00:00A beaming Treasurer having handed down his third budget.
00:05It's not a bundle of joy, but Daniel Mookie says it delivers on the basics.
00:10This Labor budget delivers even more resources to rebuild our essential services.
00:16The budget remains in deficit, but is forecast to return to surplus in 2027.
00:21Gross debt will be $179 billion by the middle of next year,
00:25but that's almost $10 billion less than was forecast before the Minns Government came to office.
00:30The budget highlights the seriousness of the housing challenge.
00:34It predicts 240,000 new homes will be built by 2029, and that will outpace population growth,
00:40but the state's still on track to fall short of its targets.
00:44To boost construction, the government will guarantee the sale of at least 50% of homes in new developments
00:50through a $1 billion fund.
00:52The government thinks that will help developers get the finance they need to build an additional 15,000 homes.
00:59This announcement today is an important piece of the puzzle.
01:01This government has failed to address it, and this government is crippling housing supply in New South Wales
01:06with its record state government taxes and charges, the highest in the country.
01:11The budget also includes a $1.2 billion investment to protect the state's most vulnerable children.
01:17There's $800 million to reform out-of-home care and keep kids out of motels.
01:21$191 million will help recruit 200 extra caseworkers.
01:26There's almost $50 million for government-owned care homes and extra money per fortnight for foster carers.
01:32If you have got room in your home and your heart, please consider becoming a foster carer.
01:38And when you do decide to do it, it will be the hardest thing you ever do in your life, but it will be the most rewarding thing that you've ever done in your life.
01:45The Treasurer acknowledges that family budgets are under strain, but so is the state's.
01:50There doesn't seem to be a lot in the budget by way of cost of living relief.
01:55Yeah, well the record spendings we had in Budgets 1 and Budgets 2 obviously is continuing.
02:00But we are hearing more and more people want us to fix the fundamentals.
02:04There's $9 billion over four years to build and upgrade schools, and more than $12 billion over the same period for hospital infrastructure.
02:11But doctors say big improvements are needed inside the wards.
02:15There is little meaningful funding in today's New South Wales budget for the state's ailing public health system.
02:21There's $15 million to boost the community mental health workforce, but the sector says there's still underinvestment in prevention and early intervention.
02:30We're going to continue to see emergency departments blocked with people with mental health challenges.
02:35The Treasurer may be showing spending restraint this time round.
02:39Proud to commend these bills to your house.
02:42To me!
02:44But he'll leave some in reserve for a pre-election budget next year.
