2019-20 NSW Budget Estimates

Overview

Each year, Budget Estimates provide a snapshot of the NSW Government’s spending. It is an inquiry into the expenditure, performance and effectiveness of Ministers and senior public servants' agencies.

However, over the duration of the 2019-2020 Budget Estimates, from March 1 to March 17, COVID-19 had distinctly increased in threat and impact across NSW. The last two days of hearings saw the Parliament enforcing a 1.5-metre rule between ministers, members and public servants.

Budget Estimates is a key process in keeping the Government accountable and transparent through detailed questioning on the decisions, actions and advice of ministers and public servants. PremierNational notes that since the time of individuals testimonies the nature of COVID-19 in NSW has drastically changed. 

The 2019-2020 Budget Estimates can also be considered a time capsule of the Government’s spending priorities prior to the COVID-19 outbreak in NSW. The business of Government can and must go on, even during a crisis.

For more information on the 2019-2020 budget estimates, and how the government is responding to COVID-19, please contact lc@premierstate.net.

Portfolio Insight

Below we have summarised the key Budget Estimates.

Local Government 

The Hon. Shelley Hancock, MP

  • A key focus of Minister Hancock’s Budget Estimates was in regard to coastal management programs, particularly about grants under the New South Wales Government's Coastal and Estuary Grants Program and the recently established bushfire-affected coastal waterways grants program. Grants provided to Lake Conjola, of the Shoalhaven Council, were of particular focus. The funding for the grant programs comes from the Climate Change fund. 

  • Minister Hancock also commented on a proposed bill to prevent property developers to run for local council. She said that “none of us want to see the kind of behaviour that has occurred in the past with property developers…who get themselves elected to councils to line their own pockets” and that “the Government will provide a response to that particular bill—the new bill that was introduced in the upper House last week”.  

Finance and Small Businesses

The Hon. Damien Tudehope, MLC

  • Minister Tudehope was asked if Australian steel was being procured for bushfire recovery purposes. Estimates found that this has not been the case.  Greens MLC David Shoebridge pushed the question of whether Australian steel should be mandated in NSW Government projects, in order to boost employment and NSW manufacturing.  

  • To this, Minister Tudehope said that “there would probably be all sorts of constitutional and free trade issues that would arise in relation to such a mandated order. There would probably be all sorts of constitutional and free trade issues that would arise in relation to such a mandated order”. 

  • On the day of Minister Tudehope’s 
    estimates (5 March), he was asked about the possible effects of COVID-19 on small- and medium-sized enterprises. While the situation on this has been drastically elevated since the Minister estimates, Tudehope said he was gathering data and preparing a response. 

Energy and the Environment

The Hon. Matt Kean, MP

  • Minister Kean told the hearing that extending AGL’s Liddell power station beyond the already delayed closure date of 2023 could pose a "major concern" for the health and safety of workers at the plant. Kean told the hearing that the plant “becomes more dangerous" as it ages.  
    The questions and the Minister's response came after the federal Energy Minister Angus Taylor was reported to be preparing to keep Liddell open until 2026.  

  • Minister Kean said the state’s threatened species scientific committee was considering elevating the marsupial’s status from “vulnerable” to “endangered” after the summer’s catastrophic bushfire season. He told the hearing “my understanding is that the threatened species advisory panel is looking at exactly that ... there have been a number of requests for it to do so." 

  • When discussing the future of NSW’s energy supply, Minister Kean outlined his vision for NSW to become an economic super power, stating “the science and economics say that the cheapest way of delivering reliable electricity into the system is sun and wind, backed up by things like pumped hydro and batteries. If you inject enough into the system, you can almost get zero marginal cost electricity, which will turbocharge the Australian economy now and into the future". 

Treasury

The Hon. Dominic Perrottet, MP

  • Understandably, the position of the State’s economy in the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak was a key point of interest by the Treasurer’s estimates on the 9th of March.  The Treasurer told the hearing that the state's economy was better prepared than other states and territories, due to its "sound financial and economic management".  

    NSW’s chief economist, Stephen Walters, told the hearing that he wasn’t forecasting a state recession yet. Walters told the hearing he's "fairly confident" NSW will experience a quarter of negative gross state product growth, reminding the hearing "a recession would require two quarters of negative growth,” which was not forecast at the time of the hearing.

