What Daniel Mookhey’s agenda is for health, Sydney public transport and more
Finance Minister Daniel Mookhey will present his fourth budget on June 23 and, unlike the typical pre-election spending bonanza, it lays the groundwork for sober reading.
In his final budget ahead of next year’s state election, the treasurer says the design principles are “relief and reform” and take into account “a period of tremendous uncertainty”.
Early announcements are starting to come in about where the government will prioritize spending. This includes a $126 million boost for police technology and for the NSW Crime Commission to hold more hearings and investigate unexplained wealth.
In a speech at the McKell Institute last month, Mookhey announced that the state’s growth would slow to 1 percent in 2026-27, from a 2.5 percent forecast in December. He said private market investment in renewable energy projects alone will keep the state out of recession next year.
The declining economy is partly due to rising interest rates; These rates have a huge impact on the NSW economy compared to the rest of the country thanks to the size of our mortgages. Stamp duty revenues are expected to fall by $5 billion by 2029-30, while land tax revenues are expected to fall by around $3 billion over the same period.
Add to that the devastation of consumer confidence by the global oil shock, and this is not the rosy economic picture the government was hoping for ahead of the March election.
Still, Mookhey acknowledged that, with households facing unremitting budget pressures, cost-of-living policies are needed to “help people get through this difficult moment and plan for the future.”
Crime, justice and emergency services
- The NSW Crime Commission will receive an extra $17.4 million over four years to force more suspected criminals to attend trials and hire more analysts and forensic experts to investigate suspicious unexplained wealth, taking its 2026 funding to $46.4 million.
- NSW Police has been awarded $108.8 million in funding to develop technology and software, including the BluLink platform, which allows the public to share live location and video with police.
- The management of the Rural Fire Brigade Fleet will be modernized with an investment of $470 million over 10 years. The announcement aims to ensure better management of RFS truck maintenance and will be paired with legislation that will transfer fleet management responsibility from local councils to the state.
Health
- A $112 million investment to provide long-term funding for mental health services. The package includes $43.3 million for Lifeline to provide a crisis phone line, $64 million for shared NSW-Commonwealth services such as mental health clinics and $4.3 million for busy bodies.
- $10.3 billion in continued funding for a range of health services, including $2.9 billion used to fund nurses’ pay rises, following a long-running battle with the NSW Nurses and Midwives Association at the Industrial Relations Commission.
- Funding a number of previously announced health infrastructure projects, including new hospitals at Rouse Hill ($910 million), Bankstown ($2 billion) and Eurobadalla ($330 million), as well as the redevelopment of Fairfield Hospital ($630 million) and additional beds for Blacktown and Mount Druitt hospitals ($120 million).
- A $400 million hospital care “blitz” following a fungal cluster has been blamed for the deaths of two organ transplant patients at Crown Prince Alfred. It led to revelations about wider care problems, including pigeon infestations causing cases of bird lice and maggots infesting hospital beds.
Education
bondi
- Six months after the country’s worst terror attack, $8.3 million will be allocated to support the Jewish community and $2 million will be allocated to erect a permanent memorial to the victims in Bondi. Sydney’s Jewish Museum is to receive $2.6 million for a redevelopment that will include exhibitions on modern antisemitism.
reporter It will give you every detail of the NSW budget when it is distributed at 12.30pm on Tuesday 23 June.
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