Latest news with #DanielMookhey
Perth Now
10 hours ago
- Business
- Perth Now
One thing that won't be in NSW budget
NSW Treasurer Daniel Mookhey has definitely ruled out any announcement on the government's 'Plan B' for housing in next week's budget, after a $5bn proposal to turn Rosehill racecourse into 25,000 homes was shot down. Mr Mookhey will hand down his third budget since Labor's 2022 election on Tuesday, as NSW continues to grapple with a worsening housing crisis and the fallout from a summer marred by anti-Semitic attacks. Billions of dollars in spending has already been announced ahead of the budget, expected to feature the same fiscal restraint as the previous two years, including in housing, justice reform, and Western Sydney airport. The budget comes after a majority of members from the Australian Turf Club voted down plans in May to turn the historic Rosehill racecourse in Sydney's west into a first-of-its-kind mini-city with a Metro station. Premier Chris Minns has since said the state government was working on its 'Plan B', with reports the port of Glebe Island was being eyed for housing, but has so far remained mum on what that project would be. NSW Treasurer Daniel Mookhey will hand down his third state budget on Tuesday June 24. NewsWire / John Appleyard Credit: News Corp Australia Asked about whether the 'Plan B' for housing near Sydney's CBD would feature in the budget, Mr Mookhey on Friday told NewsWire '(in) next week's budget, we will make progress in dealing with the housing challenge'. 'We will not be sort of announcing Plan B on budget day. But we're pretty clear that we need to build more homes.' Mr Mookhey said he was 'disappointed' in the failed sale of Rosehill. 'What it means for the state is that we do need to build more homes,' he said. A raft of policy measures has already been announced ahead of the budget to target housing, including making tax cuts to build-to-rent schemes indefinite and draft guidelines for the 'build-in-kind' scheme. Despite a damaging few weeks for the Treasurer, whose workers compensation reform measures were sent back for another inquiry amid fierce push back from the Liberals, Greens, and the unions, Mr Mookhey was optimistic. Asked about the message of the 2025-26 budget, Mr Mookhey said it was about the 'future of our essential services and the future of our economy', and touted the work of the NSW Labor government until now. The ATC voted in May not to sell Rosehill Gardens Racecourse. NewsWire / Monique Harmer Credit: News Corp Australia 'It is about making sure that we are making the right investments to deliver the world class public services that people will expect, and to make sure that the NSW economy continues to grow so we can lift people's living standards, improve their wages and create jobs,' Mr Mookhey said. 'That's been what this budget has been about, and the reason why we can now make these investments is because we've made real progress in stabilising the state's finances. 'We've inherited a $15bn deficit, which we've made good progress in turning around. We can report now for the first time in years, the NSW government is back into cash surplus. 'We can say that the debt is stabilising. We've kept our promise to keep debt at below $187bn at this point in time. So, that gives us that platform for more progress.' The budget comes after the Western Australian budget on Thursday reported a $2.5bn surplus off the back of a 2018 deal that gave it an guaranteed share of the country's GST carve-up. Premier Chris Minns, left, with Treasurer Daniel Mookhey. NewsWire/ Gaye Gerard Credit: News Corp Australia Mr Mookhey previously said he would advocate to the Albanese government to reform the tax allocation, which he said cost the state government $12.6bn last year – for which the state was 'still recovering'. 'It's undoubtedly the case that that remains a challenge for NSW, and it doesn't matter whether there's a Labor treasurer or a Liberal treasurer, the state would have to be dealing with that. 'Which is why I am glad that here in NSW, we do have bipartisanship about the need for GST reform. 'But, in arguing for NSW's position, I don't talk down any other states and I accept the fact that every state will always argue for what they consider to be their interest. 'I'm simply saying that there's a simpler system, that more predictable system, a more certain system that is available, and we'll continue to argue our case for change.'