  • The Treasurer also spoke about what the 11 years of a Coalition government looked like in NSW: “a quarter of a trillion dollars in infrastructure, record schools, record hospitals, record roads and rail. Never before have we seen a transformation of our State with infrastructure investment and we are seeing right now. As a result of New South Wales leading the way in this space, we are seeing other States also bring on their infrastructure agenda." 

Customer Service

The Hon. Victor Dominello, MP

  • Minister Dominello answered a string of questions on the Governments Critical Communications Enhancement, the government-administered radio network that is vital for State in its coordinating of emergency services. The project, that is “in the order of about $620 million,” was a point of focus in the hearing, with oppositions members asking for a clear timeline of delivery. 

  • Minister Dominello stated that approximately 1,800 volunteer firefighters have received the volunteer firefighter payment, coming to a total payment of $6.34 million.  

Jobs, Investment, Tourism and Western Sydney

The Hon. Stuart Ayres, MP

  • Minister Ayres answered questions on the impacts of the bushfires and the COVID-19 outbreak on tourism in NSW. Ayres highlighted the important role tourism will play in restimulating the economy after the threats from COVID-19 have subsided: “ongoing statements from the Treasurer, myself and I think from the Government have been that tourism will play an important role in the recovery of communities from bushfires. I would throw into that drought and, increasingly, coronavirus.” 

  • Minister Ayres was blunt about the ongoing hardships the tourism sector is facing, remarking “Tourism has been substantially impacted by bushfires and will be impacted by coronavirus.” When asked if tourism would be included in the government’s
     response to COVID-19, Ayres responded: “Tourism is a fundamental pillar of the New South Wales State economy; it counts for one in 22 jobs, and I have little doubt that the response from the State Government, included in either imminent responses or the formulation of the upcoming budget, will be geared to responding to the challenges that are presented to the State.” 

  • The Minister highlighted the government’s work in western Sydney, stating “western Sydney health and med-tech precinct at Westmead, or the aerotropolis, […] are all substantial policy positions that have been established that will drive economic growth and create jobs”. 

Transport and Roads

The Hon. Andrew Constance, MP

  • On the issue of privatisation, Constance responded to a line of questioning regarding the sale of the remaining 49% share of WestConnex for a net value of $4 billion, which he noted to be an important and incredibly successful way to help NSW build more infrastructure.   

  • Constance reported to Estimates that his portfolio delivered a billion-dollar cost saving on the first stage of southwest metro development. The government is still contracting for the remainder of the project. 

  • The Minister answered a string of questions with respect to his portfolio's response to the catastrophic damage brought about by fires, to which he responded that he “could not be more proud of how Transport has handled the bushfire crisis”. He noted that going forward, “we do need to do more to safeguard and protect” state infrastructure.  

Tertiary Education and Skills

The Hon. Dr Geoff Lee, MP

  • Minister Lee spoke about his portfolio’s offer of free training to help bushfire-affected communities, with new courses introduced in TAFEs within bushfire-affected areas to upskill local communities for relevant recovery efforts including fencing, asbestos identification, and tree felling.  

  • On the issue of privatisation,
    Minister Lee ruled out the franchising of TAFE. He did, however, say that if “a not-for-profit community college wants to come and teach on a campus and we have vacancy on that campus, I will consider that proposal and recommendations from TAFE where it's appropriate”. 

Health and Medical  Research

The Hon. Brad Hazzard, MP

  • The ongoing situation with COVID-19 was, understandably, the primary focus of the Health and Medical Research estimates. As of the 18th of March, the key concerns of Estimates related to this regard were: 

    1. Hospital bed capacity across the 15 local health districts, and mapping pathways to emergency departments and respiratory clinics.  

    2. NSW research into antimicrobial resistance and vaccines

    3. The capacity of rural and regional areas for testing.  

  • In Far West NSW, very different local health district approaches are needing to be addressed, to boost capacity to deal with the pandemic as it unfolds in NSW. 

  • In the past seven years, the number of people going to emergency departments has risen by a million. Limits to Medicare coverage in Australia’s interconnected health system means patients pay excess to see GPs. A consequence of this, according to Hazzard, is that people are going to emergency departments instead of seeing GPs to avoid paying excess.  

