Category: NSW News

The Minns Labor government will invest a record $3.5 billion over 4 years to deliver a massive pipeline of more than 60 new and upgraded public schools in Sydney’s rapidly growing western suburbs.

Labor’s investment in Western Sydney schools is $500 million higher than the former Liberal National government’s budget for the area.

The funding injection will ensure there are quality public schools for the city’s growing communities into the future.

The capital unlocked in this budget will fund the following new schools:

• new primary school near Sydney Olympic Park
• new high school for Wentworth Point
• new high school for Melrose Park
• new primary school for Gables
• new primary school for Melonba
• new high school for Melonba
• new primary school for Nirimba Fields
• new primary school for Tallawong
• new high school for Schofields and Tallawong
• new high school for Jordan Springs
• new primary school for Gregory Hills
• new high school for Gledswood Hills and Gregory Hills
• new high school for Leppington and Denham Court
• new high school for Edmondson Park
• new primary school for Liverpool (Gulyangarri Public School).

The Minns Labor government will also upgrade schools to deliver new facilities and address overcrowding.

Suburbs where schools will be upgraded include Austral, Cecil Hills, Condell Park, Dundas, Eagle Vale, Kingswood, Leppington, Northmead and The Ponds.

The delivery of these new and upgraded schools represents a key election commitment from the Minns Labor Government, which came to power with a mandate to fix the school infrastructure backlog in Sydney’s growth areas.

As part of its plan, the Minns government remains committed to building 9 schools promised but not started under the Liberal National government’s WestInvest scheme. 

The government is due to hand down the findings of its Enrolment Growth Audit later this year, which will ensure education is factored into future planning for the city and address the former government’s failures to provide local public schools in expanding suburban areas.

These essential infrastructure builds and upgrades can be funded because the Minns Labor government is making the difficult but responsible decisions with spending.

The Minns Labor government is setting out a long-term plan to gradually repair the budget in a sustainable way, to reprioritise spending to where it is needed most, and to rebuild the essential services that we all rely on.

And it will be done without privatising essential public assets or imposing an unfair cap on the wages of our essential service workers.

Premier Chris Minns said:

“Thousands of families moved into suburbs like Schofields, Tallawong, Nirimba Fields and The Ponds on the promise of local schools for their children, but the former government never delivered them.

“We were elected with a mandate to rebuild essential services – and there is nothing more essential than the education of the next generation of children.

“We are a government with a clear focus – managing our finances responsibly so we can provide support when you need it most and improve the essential services that we all rely on, now and into the future.”

Deputy Premier and Minister for Education Prue Car said:

“For years, Western Sydney’s rapidly growing communities have been crying out for more public schools for young families, but the previous Liberal National government chose to leave them behind.

“This Labor government understands how important it is for all young families to have access to a local public school, where children can get a high quality, education without a lengthy commute or expensive fees.

“We are not only building the schools that families need – we are ensuring those schools are properly staffed with qualified teachers who are appropriately paid, working to undo the former government’s erosion of pay and conditions that left NSW in a teacher shortage crisis.

“The Minns Labor government is making the careful and necessary decisions to address the holes left in the budget by the Liberals and ensure we fund the essential services people rely on. We are focusing on what people need most, and that’s essential services like high quality local schools.”

The NSW Minns Labor Government will not proceed with a costly rebuild of Willow Grove in Parramatta, following comments from Heritage experts that a rebuild would be an act of “fake heritage”.

The former Liberal Government demolished Willow Grove in late 2021, with the promise of rebuilding the heritage mansion at an alternative site.

It has now been revealed the former Liberal Government never allocated funds for the reconstruction.

The former government never resolved an alternative site.

Moving forward the Minns Labor Government has outlined three priorities to address the Parramatta community cultural and heritage needs:

1. Supporting the new Powerhouse Museum at Parramatta to appropriately engage with the heritage of their site.
2. Working with local community to consider the options to secure the Roxy Theatre for future generations. This includes developing a comprehensive Final Business Case for reactivating the venue.
3. Seek advice from the heritage and local community stakeholders the best way for the materials from Willow Grove to be used.

Minister for the Arts, John Graham said:

“It was a tragedy that Willow Grove was demolished, particularly against the community’s strong wishes to preserve it. However now that it’s been pulled down, it’s a terrible idea to try to rebuild it.

“More than that, the former government did not allocate funds or find a site for reconstruction, despite their promises that Willow Grove would be rebuilt.