News.com.au
10 hours ago
- Business
- News.com.au
NSW Treasurer Daniel Mookhey confirms Sydney's housing ‘Plan B' won't be in Tuesday's budget
NSW Treasurer Daniel Mookhey has definitely ruled out any announcement on the government's 'Plan B' for housing in next week's budget, after a $5bn proposal to turn Rosehill racecourse into 25,000 homes was shot down. Mr Mookhey will hand down his third budget since Labor's 2022 election on Tuesday, as NSW continues to grapple with a worsening housing crisis and the fallout from a summer marred by anti-Semitic attacks. Billions of dollars in spending has already been announced ahead of the budget, expected to feature the same fiscal restraint as the previous two years, including in housing, justice reform, and Western Sydney airport. The budget comes after a majority of members from the Australian Turf Club voted down plans in May to turn the historic Rosehill racecourse in Sydney's west into a first-of-its-kind mini-city with a Metro station. Premier Chris Minns has since said the state government was working on its 'Plan B', with reports the port of Glebe Island was being eyed for housing, but has so far remained mum on what that project would be. Asked about whether the 'Plan B' for housing near Sydney's CBD would feature in the budget, Mr Mookhey on Friday told NewsWire '(in) next week's budget, we will make progress in dealing with the housing challenge'. 'We will not be sort of announcing Plan B on budget day. But we're pretty clear that we need to build more homes.' Mr Mookhey said he was 'disappointed' in the failed sale of Rosehill. 'What it means for the state is that we do need to build more homes,' he said. A raft of policy measures has already been announced ahead of the budget to target housing, including making tax cuts to build-to-rent schemes indefinite and draft guidelines for the 'build-in-kind' scheme. Despite a damaging few weeks for the Treasurer, whose workers compensation reform measures were sent back for another inquiry amid fierce push back from the Liberals, Greens, and the unions, Mr Mookhey was optimistic. Asked about the message of the 2025-26 budget, Mr Mookhey said it was about the 'future of our essential services and the future of our economy', and touted the work of the NSW Labor government until now. 'It is about making sure that we are making the right investments to deliver the world class public services that people will expect, and to make sure that the NSW economy continues to grow so we can lift people's living standards, improve their wages and create jobs,' Mr Mookhey said. 'That's been what this budget has been about, and the reason why we can now make these investments is because we've made real progress in stabilising the state's finances. 'We've inherited a $15bn deficit, which we've made good progress in turning around. We can report now for the first time in years, the NSW government is back into cash surplus. 'We can say that the debt is stabilising. We've kept our promise to keep debt at below $187bn at this point in time. So, that gives us that platform for more progress.' The budget comes after the Western Australian budget on Thursday reported a $2.5bn surplus off the back of a 2018 deal that gave it an guaranteed share of the country's GST carve-up. Mr Mookhey previously said he would advocate to the Albanese government to reform the tax allocation, which he said cost the state government $12.6bn last year – for which the state was 'still recovering'. 'It's undoubtedly the case that that remains a challenge for NSW, and it doesn't matter whether there's a Labor treasurer or a Liberal treasurer, the state would have to be dealing with that. 'Which is why I am glad that here in NSW, we do have bipartisanship about the need for GST reform. 'But, in arguing for NSW's position, I don't talk down any other states and I accept the fact that every state will always argue for what they consider to be their interest. 'I'm simply saying that there's a simpler system, that more predictable system, a more certain system that is available, and we'll continue to argue our case for change.'
