 projects. 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More than 50 "moderate risk" conflicts of interest of panel members approving a total of 644 grants also should have been passed onto a probity adviser before ending up on the special minister's desk, the report said. A spokesman for Mr Graham said it accepted the audit office's recommendations to tighten up its processes. Labor's grants program followed a report in two damning indictments of coalition-organised grants programs. A 2023 report from the auditor-general found the former coalition government intervened to effectively exclude Labor electorates from receiving bushfire recovery funding. Another grants round, the $252 million Stronger Communities Fund, came under a cloud when an upper house inquiry found 95 per cent of the funds went to councils in coalition-held or marginal seats under the Berejiklian government. A controversial community grant scheme spreading $37.2 million across 93 electorates has been cleared of pork-barrelling claims but conflicts of interest concerns linger. The NSW auditor-general on Thursday published its verdict after two years of consternation from the coalition over the integrity, efficacy and value of Labor's taxpayer-funded Local Small Commitments Allocation scheme. The grants program, announced by Labor before it swept to power in the 2023 NSW election, allowed each Labor candidate to nominate projects for $400,000 in funding. Nominations could be made by candidates with no prosect of winning. Several coalition MPs described the scheme as a "slush fund" where "taxpayer money is being used to try to buy votes". But Auditor-General Bola Oyetunji said the government had effectively administered the program and complied with grants administration laws as it divvied the pot between 644 projects. He identified two concerns around conflicts of interest of 54 panel members recommending the grants and minor administrative errors. Liberal MP Chris Rath, who was among a group of MPs critical of the grant, argued the report was "scathing." He called on Premier Chris Minns to order a conflict of interest check on all 93 Labor candidates the party fielded in 2023. The government office overseeing the grants program only reviewed such checks for 17 candidates, put forward by Special Minister of State John Graham. Two grants were subsequently not approved. The office said it had received verbal confirmation that conflict-of-interest processes had been implemented by Labor for all electorates. But it hadn't asked for documentation supporting those claims, the auditor-general's report said. More than 50 "moderate risk" conflicts of interest of panel members approving a total of 644 grants also should have been passed onto a probity adviser before ending up on the special minister's desk, the report said. A spokesman for Mr Graham said it accepted the audit office's recommendations to tighten up its processes. Labor's grants program followed a report in two damning indictments of coalition-organised grants programs. A 2023 report from the auditor-general found the former coalition government intervened to effectively exclude Labor electorates from receiving bushfire recovery funding. Another grants round, the $252 million Stronger Communities Fund, came under a cloud when an upper house inquiry found 95 per cent of the funds went to councils in coalition-held or marginal seats under the Berejiklian government. A controversial community grant scheme spreading $37.2 million across 93 electorates has been cleared of pork-barrelling claims but conflicts of interest concerns linger. The NSW auditor-general on Thursday published its verdict after two years of consternation from the coalition over the integrity, efficacy and value of Labor's taxpayer-funded Local Small Commitments Allocation scheme. The grants program, announced by Labor before it swept to power in the 2023 NSW election, allowed each Labor candidate to nominate projects for $400,000 in funding. Nominations could be made by candidates with no prosect of winning. Several coalition MPs described the scheme as a "slush fund" where "taxpayer money is being used to try to buy votes". But Auditor-General Bola Oyetunji said the government had effectively administered the program and complied with grants administration laws as it divvied the pot between 644 projects. He identified two concerns around conflicts of interest of 54 panel members recommending the grants and minor administrative errors. Liberal MP Chris Rath, who was among a group of MPs critical of the grant, argued the report was "scathing." He called on Premier Chris Minns to order a conflict of interest check on all 93 Labor candidates the party fielded in 2023. The government office overseeing the grants program only reviewed such checks for 17 candidates, put forward by Special Minister of State John Graham. Two grants were subsequently not approved. The office said it had received verbal confirmation that conflict-of-interest processes had been implemented by Labor for all electorates. But it hadn't asked for documentation supporting those claims, the auditor-general's report said. More than 50 "moderate risk" conflicts of interest of panel members approving a total of 644 grants also should have been passed onto a probity adviser before ending up on the special minister's desk, the report said. A spokesman for Mr Graham said it accepted the audit office's recommendations to tighten up its processes. Labor's grants program followed a report in two damning indictments of coalition-organised grants programs. A 2023 report from the auditor-general found the former coalition government intervened to effectively exclude Labor electorates from receiving bushfire recovery funding. Another grants round, the $252 million Stronger Communities Fund, came under a cloud when an upper house inquiry found 95 per cent of the funds went to councils in coalition-held or marginal seats under the Berejiklian government. A controversial community grant scheme spreading $37.2 million across 93 electorates has been cleared of pork-barrelling claims but conflicts of interest concerns linger. The NSW auditor-general on Thursday published its verdict after two years of consternation from the coalition over the integrity, efficacy and value of Labor's taxpayer-funded Local Small Commitments Allocation scheme. The grants program, announced by Labor before it swept to power in the 2023 NSW election, allowed each Labor candidate to nominate projects for $400,000 in funding. Nominations could be made by candidates with no prosect of winning. Several coalition MPs described the scheme as a "slush fund" where "taxpayer money is being used to try to buy votes". But Auditor-General Bola Oyetunji said the government had effectively administered the program and complied with grants administration laws as it divvied the pot between 644 projects. He identified two concerns around conflicts of interest of 54 panel members recommending the grants and minor administrative errors. Liberal MP Chris Rath, who was among a group of MPs critical of the grant, argued the report was "scathing." He called on Premier Chris Minns to order a conflict of interest check on all 93 Labor candidates the party fielded in 2023. The government office overseeing the grants program only reviewed such checks for 17 candidates, put forward by Special Minister of State John Graham. Two grants were subsequently not approved. The office said it had received verbal confirmation that conflict-of-interest processes had been implemented by Labor for all electorates. But it hadn't asked for documentation supporting those claims, the auditor-general's report said. More than 50 "moderate risk" conflicts of interest of panel members approving a total of 644 grants also should have been passed onto a probity adviser before ending up on the special minister's desk, the report said. A spokesman for Mr Graham said it accepted the audit office's recommendations to tighten up its processes. Labor's grants program followed a report in two damning indictments of coalition-organised grants programs. A 2023 report from the auditor-general found the former coalition government intervened to effectively exclude Labor electorates from receiving bushfire recovery funding. Another grants round, the $252 million Stronger Communities Fund, came under a cloud when an upper house inquiry found 95 per cent of the funds went to councils in coalition-held or marginal seats under the Berejiklian government.