“Given the heritage and broader community are strongly telling us that attempting to rebuild the beloved Willow Grove would be a bad use of taxpayer money – that it would be a “fake heritage” – and that there’s no money to do so, today we are drawing a line under this sorry saga. Willow Grove will not be rebuilt.

“The government will focus on heritage sites in Parramatta – such as the Roxy Theatre.

“Willow Grove had historical significance as a key site of female and First Nations history in the area, as well as an important site in the history of nursing and midwifery in NSW. Innovative and creative solutions should be found to honour those histories.

Background:

• Willow Grove was built between 1870 and 1880 and formerly sat at 34 Phillip Street, Parramatta. It was deconstructed to make way for the Powerhouse Parramatta, currently under construction and due to open in 2025.
• Community groups had long opposed the deconstruction of Willow Grove.
• In November 2021, the Willow Grove Community Reference Group was formed to work in partnership with community and stakeholder groups on the relocation and use of Willow Grove.
• April 2022, the National Trust withdrew from the Willow Grove Community Reference Group, citing concerns that the mansion could not be authentically reconstructed.
• Prior to deconstruction, the condition of Willow Grove was extensively recorded by Create NSW. Willow Grove was carefully catalogued, dismantled and all building elements safely placed into secure storage. The collection includes items of local heritage importance, including the slate roofing, windows, the front door, timber framing and stairs, the front fence and over 90 per cent of the original bricks.
• The Powerhouse Museum Parramatta has developed a heritage interpretation plan of the site.  This plan includes the development of collaborative projects with First Nations communities. In relation to Willow Grove the following interpretation work will be delivered;
• Sandstone– reinstatement of sandstone flooring from an original Willow Grove outhouse will be installed in the flooring of the undercroft. The sandstone flooring will be complemented by interpretive text panels outlining the history of the site including Willow Grove and its associated buildings.
• Object Stories– archaeological relics (bottles, plates, teapots) excavated in the area surrounding Willow Grove will be accessioned into the Powerhouse collection. Displays of these objects will be utilised in Powerhouse programming and they will be digitised on the Powerhouse website along with further information on their origins
• Mixed Use– Powerhouse will publish a book on the history of the Powerhouse Parramatta site. The book will tell the story of the site, its development and the people who inhabited it. This will include Willow Grove- its construction, uses and changes that occurred over time.  A series of oral histories will be recorded that will form an ongoing living archive that will be accessible online and through the Powerhouse Research Library.

The Minns Labor Government is once again claiming credit for the Coalition’s work, after it announced it will build ‘new’ schools in Western Sydney.
 
Opposition Leader Mark Speakman said Labor is reaping the rewards of the groundwork put in place by the Liberals and Nationals, with several of the schools already in the development stage.
 
“Most of these projects were only made possible by the planning and funding set aside by the former Government, but the Government is yet again trying to claim ideas that aren’t theirs,” Mr Speakman said.” 
 
“By the Government’s own admission, $3 billion of today’s announcement is from the last Budget delivered by the Liberals and Nationals. Proof of this includes the fact that construction began in 2022 for the new high school at Wentworth Point and work started at Gulyangarri Primary School in Liverpool before Labor was elected.”
 
“During our time in Government, the Liberals and Nationals delivered $9.1b in new and upgraded schools since 2017, with an additional $8.6b in the pipeline for future projects, so that is more than $17.7 billion worth of school infrastructure across the state.” 
 
In the Coalition’s 2022-23 Budget, money was allocated for the following schools in various stages of delivery:

• New high school for Wentworth Point
• New primary school for Gables
• New primary school for Melonba
• New high school for Melonba
• New primary school for Nirimba Fields
• New primary school for Tallawong
• New primary school for Gregory Hills
• New high school for Edmondson Park
• New primary school for Liverpool (Gulyangarri Public)

 
Shadow Education Minister Sarah Mitchell said today’s announcement lacks detail and transparency.
 
“To say we didn’t invest in school infrastructure is another blatant Labor lie, especially considering only $500m of their announcement is supposedly ‘new’ money”, Ms Mitchell said.
 
“The Government hasn’t said if this is new money or a redirection of existing funds in the Budget. The Government needs to be up front with families about what other projects might be on the chopping block and what other parts of the state will miss out to pay for any new commitments in Western Sydney.”

The NSW Government will slash the State’s net debt by more than $4 billion by beginning the overhaul of the controversial Transport Asset Holding Entity of NSW (TAHE).

