Latest news with #NSWbudget
Yahoo
24-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
$1.2bn pledge marks state's sad milestone
This NSW budget will include $1.2bn to help children in need find shelter, with the government saying it will end the cycle of kids 'sleeping in motels with barely adequate supervision.' During his budget speech, NSW treasurer Daniel Mookhey announced the major funding boost to help the 17,000 children left in the system. 'Today I announce the biggest investment in child protection in New South Wales history,' he said. '$797.6 million of additional funding will fix what was a chronically and tragically underfunded system.' Mr Mookhey said for the first time in decades, children were no longer left sleeping in motels. 'In March 2023, more than 100 children cared for by the state of New South Wales were sleeping in motels,' he said. 'Unaccredited emergency accommodation, no proper support, barely adequate supervision.' Mr Mookhey said two years of reforms had enabled the government to fix a 'broken system', meaning the state could 'invest more in kids'. He said there would also be a pay bump included in the budget to help boost the workforce needed to help supervise children. '$191 million is set aside to give 2125 caseworkers a pay rise, helping us fill the 200 caseworker positions. '(It also lets) us create 100 new leading case worker roles, paid for by mutual gains bargaining.' Mr Mookhey said the extra funding was created by no longer needing to pay labour hire firms to care for kids in motels. The government will also announce the first significant increase in the foster care allowance in 20 years. It will rise by 20 per cent from January 1, 2026. This means a foster carer of a five-year-old would receive $3411.20 extra a year – or an increase from $656 to $787.20 each fortnight – with the boost for the carer of a 14-year-old to hit $4576 each year.
News.com.au
24-06-2025
- Business
- News.com.au
NSW government to put $1.2bn in funding for child protection sector
This NSW budget will include $1.2bn to help children in need find shelter, with the government saying it will end the cycle of kids 'sleeping in motels with barely adequate supervision.' During his budget speech, NSW treasurer Daniel Mookhey announced the major funding boost to help the 17,000 children left in the system. 'Today I announce the biggest investment in child protection in New South Wales history,' he said. '$797.6 million of additional funding will fix what was a chronically and tragically underfunded system.' Mr Mookhey said for the first time in decades, children were no longer left sleeping in motels. 'In March 2023, more than 100 children cared for by the state of New South Wales were sleeping in motels,' he said. 'Unaccredited emergency accommodation, no proper support, barely adequate supervision.' Mr Mookhey said two years of reforms had enabled the government to fix a 'broken system', meaning the state could 'invest more in kids'. He said there would also be a pay bump included in the budget to help boost the workforce needed to help supervise children. '$191 million is set aside to give 2125 caseworkers a pay rise, helping us fill the 200 caseworker positions. '(It also lets) us create 100 new leading case worker roles, paid for by mutual gains bargaining.' Mr Mookhey said the extra funding was created by no longer needing to pay labour hire firms to care for kids in motels. The government will also announce the first significant increase in the foster care allowance in 20 years. It will rise by 20 per cent from January 1, 2026. This means a foster carer of a five-year-old would receive $3411.20 extra a year – or an increase from $656 to $787.20 each fortnight – with the boost for the carer of a 14-year-old to hit $4576 each year.
Daily Telegraph
24-06-2025
- Business
- Daily Telegraph
NSW state budget housing plan ‘potential' planning for a new metro between Tallawong and St Marys
Don't miss out on the headlines from Business. Followed categories will be added to My News. NSW is on track to a budget surplus in the next three years with the Minns government spruiking its 'responsible' spending as the state charts a path out of the red. This year's budget has projected balance sheets will reach a $1.1bn surplus in 2027-28. The surplus would be the first since 2018-19, with the deficit for this financial year growing to $5.7bn. However, gross debt will take longer to wrangle with debts expected to peak at $199bn in 2028-29 compared to the $178.8bn forecast for June next year. Treasurer Daniel Mookhey and Finance Minister Courtney Houssos speaking to media at the state budget lockup. Picture: Rohan Kelly The deteriorating public workers compensation scheme has dealt the budget its biggest blow with a $2.6bn hit due to increasing insurance expenses, posing the greatest threat to the future budget surplus. Housing · The biggest announcement out of this year's budget is the government's commitment to guarantee pre-sales for up to $1bn of approved housing projects to fast track 5000 homes. · $83.4m will be set aside to accelerate planning approvals stuck in the slugging development process, including large-scale market, social and affordable housing projects. The NSW Government announced plans in their 2025 to fast track 5000 homes. Picture: Gaye Gerard Social services · The other major announcement from this year's budget is the commitment of $1.2bn to a landmark child protection package to re-build the out-of-home care system, including 191.5m to recruit more than 200 new case workers and retain a further 2126. · Foster care workers will also receive the first increase to their allowances in two decades, with the government committing $143.9m to increase pay by 20 per