The Guardian
20 hours ago
- Business
- The Guardian
News live: NSW to make legal move on privatised hospital; Israel boasts ‘close collaboration' with Australia
Update: Date: 2025-06-19T20:27:55.000Z Title: NSW government moves to end partnership deal over Northern Beaches hospital Content: The Minns Labor government is arming itself with new powers to terminate the public-private partnership (PPP) with bankrupt Northern Beaches hospital operator Healthscope in the event that it cannot reach an agreement. The government announced today it would introduce amendments to a private member's bill brought forward by the member for Wakehurst, Michael Regan, next week so it could – if required – terminate the Northern Beaches PPP contract. This follows the appointment of receivers to the parent entities of Healthscope, which the NSW government considers a default under the contract. Healthscope has argued that the termination would be ' voluntary' and would attract compensation as set out on the contract. The government said this would run to hundreds of millions of dollars. 'This is not a decision we take lightly,' the NSW treasurer, Daniel Mookhey, said. But we are now in a position where the Liberals' privatisation mess means Healthscope's receivers are negotiating the future of the Northern Beaches hospital. While an agreed exit from this failed PPP contract remains my preference, I must ensure the government has the right to step in and protect the Northern Beaches community from this dragging on. Update: Date: 2025-06-19T20:27:02.000Z Title: Welcome Content: Good morning and welcome to our live news blog. I'm Martin Farrer with the top overnight stories and then Nick Visser will be in the hot seat. Israel's deputy foreign minister told the ABC's 7.30 last night that her country had 'a very close collaboration' with Australian security agencies. However, when pressed on the question she did not elaborate on whether that included sharing intelligence about Iran's nuclear program. More coming up. The Minns Labor government is arming itself with new powers to terminate the public-private partnership (PPP) with bankrupt Northern Beaches hospital operator Healthscope in the event that it cannot reach an agreement. More coming up on that too.
The Guardian
a day ago
- Business
- The Guardian
NSW budget unlikely to allocate extra funding for long-promised great koala national park
The long-promised great koala national park is not expected to get any additional funding in next week's New South Wales 2025-26 budget despite being a centrepiece of the state government's environment policy. 'When it comes to the great koala national park, people will see that we're making progress on it,' the state treasurer, Daniel Mookhey, told Guardian Australia. 'We have put money aside in the last budget [$80m over four years] to allow a bit more than just planning work to be done – what we call the first stage of the park. 'We have a forest industry action plan … that's being developed. We intend to respond to that when the work is done.' Mookhey said when the government was ready to make an announcement about the plan 'the budget will reflect that decision'. In March conservation groups implored the premier, Chris Minns, to declare the full 176,000 hectares to be assessed and included as part of the park in northern NSW to protect it from logging. Sign up for Guardian Australia's breaking news email Since Labor's 2023 election victory, more than 10,000 football fields of forests have been cut down in the footprint of the promised park, according to a coalition of groups campaigning for urgent action. A multimillion-dollar transition package will be needed for timber workers to halt logging, as well as ongoing funding to establish and run the park. 'It's incredibly disappointing if there is no new money for the great koala national park in the budget,' said the Nature Conservation Council's NSW chief executive, Jacqui Mumford. 'We've had two years of delays already, and not putting money in the budget will only delay the park further. 'It's bad news for koalas and its bad news for timber workers.' Tuesday's budget will also reveal the huge cost of natural disasters including Cyclone Alfred in March, which affected northern NSW; floods on the mid-north coast in May; and recovery costs for the 2022 Lismore floods. The figure is expected to be in the billions. The government will also need to reveal the additional costs due to increased psychological claims by public sector workers after it failed to pass a bill to limit workers compensation claims ahead of the budget. The treasurer has has claimed the additional liability will be $2.6bn over five years. The legislation is now likely to return to parliament in September. 'People will see the budget is under pressure, predominantly from two sources: first, natural disasters; and second, a failing workers compensation system that is not returning workers to their health and then to work,' Mookhey said Asked about future climate change adaption costs, he said this would feature in different ways in the budget. 'We are embedding that type of resilience investment and planning framework in more and more areas of government activity,' he said, including water, roads, transport and maritime. Sign up to Breaking News Australia Get the most important news as it breaks after newsletter promotion 'You can't silo adaption from the rest of the government's work. We have to embed it into one of the core practices.' There may be some additional funding to help speed planning of renewables projects, with four coal-fired power plants due to close in the next 10 to 15 years. There is also likely to be more spending on urban infrastructure. 'We'll have more to say about how we want to pair infrastructure with housing,' Mookhey said. 'Having made massive investments, particularly in projects like Sydney Metro, having borrowed billions from our children and our grandchildren, it's only fair and right that they have the right to have a home … that's nearby transport,' he said. The main theme of the budget would be the efficient investment of government funds in hospitals, schools and other services, he said. The cost of pay rises to police, train drivers, and teachers will be spelled out but the government is still negotiating with nurses and psychiatrists. 'Fixing essential services and investing in growth is what's been defining the budget,' he said. The budget will include about $200m over four years to support Aboriginal children's participation in early learning. The funds will go toward increasing the number of Aboriginal-owned and controlled early learning centres, and to increase enrolments of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island children in public preschools. The funding is part of the government's First Steps strategy.
