ADJOURNMENT NOTES- BUDGET EDITION

Welcome to a special edition of Adjournment Notes- Budget Edition.

NSW STATE BUDGET 2020-21

Welcome to a special edition of Adjournment Notes- Budget Edition.

Who would have thought one year ago that New South Wales would have a trifecta of crises including the drought, bushfires and to top it off a global pandemic.

We face extremely difficult and uncertain times, with people losing their jobs and finding themselves on Centrelink (job seeker or job keeper). With 220,000 jobs in NSW jobs were wiped out virtually overnight.

Treasurer Dominic Perrottet has stated that "the hit to the economy is real, everything we have seen happen around us has an economic impact and we need to do everything we can to help fix that by creating jobs for people in need".

"We are facing the type of economic challenge not seen in generations, perhaps not since people were hammering the last rivet into the Sydney Harbour Bridge in the 1930s."

The Berejiklian Government is committed to doing whatever is needed to protect the health and economic security of the people of New South Wales.

In the words of the Treasurer “the 2020-21 NSW Budget: a Budget that responds to the urgent needs of our people, while looking beyond the present crisis, to lay the foundations for a prosperous post-pandemic future.”

The opposition has long maligned and lambasted our asset recycling scheme which has been built up over many years and has provided us with the “fiscal firepower” we have today to support the people of NSW.

We are faced with unprecedented times, but the public can trust that the Berejiklian Government is working extremely hard every single day to ensure that the future in NSW remains strong.

As a proud Member of the Berejiklian Government we will not rest on our laurels; we will continue to work hard to deliver for the great people of NSW.

To read the Treasurers speech on Hansard, please click here. To read the Budget papers please click here.

As always, please do not hesitate to contact me if I can be of further assistance.

Sincerely,

PROPOSED REFORMS TO STAMP DUTY

Image Source: Sydney Morning Herald

The NSW Government is embarking on a public consultation process on these proposed changes. We want to hear from the people of NSW about how changes to the system can help them.

One such measure incorporated in the budget that I am very excited about is the proposed reforms to stamp duty which has been lauded by many in the days since the announcement of the budget.

The consultation process will kickstart with a proposed model that would:

Give people purchasing a property the choice between paying stamp duty upfront or opting for the smaller annual property tax;

Enable people who opt-in to the system to also eliminate any land tax liability;

Ensure that the current property owners who are not buying or selling are not affected;

Replace the current stamp duty concessions provided to first home buyers with a new grant; and

The proposed model includes a property tax rate that would support and incentivise home ownership with a lower rate for owner-occupiers and higher rates for investors and commercial properties.

To have your say on the consultation on stamp duty reform, please click here.

STAMP DUTY REFORM HAILED AS 'VISIONARY'.

I encourage you to read the recent article in the Sydney Morning Herald by Jessica Irvine which hails the proposed stamp duty reform as 'visionary' and 'as historic a tax reform as they come'.

Stamp duty is an ineffective tax and has remained a barrier for many, in particular first home buyers to enter into the housing market.

We are in need of an overhaul to give NSW residents a modern tax system.

To read this article, please click the button below.

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INFRASTRUCTURE
INVESTMENT

The 2020-21 Budget will continue to invest in an infrastructure program that builds a better NSW, with a record infrastructure pipeline of $107.1 billion to ensure the delivery of projects across the State, including vital infrastructure in Health, Education and Transport.

The record $107.1 billion pipeline is estimated to generate 145,000 jobs directly or indirectly each year. This transformational pipeline of infrastructure projects, both planned and already underway, will boost consumer confidence, putting NSW in a strong position to respond to the economic crisis.

Underpinning this stimulus is the $3 billion Jobs and Infrastructure Acceleration Fund, which will support 20,000 jobs and deliver new and fast tracked projects across the State.

An infrastructure pipeline to deliver vital Health, Education and Transport projects, including:

$10.4 billion over the next four years for Sydney Metro West. Once completed this project will double the rail capacity between the Sydney and Parramatta CBDs, linking new communities to rail services and supporting both employment growth and housing supply.

Sydney Metro West will have a travel time target of around 20 minutes between the two cities and is expected to create about 10,000 direct and 70,000 indirect jobs during construction.

$9.2 billion over the next four years for Sydney Metro – Western Sydney Airport – the new metro rail will become the transport spine for Greater Western Sydney, connecting communities and travellers with the new Western Sydney International (Nancy-Bird Walton) Airport and the growing region.

This city-shaping project will provide a major economic stimulus for Western Sydney, creating more than 14,000 jobs during construction.

Our $33 billion transport budget over the forward estimates will deliver infrastructure and services for the future, including:

$1.6 billion for bus services in 2020-21 throughout NSW, including regional and metropolitan bus services, school services and funding of new replacement buses.

$1.1 billion to continue to deliver More Trains, More Services and more frequent and additional services on the Illawarra, Airport and South Coast lines.

During the pandemic, 50% fare discount for off-peak travel for three months between June and September was offered. Whilst this ended in September, the previous 30% off-peak discount, previously only available for train and metro, was extended to bus and light rail.

The NSW Government’s early response to the pandemic turbo-charged the State’s health system capacity — quadrupling intensive care capacity in NSW hospitals, resourcing highly effective testing and tracing capabilities, employing effective hotel quarantine and purchasing more than $1 billion in personal protective equipment (PPE) to keep frontline workers safe.

The NSW Government will invest $29.3 billion in recurrent and capital funding in the NSW health system, continuing the COVID-safe measures that have made NSW the standout success of Australia’s pandemic response.

As nations around the world have gone back into lockdown, the Berejiklian Government’s support measures will keep NSW ahead of the virus.

$2.1 BILLION PAYROLL TAX CUT

I am extremely pleased to see major payroll tax relief announced in the 2020-21 NSW Budget which will enable businesses to hire more staff, keep their doors open and focus on recovery in the post-pandemic world.

On average, businesses liable for payroll tax could save around $34,000 a year over the next two years, which could be reinvested into additional staff, with the median part-time wage equivalent to about $29,500 in NSW.

The tax savings would have a major impact on businesses, enabling employers to offer increased working hours to staff, or hire additional workers.

Since 2016-17, the Government has now cut nearly $9 billion in taxes to help support job creation and businesses.

Treasurer Dom Perrottet said the payroll tax rate would be cut from 5.45 per cent to 4.85 per cent for a two-year period, and will be backdated to 1 July 2020, along with the threshold being permanently increased from $1 million to $1.2 million.

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