The decision will be one of the biggest debt reduction measures in the upcoming state Budget. It is the first move in ending a long-running saga that has embroiled the State’s finances for years. 

Under the changes, the Government will convert TAHE into a non-commercial public non-financial corporation similar to Sydney Trains, NSW Trains and Venues NSW.

TAHE will no longer be a state-owned corporation (SOC). It will not have to make a profit from a public rail system that the government has subsidised for more than 100 years.

The new structure will see TAHE increase its focus on maximising the value of its transport assets, especially surplus land near railway stations that could be repurposed to help solve the State’s housing shortage.

The decision to begin the transition to the new operating model this year delivers on Labor’s election commitment to reform TAHE and eliminate billions of dollars of intra-government transactions, which were required under the previous operating model.

It was made after the Government received advice that a further $615 million in funding in 2023-24 was being sought by TAHE under contractual arrangements it has with the Public Rail Operators.

The changes will eliminate this funding requirement. It will also avoid the need for the general government sector to borrow more than $4 billion the former government intended for TAHE under the previous operating model.

Under the new model TAHE will continue to receive necessary funding to maintain a safe, reliable and sustainable network, without accounting trickery.

The Government anticipates the changes will have a budget result impact of negative $384 million over the budget and forward estimates, but interest savings alone on the debt avoided will offset this impact.

TAHE’s new operating model will be implemented in three phases:

• Phase 1: August to December 2023 – The Government will commence transitioning TAHE to not-for-profit status by taking administrative actions under the State Owned Corporations Act.
• Phase 2 – by December 2023 – The Government will introduce an initial wave of legislative changes to allow for the introduction of the new operating model.
• Phase 3 – By June 2024 – The Government will introduce further legislative changes to remove TAHE’s status as a SOC. The corporation will be renamed.  
• During the transition, TAHE will partially use its cash balances on hand and operating cash flow to fund its projects and activities, reducing reliance on grant funding.

The introduction of the new TAHE model is likely to see the reversal of the $20 billion write-down that occurred when TAHE began operating, as the State’s rail assets are revalued to reflect the new operating model.

The government will work with the Auditor-General to minimise any delay to the 2022/2023 Total State-Sector Accounts that might result.

Under the previous government:

• More than $5 billion in intra-government transactions were needed to prop up TAHE’s previous accounting treatment.
• A former Auditor-General, writing in the Sydney Morning Herald, labelled TAHE a ‘vehicle of deception’, which hid the true cost of operating the railways from the state’s accounts.
• The Legislative Council’s Public Accountability Committee found that the then NSW government failed to give proper consideration to safety, accountability and risk mitigations prior to creating TAHE.
• Millions of dollars were spent on consulting firms including PWC, KPMG and the Boston Consulting Group propping up the TAHE budget trick.

Treasure Daniel Mookhey said:

“We’re slashing the State’s net debt by more than $4 billion by fixing TAHE.

“This Government prefers to spend the public’s money fixing the state’s essential services, not propping up a budget con that went terribly wrong.

“We’re determined to bring an end to this saga. The State’s reputation for budget honesty was tarnished unnecessarily by the previous government’s decision to use TAHE to hide the true cost of operating the railways from the State’s accounts.”

The NSW Government has announced consultations will begin as it develops a new Critical Minerals and High-Tech Metals Strategy.

This strategy is a crucial document that provides the framework for the critical minerals and high-tech metals mining industry. The renewed strategy will provide certainty and direction for the industry as it continues to grow. It will include a sharper focus on domestic manufacturing, skills and training opportunities.

Ensuring a stable supply of critical minerals and high-tech elements is necessary to translate the state’s natural competitive advantage to economic growth and regional employment. Doing so will also safeguard the clean energy supply chain and sovereign capability.

The consultation on the NSW Critical Minerals and High-Tech Metals Strategy will canvass new opportunities to:

• Create more local jobs by encouraging domestic processing and manufacturing of products with significant critical minerals inputs like solar panels.
• Develop skills and training opportunities in the workforce to reinforce the state’s natural competitive advantages and the unique mix of deposits found in the state.
• Further encourage greenfield critical minerals exploration across the state, including through the release of geological survey data.
• Examine the economics of the industry and the best ways to leverage the government’s purchasing power to ensure investment growth.
• Create additional certainty for the industry and support NSW’s strong environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) position.
• Attract investment for innovation, research and development in NSW.
• Entrench NSW’s role as a preferred supplier of critical minerals to global trading partners.

