The blow-out in State Government debt, including the ever growing superannuation liabilities, now totals $30,000 per household in NSW, said Shadow Treasurer, Mike Baird.

“This is a staggering figure, considering NSW has in the past several years been in a boom time.

“You have to question, as we head into next week’s State Budget, where has the money gone?

“State Government debt calculated for each NSW household is $12,000 but when you add the unfunded superannuation liabilities, that figure blows out to $30,000.

“This is money the people of NSW will have to pay back.

“The question for Treasurer Roozendaal as he finalises the Budget for next Tuesday, is how does he plan to do it?

“NSW is already on the trigger point for having a credit rating downgrade and if that occurs, the cost of finance to the state will increase significantly. 

“It will also mean that the Government will have difficulty gaining the financial backing for its much promoted CBD-Rozelle Metro.

“As we all know, eventually we have to pay back our loans, but for NSW that’s going to be increasingly difficult because of the years of financial mismanagement and the poor state of our economy relative to the rest of the country.

“NSW is now in recession and has the highest unemployment rate in the country at 6.4 percent.

“For years, the Labor Government continued to increase its spending at a greater rate than the increase in revenue. 

“That’s wasn’t sustainable and meant nothing from the good economic times was set aside to buffer the state for the current downturn.

“The NSW economy has gone backwards, in large part due to the failure of the Labor government which has created an uncompetitive tax system and a red tape nightmare which turned business away.

“We need urgent action on employment in NSW in this Budget, so we have no more people losing their jobs and we can generate revenue to get our economy and our Budget back on track.

“I challenge the Treasurer to adopt the Liberal/National’s plan to support jobs in the Budget with a 15 percent reduction in payroll tax for 12 months and a cut to lead times for major infrastructure projects,” said Mr Baird.

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