Yahoo
a day ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Housing solution given major tax boost as Australia faces 'critical problem'
A tax break will be extended 'indefinitely' for owners of new build-to-rent developments as the NSW government tries to boost rental supply in the country's most expensive property market. The change was announced today ahead of the state budget, alongside rules to help fast-track infrastructure. The NSW budget will extend the 50 per cent land tax discount on build-to-rent developments indefinitely. The tax break was due to expire in 2039 under the previous government. University of Queensland Professor of Finance Shaun Bond told Yahoo Finance build-to-rent could have a 'big impact' on the landscape of Australian housing over the coming years and was 'key' to taking some pressure off the market. RELATED Growing property tactic that allowed 25-year-old to buy first Sydney home Centrelink age pension changes coming into effect from July 1 $1,000 ATO school fees tax deduction that Aussies don't realise they can claim 'The key problem we have in Australia is we just haven't been building enough homes. This is a critical problem that was severely exacerbated during Covid when all the supply chains shut down and we've seen a big increase in material costs and a lot of building companies went out of business,' he said. NSW Treasurer Daniel Mookhey said the measures announced would give developers the certainty they needed to build more homes faster. 'We are making sure we build the homes we need, along with the essential infrastructure we need to go with them,' he said. 'Extending the tax incentives for build-to-rent will make it easier for developers to build, and give renters more choice.' Property Council NSW executive director Katie Stevenson welcomed the measures and said there was no time to waste, given we are still falling short of the government's goal of building 1.2 million homes by 2029. 'Making the BTR exemption permanent provides long-term certainty to investors and developers, helping to enable more high-quality rental homes to be delivered across NSW,' she said. To be eligible for the tax concession, a building must be owned by a single owner and manager and include at least 50 rental dwellings. Build-to-rent is an established practice in the UK and USA, but it is still a fairly new concept in Australia. Residential apartments are usually built by developers, with units sold off one by one. With build-to-rent, the units are designed specifically for renters and are held in a single ownership and professionally managed. They usually build a large number of units, with some having 200 or 300 units. They may offer longer-term lease options, better security for tenants and more rental housing choices in areas people want to live. Investors are pouring billions into the sector, with more than 8,900 dedicated build-to-rent apartments under construction in Australia at the end of last year and a further 20,000 units approved for development over the next five years. Other states like Victoria also have a 50 per cent land tax discount in place to encourage build-to-rent properties. Bond said one of the advantages of build-to-rent was that it helped bring supply on more quickly. 'You have maybe a large pension fund or institutional investor who might be able to provide large amounts of capital, because you could need $100 million or more for a big new development, and they can make that decision pretty quickly to go ahead,' he told Yahoo Finance. 'Because they have the resources, they can team up with a big developer and bring that property online. 'Whereas the traditional model in Australia has mainly been a developer will propose a new development, and then they'll have to do pre-sales, so it might take you two years to get the 60 or 70 per cent pre-sales you need to start construction.' Build-to-rent properties can also have a bigger focus on lifestyle factors for tenants. 'They'll really focus on the amenities that they offer to a tenant, because they want the tenants to stay there and be happy,' Bond said.