NSW has an abundance of critical minerals and high-tech metals, including 17 of the 26 nationally identified critical minerals.

Resources like copper, silver and scandium are abundant in NSW and are crucial components in the products that will ensure NSW realises its goal of net zero emissions by 2050.

Recognising the crucial role copper and silver play in electrification and decarbonisation, NSW will focus efforts on these commodities as part of the new strategy.

The NSW Government will conduct a series of consultation meetings with key stakeholders, including mining companies, industry representatives, investors and workers.

The consultation period will begin next week with submissions open until Friday 17 November 2023. The government will also host a stakeholder roundtable on the sidelines of the International Mining and Resources Conference (IMARC), which is being hosted in Sydney for the second time in October 2023.

More information on the critical minerals consultation process will be available on the Mining, Exploration and Geosciencelaunch website from next week.

Minister for Natural Resources Courtney Houssos said:

“I’m excited by the opportunities created by critical minerals in NSW. The new strategy will ensure the state is able to best realise the gains of the next mining boom.

“NSW is uniquely positioned to support global supply of critical minerals with our diverse mix of critical mineral and high-tech metal deposits and capacity to promote domestic processing and manufacturing.

“We will establish a clear framework on how the government can support the exploration and mining of critical minerals and high-tech metals in NSW.

“We will consider how boosted skills and training opportunities throughout the state can drive the industry. Critical minerals mining requires a skilled labour force and that means more, high-paying jobs for people in regional NSW.

“Our ability to leverage the state’s natural abundance of materials to create employment opportunities and economic growth will be the best measure of our success.”

CEO of SunDrive solar technology company Vince Allen said:

“NSW has the potential to become a world-leading manufacturer of products that leverage critical minerals and high-tech metals.

“With our breakthrough solar technology, SunDrive believes Australia can become a renewable energy manufacturing superpower.

“By building out a local solar manufacturing industry we can help shape the future of net zero for NSW, Australia, and the world.

“Promoting a strong supply of critical minerals – like the copper at the core of SunDrive’s technology – is crucial to realising this ambition.”

The Minns Labor Government will slash gross debt by more than $7 billion by suspending contributions to the NSW Generations Fund (NGF) this year, ahead of a major shakeup of the state’s fund management policies.

The new settings will be the largest single gross debt reduction measure proposed in the upcoming 2023-24 Budget. Interest payments are likely to fall by $1.1 billion over the forward estimates.  

The government is reviewing the way in which NSW’s investment funds are managed. This includes ending the previous government’s policy of using $25.3 billion of borrowed money to invest in international stock markets, bond markets and other financial assets.

It also means investigating more efficient management of the state’s other funds.

This second step will involve overhauling management of the state’s funds under management, totalling $108 billion. The government will task T-Corp with developing a reform to maximise NSW’s investment returns by initially consolidating 6 separate government funds, of around $43 billion, into a more cost-effective structure. 

The government’s new funds management strategy will be implemented in next year’s budget. This will assist the government in managing the impact of the new NGF settings on the state’s finances.   

The upcoming budget will also provide a more transparent picture of the state’s finances by providing further information about the budget result, excluding net investment returns from the NSW Generations Fund. 

The Minns Government’s new policy will begin to unwind the previous government’s risky practice of taking on more debt to repay debt. It also responds to the recent Upper House inquiry, which called for an overhaul of NGF policy settings.

Treasurer Daniel Mookhey said:  

“NSW is going to stop playing around in financial markets using its credit card. 

“The previous government was willing to risk $25.3 billion to improve the state’s net debt position by just $2 billion. I’m not.”

“This will be the biggest step we take to reduce the state’s gross debt in this year’s budget. It shows the government is carefully repairing the budget so we can fix NSW’s essential services. 

“Reforming the NGF will allow us to shake up how the state’s investment funds are managed. That is a reform opportunity we intend to take.”

Australian soldiers killed in the country’s deadliest air disaster, on 7 September 1943, are being commemorated today at a service at the Anzac Memorial in Hyde Park Sydney

No Australian battalion suffered a greater loss than the 2/33rd Battalion did 80 years ago when, in a matter of seconds, it lost 60 men, killed or mortally injured, and another 90 injured as a result of the US Liberator B-24 Bomber crash in Port Moresby.