cent. · A further $49.2m will go towards building and upgrading 44 government-owned care homes for children aged 12 and above with complex needs. Health · $3.3bn will be committed to upgrade public health infrastructure as part of a $12.4bn spend in the next four years, including an $836.4m Essential Services Package to build and upgrade hospitals including the Sydney Children's Hospital at Randwick and Westmead. The 2025 state budget has announced upgrades to the Sydney Children's Hospital at Randwick and Westmead (pictured above). Picture: John Appleyard · In a sign the government is making way for its workers compensation reforms, the Minns government has set aside a $344m package to restore the independence of SafeWork NSW to better support injured workers from harm, including psychological harms. Transport · Commuters hoping for big Metro announcements have been left wanting with just $40m allocated this year to develop a business case for a 'potential' future rail connection between Tallawong and St Marys to link the North West Metro to the new Western Sydney Airport line. $40m has been allocated to develop a business plan for a 'potential' future rail connection between Tallawong and St Mary's to link the North West Metro. Picture: Richard Dobson · $369.9m to maintain and increase bus services across Western Sydney amid the Metro construction, including $313.8m for new bus services to connect Liverpool, Penrith and Campbelltown to the Western Sydney International Airport and Bradfield City Centre, based on funding from the NSW and Australian governments. · A total $5.5bn has also been committed to Western Sydney road projects. · There will be no extension to the toll cap, but the government has committed $9.4m to ongoing toll reform. Tourism and Sports · $586m will go towards tourism, film, screen, games and other artistic industries to boost the 'creative economy'. · A measly $3.5m will be allocated next financial year to develop plans for the halving of Moore Park Golf Course to create a 20-hectare public park and community sports facilities. The government has committed $50 million for the project in total. Treasurer Daniel Mookhey (middle) and Finance Minister Courtney Houssos (top right) arrive at the 2025 NSW budget media conference. Picture: Rohan Kelly Education · The Minns government will invest $9bn in the next four years to build and upgrade schools across the state, including $3.9bn to western Sydney schools. · An additional $50m will go towards establishing new gifted and talented student programs to create 'opportunity classes' for the state's most promising young minds. The Bush · $358.3m commitment to disaster recovery and relief measures for the May 2025 east coast floods · Vital hospital upgrades across regional NSW will receive $3.5bn including $220m for the future expansion and redevelopment of Wollongong Hospital and Health Precinct, $23.1m for the Dubbo Rehabilitation Centre and $20.2m for the Forbes Hospital Operating Theatre redevelopment. Flooded Wilsons River in Lismore on March 8, 2025 after former category two Tropical Cyclone Alfred generated heavy rain in the region. Picture: David Gray · Only $39m will be committed this year towards disaster recovery and relief for communities affected by Tropical Cyclone Alfred. · A further $158.8m will deliver three new regional helicopter bases at Port Macquarie, Moruya and Wagga Wagga to boost regional healthcare. Do you have a story for The Daily Telegraph? Message 0481 056 618 or email tips@
The Guardian
04-06-2025
- Business
- The Guardian
Chris Minns warns of $2bn budget hole if bill curtailing psychological injury claims fails
The NSW premier, Chris Minns, has warned a failure to pass his controversial workers compensation legislation would blow a $2bn hole in the state budget as Labor seeks to woo a coalition of conservative crossbenchers to pass the bill. In parliament, the premier said if the changes to curtail psychological injury claims did not go through, an additional $2bn would be required from NSW taxpayers to fund the public service portion of the scheme. He also warned that businesses would see premiums rise by 36% over three years to fund the scheme for the private sector. Sources have told Guardian Australia that there was intensive lobbying of upper house MPs from the Shooters and Fishers party and other right-leaning MPs, including former One Nation MPs Mark Latham and Rod Roberts, Legalise Cannabis MP Jeremy Buckingham and Libertarian MP John Ruddick. The opposition will move on Thursday to send the complex bill to an inquiry. Opposition leader Mark Speakman described it as 'unconscionable' and 'cruel'. Sign up for Guardian Australia's breaking news email The opposition wants the status quo of 15% impairment to qualify for compensation, instead of the 30% that the government is proposing. He said the opposition had offered amendments that would yield some savings, such as tightening definitions of psychological injury due to bullying, or 'unworkable' claims due to 'excessive work demands', but the Coalition would not budge on the impairment threshold. A 15% impairment means a person struggles with daily tasks and requires reminders about their hygiene needs. Experts have said that a 30% impairment was so high that it would make it virtually impossible for people to ever claim for psychological injury. The high-stakes game will play out on Thursday. The shadow treasurer, Damien Tudehope, warned that the government was seeking to cajole the crossbench with offerings in other policy areas that were important to them. The public had strong views about the ethics of this approach, he said. Two days before the government released its workers compensation legislation, Minns surprised many