NSW Budget: Cost of living targeted as treasurer denies election cash splash

[Mighty AU]

Nine months out from the NSW election, the State Government has delivered a budget with handouts for families and local communities.
Flush with cash thanks to a surplus of $3.9 billion this year — an average of $1.6 billion over the next four years — there is something in this budget for almost everyone, as the clock counts down towards the election in March.
The Government is targeting cost of living pressures through initiatives such as free preschool for three-year-olds, vehicle registration rebates for drivers who spend more than $25 a week on tolls, a $150 baby hamper for new parents and a new scheme from Service NSW that will help people switch to cheaper energy providers.
Treasurer Dominic Perrottet said the budget aimed to "put people first".
"This budget at its core has a strong heart," he said. 

"It's the people's budget of NSW and it is a budget that's built to last."
With the housing market cooling, stamp duty revenues have fallen, dropping from $8.6 billion — $1 billion less than last year's take.
Next year, stamp duty is expected to fall further and the Government will rely more on payroll tax.

$3b fund for future community projects
In what it claims is a world first for a state or provincial government, the Government has created a Generations Fund in which it has tipped an initial $3 billion. 
The fund aims to give back half of its returns towards community projects that will be voted on by local electorates.
From January 1, parents of school-aged children will be able to claim $100 per child towards extra-curricular creative activities, such as visual art and drama classes, music and foreign language lessons, as well as coding and digital classes each year, under the Government's new Creative Kids Rebate.
This is in addition to the Active Kids Rebate which has been in place for six months, providing $100 per school-aged child for sporting activities. The rebate has so far been claimed for 390,000 children.

"We don't just want to have the most active kids, we want to have the most creative kids in the world," Mr Perrottet said.
He said the state's strong financial position meant the Government could spend on 950 new nursing positions, 700 new paramedics, 883 new teachers and 100 new police.
However, public sector wages remain capped at 2.5 per cent.

Treasurer denies budget is a 'series of electoral bribes'
The Government is also spending a record $87.2 billion on infrastructure over the next four years, plus $8 billion to upgrade 40 hospitals across the state, including $740 million to turn Liverpool Hospital into a health and academic precinct.
Mr Perrottet denied the assertion that the Government the budget was "a series of electoral bribes" to win the next election.

NSW Budget