In pre-dawn darkness, the Liberator was taking off for a reconnaissance mission with four 500-pound bombs fitted as opposed to the carrying capacity of 12 bombs. For reasons unknown, the Liberator failed to gain sufficient height and hurtled towards the men on the ground in the convoy of trucks lining the airstrip. The bomber came crashing down, spilling forward a wave of burning aviation fuel engulfing the 5 lorries and causing catastrophic damage.

Survivors were sworn to secrecy and details of the crash were kept from the families of those who died to keep up morale during the Second World War.

Minister for Veterans David Harris will attend the special commemoration service with members of the 2/33rd Australian Infantry Battalion AIF Association and the veteran community to lay a wreath in honour of all those who served, their families and loved ones.

Minister for Veterans David Harris said:

“Today we remember the members of the 2/33rd Battalion who sadly lost their lives 80 years ago in one of the darkest days of the Second World War. 

“In the blink of an eye our nation lost 62 men, 60 soldiers of the 2/33rd Battalion as well as 2 Australian truck drivers.

“We pay tribute to the ultimate sacrifice they gave for their country, to keep us safe. We also remember the 11 airmen of the United States who also perished during the crash. Lest we forget.”

Mrs Yvonne Unitt, President of the 2/33rd Australian Infantry Battalion AIF Association, also laid a wreath to honour the association’s fallen comrades.

“Today’s commemoration of the 80th anniversary of the Liberator crash, Australia’s deadliest air disaster, marks another milestone in our association’s important work of honouring and remembering not only the courage, service and sacrifice of our 2/33rd Battalion soldiers.

“Formed in August 1945, 4 days after the Americans dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima our association’s work has become even more important because it is one of the few Second World War associations still in existence and has a strong support from the relatives of the 3065 men who wore the battalion’s famous red and brown colour patches into battles in the Middle East, Papua New Guinea and Borneo.”

The Minns Government will deliver a $1.8 billion boost to help rescue NSW’s energy transition, including establishing the Energy Security Corporation and investing to connect new projects to the grid.

The commitment will help put transmission and energy storage projects back on track, as the Labor Government works hard to keep the lights on during NSW’s switch to cleaner, affordable electricity.

The investment forms part of the government’s commitment to rebuilding the essentials in our state, including ensuring homes and businesses have reliable power at the lowest possible cost.

The government will commit an additional $800 million to the Transmission Acceleration Facility to connect the state’s Renewable Energy Zones (REZ) to the grid sooner and bring forward the benefit schemes for communities.

The NSW Government’s funding injection will support early works in the Central-West Orana Renewable Energy Zone, around Dubbo.

This renewable zone, the first in NSW, is expected at its peak to support around 5000 construction jobs and bring up to $10 billion in private investment in the region by 2030.

The funding will also maintain momentum in the other planned REZs, the Hunter Transmission Project and the Waratah Super Battery. 

The Transmission Acceleration Facility speeds up the delivery of new transmission projects by funding early work in the zones, along with funding community benefit schemes.

Investments will be ultimately recouped from the private sector developers of the REZ projects once projects reach financial close. That money will then be recycled back into the facility to support the development of future REZ projects.

This takes the total government commitment to the Transmission Acceleration Facility to $2 billion since its establishment in 2022. The facility is administered by the Government’s Renewable Energy Zone infrastructure planner, EnergyCo.

The NSW Budget will also confirm $1 billion to establish the Energy Security Corporation, delivering on another election commitment.

The Energy Security Corporation will make investments in storage projects, addressing gaps in the current market, and improving the reliability of our electricity network as we transition to renewables. 

This could include investing in community batteries and virtual power plants that will allow households and communities to pool electricity generated from rooftop solar, reducing their reliance on the grid and cutting their power bills.

Once established, the ESC will make investments in commercial projects, similar to the way the Clean Energy Finance Corporation operates. 

The ESC will be established with funding from Restart NSW. The government will be consulting with stakeholders through the development process.

The NSW Government is also announcing a key milestone in the delivery of the Central-West Orana Renewable Energy Zone.

The government will this month submit the project’s Environmental Impact Statement to the Department of Planning and Environment for approval, and it will go on public exhibition within weeks.

These investments support the government’s response to the Electricity Supply and Reliability Check Up and will help deliver the target of 12 gigawatts of new renewable energy generation and 2 gigawatts of long duration storage by 2030.

Premier Chris Minns said:

“We inherited a renewable energy roadmap that was off course.

“We’re determined to get NSW back on track when it comes to the energy transition, and this announcement is part of that.