Premier

The Hon. Gladys Berejiklian, MP

  • Premier Berejiklian detailed how the $1 billion infrastructure fund for bushfire damage is being expended, focusing initially on clean-up efforts and the reopening capacity of schools. 7,500 people and families are requiring a case manager through Service NSW, with the impact of the unfolding COVID-19 virus expected to add further stress to communities.  

  • The Premier did not provide a full comment on whether the Government would support the One Nation Party legislation to repeal the ban on uranium mining and nuclear facilities in NSW, simply saying instead that all bills “go to the party room and we will make a decision”. 

  • Also put to the Premier was police 
    strip-searching concerns, matters of domestic and family violence mitigation efforts, and the privatisation of bus routes. She defended Police Minister David Elliott and former tourism minister Stuart Ayres, over respective controversies regarding ministerial standards. 

Planning and Public Spaces

The Hon. Rob Stokes, MP

  • NSW Planning Minister Rob Stokes confirmed the Low Rise Medium Density Housing Code (allowing fast tracked development of medium density dwellings) will go ahead in July, after 45 councils deferred the implementation when it was first introduced two years ago.  

    Stokes said in estimates that: “Those deferrals were sought by councils that wished to receive a deferral to enable them to prepare a planning proposal where they felt that the operation of the code in the context of their R2 zone and the permissible uses in their R2 zone would have unintended consequences. 

    Only six councils have made local environment plans (LEPs) and have completed planning proposals (Lane Cove, Camden, Campbelltown, the Central Coast, Georges River, Randwick and Sutherland). They will not be totally excluded from the code, but they have been given the opportunity to make amendments to their underlying planning controls to ameliorate the perceived impactsof the code. 14 further councils have
    lodged a planning proposal, with gateway determinations being issued from the department. 

  • The other prominent line of questioning in Minister Stokes’ hearing was regarding environmental concerns.  Some of these included: 

    • EP&A Act, and whether this should include climate change. Stokes said that “it is very well established that climate change impacts are a fundamental matter for the planning system to consider”, and that he would be happy to discuss reforms.  

    • Questions regarding the Ministers instruction to the Independent Planning Commission regarding the Narrabri Gas project. Stokes said that response to the inquiry will be released in due course. 

Deputy Premier, Regional New South Wales, Industry and Trade

The Hon. John Barilaro, MP

  • How the NSW Nationals would vote on One Nation’s bill to allow nuclear power in NSW was a key issue in the Deputy Premier’s Budget Estimates hearing. Barilaro is a long-time advocate of nuclear energy, and prior to the hearing was quoted saying that the National Party would support Mark Latham's bill to overturn a ban on uranium mining. Barilaro clarified the comments, telling the hearing “I've since then had to pull that back to the point where I'll have to go through the National party room, the parliamentary team, before we get to that position”. Barilaro will now wait for the issue to be considered by the party room as well as the Cabinet.  

  • When asked about COVID-19, the Deputy Premier stated “Yes, the coronavirus brings another level of impact on our small business and our economies. If it was not the drought, it was fires, then floods and now coronavirus. If the locusts turn up, it will be of biblical proportions. But we are resilient. We will keep fighting and we will keep working. I have not stopped my travels. I still attend all these community events as I have done over the weekend and all of last week, ensuring we do not lose focus. We have got a major task ahead of us. This is not a program for weeks or months, this is for the next few years, we are going to be working on recovery and rebuild ".

Better Regulation and Innovation

The Hon. Kevin Anderson, MP

  • When asked about price gouging during the COVID-19 crisis, Minister Anderson said that there were not powers to stop price gouging. 
    Instead, he said, supermarkets were taking the right action by limiting purchases of essential items and giving the elderly and people with disabilities special access. 

  • The issue of cladding was brought up in hearing. Anderson said, “We are acting. A significant amount of work is being done in NSW in relation to the cladding issue,” adding "The number of buildings [on the register] is coming down." Anderson assured the hearing that the Government was “carefully considering” the 
    commissioner’s plan, but would not comment on what the recommendations from the building commissioner were because they were before Cabinet.

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