NSW Farmers President Xavier Martin says while the first Labor budget contains promising announcements, rural communities will be “bitterly disappointed”.
“Critical drought-proofing efforts such as Dungowan and Wyangala dams have been ‘deferred’, and the likelihood of more water buybacks means there will be less water for agriculture once the rain stops.
“Rural communities are already looking at major economic losses as a result of this widespread flooding, the last thing they need is even less certainty into the future.”
Xavier said investments into research and development to help lower emissions from agriculture was a positive move, as were efforts to improve education and training amid a major worker shortage.
The state’s peak business organisation, Business NSW, acknowledged the government’s commitment to delivering on its commitments and putting fiscal repair at the heart of a budget which forecasts a challenging outlook for businesses already grappling with labour shortages, higher prices and global disruption.
Treasurer Jim Chalmers has announced a projected deficit of $36.9 billion for the 2022/23 financial year, an improvement of $41.1 billion.
“In a challenging economic environment, there is no doubt this budget makes the hard decisions to kick off the process of getting us back in the black,” said Business NSW, Regional Director – Western NSW, Vicki Seccombe.
“With energy prices forecast to skyrocket next year, we welcome a $62.6 million boost for an energy efficiency grants program and a commitment to establish a $20 billion fund for energy transmission.