“We need to get back on track so that we can produce cleaner, more affordable energy for the people of this state.

“We want the state to be able to invest in solutions that ensures reliability in the system, keeps the lights on, and creates new jobs for the state.

“This is a serious, long-term step towards ensuring we get the transition right.”

Minister for Energy Penny Sharpe said: 

“This additional $1.8 billion investment puts the renewable energy roadmap back on track. It will accelerate the transition to renewables, to ensure NSW households and communities have a reliable supply of clean, affordable electricity.

“This is a once-in-a-generation transition that requires massive investment and coordination from government and cooperation with the private sector.

“These investments will reignite the first of our Renewable Energy Zones in the Central West-Orana and make sure local communities see early benefits.

“We’re not just investing in large, grid-scale projects. We want to give households and communities more power to make choices about how they generate and use energy. That’s why the Energy Security Corporation will invest in projects like community batteries to help more households use their rooftop solar to become self-sufficient.”

On the first Wednesday in September, Australians come together for Battle of Australia Day, to honour the service and sacrifice of all those who served in defence of Australia in 1942 and helped contribute to the defeat of Japan during the Second World War.

Minister for Veterans David Harris laid a sprig of wattle today, alongside members of the veteran community at the Cenotaph in Martin Place Sydney on the 81st anniversary of the day.

Prime Minister John Curtin used the term ‘Battle for Australia’ after the fall of Singapore on 15 February 1942. Soon after, Australia suffered direct Japanese attacks, including the bombing of Darwin, with many merchant and Navy ships sunk defending our shores.

Over 39,000 Australians died during the Second World War, most of them in the campaigns in Asia and the Pacific. Many more were wounded in action and approximately 22,000 Australians became prisoners of war.

During the Great War, the golden wattle was used as a symbol of unity on the home front, and this continued through the Second World War. The resilience of wattle, to withstand our nation’s harsh weather of droughts, winds and bushfires, represents the spirit of the Australian people and sprigs of wattle are laid as a tribute for the Battle of Australia commemoration.

Minister for Veterans, David Harris said:

“The Second World War was the first time that our nation and our land was under attack.

“Today we come together to remember the efforts of our veterans who protected our nation. Who fought to defend our border, our mainland and throughout the Pacific to keep us safe.

“Their efforts, eighty-one years ago, contributed to the first defeat of Japanese forces on land in New Guinea, with the Battle of Milne Bay.

“Whilst the early years of the war focused on Europe, it was during 1942 that Australian forces drew on the spirit of the Anzacs to hold off and eventually overcome the Japanese along the Kokoda Track and other significant battles in New Guinea and throughout the Pacific.

“On the home front, we defended the attacks in Darwin and later in Sydney Harbour. All these efforts helped to win the war against Japan.

“It is these efforts and sacrifices that we remember today. Lest we forget.”

Immediate past President of the Battle for Australia Association in NSW, Colonel Davis Ross CSC (Ret’d) said:

“Today we honour the service and sacrifice of our solders, sailors and air crew as well as all the efforts on the home front. We remember their contributions against the aggression of the Japanese forces, that led to a victory in the Battle for Australia.”

The Minns Labor Government’s $2.7 billion coal tax grab will risk jobs, increase energy prices, and add to a growing list of broken promises.

“This is a Government that can’t be trusted – before the election Chris Minns matched the Coalition’s promise not to raise taxes, and now he’s done exactly that to pay for his unfunded election promises,” Opposition Leader Mark Speakman said.

“It’s clear that Chris Minns can’t keep his word. He promised to roll over Active Kids and then slashed the program by 85%, he promised that he would deliver Metro West and now there is a question mark over the project, he promised no privatisation but is looking to sell off public land, and he committed to end secret rent bidding before backflipping – the list goes on.”

“The Labor Government’s coal tax grab is needed to plug the budget blackhole created by another Labor broken promise, namely no unfunded public sector wage increases.”

Shadow Treasurer Damien Tudehope said this was the Minns Labor Government’s attempt to fix the Budget black hole of their own making, which is risking our state’s fiscal security and Triple A credit rating.

“This is a Government that in the past 24 hours alone has announced an unfunded deal with the Teachers Federation and flagged an extension of Eraring without any idea of how long or how much it will cost the NSW Budget.”

“This tax grab risks higher energy prices and jobs across NSW, not just in the mining industry but for small businesses that no longer have the margins to absorb the increased input costs.”