Mr GREG WARREN (Campbelltown) (11:47): My question is directed to the Minister for Planning and Public Spaces, in his capacity representing the Treasurer in the other place. Will the Minister update the House on any pressures facing the New South Wales budget?
Mr PAUL SCULLY (Wollongong—Minister for Planning and Public Spaces) (11:47): I thank the member for Campbelltown for his question. He understands that for the Government to pursue its initiatives and rebuild services there is a definite need to get the budget back in shape. Why? Because the previous Government left us with the biggest debt ever handed from one government to another in the history of New South Wales. In the nine months to March 2023, the former Treasurer added $27 billion worth of new policy measures to the budget. But this is what may shock people most: The former Government spent over $1 billion on consultants in its last five years in office. In order to do that, it had to be signing a new consultant contract every working hour for five years, with 10,000 contracts in total. It is an incredible record of budget recklessness.
The former Coalition Government conducted a fire sale of State assets and increased or introduced taxes 21 times while in office. It implemented a total of $34 billion in revenue measures during its time in office but also could not stop spending when it left office. The Coalition has clocked up an extra $61 billion in commitments since losing office. The Opposition's tax-and-spend budget approach stands in stark contrast to the fiscal strategy of the Government, which is to return the budget to a sustainable operating position, stabilise it and then maintain a sustainable debt position. The best thing we can do to address cost-of-living pressures is to put downward pressure on inflation. Both the current budget and the upcoming budget do exactly that by controlling spending, cutting waste and limiting any new spending to the must-haves.
We have already stabilised debt. Gross debt will be $8.7 billion lower in June 2026 compared with what was forecast when we took office. Our expenses growth of 1.8 per cent is almost threefold less than that of the former Government. To put it another way, we are spending only 48ȼ of every $1 of new revenue that comes in and saving the other half. By controlling spending, we are turning the State's fiscal position around. The budget result will improve by $5.7 billion this year compared with last year, which is the biggest year-on-year improvement in the State's history.
The SPEAKER: I call the member for Terrigal to order for the second time.
Mr PAUL SCULLY: We have faced a series of significant challenges, including the $11.9 billion writedown in GST revenue last year. [Extension of time]
Despite these challenges, our third responsible budget will make further progress on our strategy to get the finances of the State back in order. Lower inflation has allowed the Reserve Bank to begin easing rates. This is welcome of course, but the inflation dragon is not yet dead, buried and cremated. Last month, the consumer price index showed that inflation rose 2.4 per cent in the 12 months to April. That is unchanged from March, but still slightly above expectations. While headline inflation has remained steady for three months, underlying price pressures remain borderline. Trimmed mean inflation has edged up to 2.8 per cent. Key cost-of-living drivers continue to rise faster than average. This includes food, which is up by 3.1 per cent, and recreation, which is up by 3.6 per cent. While fuel and electricity prices are currently falling, much of that relief is due to temporary global conditions and government rebates. In other words, inflation is steady but not solved.
We must continue to show caution and discipline. This Government is committed to doing its part. We will continue to do what we can to ease the pressure on families. Soon the Treasurer will hand down the Government's third budget. It will be another round of responsible government action to get the State's finances back on track following the mess we inherited from members opposite. They are laughing at the mess they created. They would not understand fiscal responsibility if Alan Stockdale told them about it. Our next budget will maintain the balance that we have struck so far. It will provide relief without adding heat, and back growth without fuelling inflation. We are building a better New South Wales responsibly, sustainably and with discipline.