by indicating support for a bounty scheme proposed by the Shooters party in its conservation hunting bill to control feral animals. The bill would create a new conservation hunting authority and proposes a raft of changes, including enshrining a 'right to hunt' and recognition of hunting as a conservation management tool. Minns has previously denied there was any deal with the Shooters for support of other legislation. Conservation groups and scientists have condemned the hunting proposal as ineffective and a waste of taxpayer dollars. Sign up to Breaking News Australia Get the most important news as it breaks after newsletter promotion As debate on the bill began in the upper house on Wednesday, the scientist-led Biodiversity Council wrote to MPs warning that the legislation, if passed in its current form, would 'undermine invasive species management across the state, leading to poorer outcomes for the environment and agriculture'. Conservationists are concerned the bill will become a vehicle for promoting the interests of recreational hunting and management of invasive species as game rather than driving down feral animal numbers with control programs. The Invasive Species Council and other groups have also expressed concern that the proposed authority bears similarities to the defunct Game Council, which was abolished in 2013, and that hunting interests would dominate the authority's proposed voting structure. 'Recreational hunting is not conservation. It rarely delivers environmental benefits, and in many cases actively obstructs professional control programs,' the council's chief executive, Jack Gough, said. There also appear to be moves afoot to provide an exception for motorists who test positive when using medical marijuana, a policy that both Buckingham and the Greens have pushed. Unions, legal and medical experts have strongly criticised the government's attempts to curtail claims for psychological injury, warning that a 30% threshold would make it virtually impossible for people to make claims. They have urged the government to first focus on prevention and educating employers about handling psychosocial injuries, rather than cutting off compensation. The Unions NSW secretary, Mark Morey, said the result would be simply to cost shift on to the welfare and health systems. Compensation for injured public servants comes out of the Treasury Managed Fund (TMF), which is already under enormous pressure due to natural disaster funding in the last year. The full extent of the fund's deterioration will be revealed in the budget on 24 June.
News.com.au
19-05-2025
- Business
- News.com.au
NSW government urges support to end housing crisis
The NSW Treasurer has used his first major speech since the Australian federal election to call for help to tackle the 'punishing' housing market. Ahead of the June 24 NSW budget, Daniel Mookhey used his speech at the McKell Institute to address the state's housing concern and how his government could 'eagerly' work with the federal government to get more people into a home. 'We will use the next budget to take the next steps forward in building the homes we need to make sure we can house the people we cannot do without to keep our economy humming,' he said. Mr Mookhey welcomed the re-election of federal Labor Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and said his Help to Buy housing scheme would open new paths to home ownership for working families. Under the scheme, the federal government will spend $6.3bn to help 40,000 low to middle income households buy a property by going guarantor for up to 18 per cent of buyers' home loans. Mr Mookhey flagged the high price of rent, saying the stress is not sustainable for individuals, families and the broader economy. 'Housing is shelter, it is security. It is where people make a home and a life. It is where people find connection. It also makes a big difference to economic mobility,' he said. 'The home you live in determines the job you can reach, the school your child attends, and the support network around you. 'But right now, housing insecurity is acting as a drag on productivity and a barrier to belonging.' He said part of the solution was delivering zoning reforms so more houses could be built near existing infrastructure projects. 'We're continuing that push through our low and mid-rise housing policy – and we are standing firm against efforts by councils and others to delay or dilute supply where demand is strong,' Mr Mookhey said. 'We are tackling this from every angle: the largest investment in social housing since World War II, stronger protections for renters, record increases to homelessness services.' Mr Mookhey called on the federal Albanese government to use its landslide victory to help fund major infrastructure projects in order to boost NSW productivity while ultimately saving in the long term. 'Construction costs are rising, planning delays are slowing delivery, and the construction workers we need to literally build our brighter future are increasingly scarce,' Mr Mookhey said. 'Which means … the time to build is now. To boost investment, we need to get projects built faster.' According to Mr Mookhey, businesses are delaying investing in NSW because of major project delays, which are stopping more private sector investment from unlocking the 'next great era of Australian economic growth'. 'Getting major projects – the projects that drive productivity – getting them done in NSW is taking too long,' Mr Mookhey said. 'The task begs us all to support investment in infrastructure and technology so our workers have the very best tools of trade (and) to encourage regulatory experimentation to boost efficiency and innovation so we have a smart state instead of a slow state.'
