The NSW Liberal and Nationals Government is providing targeted cost of living support for families as the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) delivers its tenth consecutive rate rise.
Following its monthly board meeting, the RBA today lifted the cash rate by 0.25 percentage points to 3.60 per cent.
Treasurer Matt Kean said the NSW Liberal and Nationals Government’s economic discipline has enabled it to deliver targeted support for people doing it tough.
“The economy is facing challenges with rising inflation and interest rates but the Liberal and Nationals Government is well placed to fend off those headwinds because we have a long term economic plan,” Mr Kean said.
“A re-elected NSW Liberal and Nationals Government will slash energy bills by $250 and help households unlock up to $400 in further savings by switching to a better deal.
“We are already easing cost of living pressures with more than 70 rebates and vouchers to assist families, businesses and people in need.”
Mr Kean said a re-elected Liberal and Nationals Government will also guarantee that there will be no new taxes on households and small businesses in the next term of government.
“The biggest threat to our economy is a Labor Government that would open the purse strings to their union mates,” Mr Kean said.
“NSW Labor’s plan to scrap the public sector wage cap for pay rises linked to inflation would blow an $8.6 billion black hole in the Budget and risk making inflation worse.”
The March Statement of Monetary Policy said the RBA “remains alert to the risk of a prices-wages spiral, given the limited spare capacity in the economy”.
“This may as well be a warning about Chris Minns, Daniel Mookhey and their reckless approach to wages,” Mr Kean said.
“Labor is already cancelling infrastructure projects. Our state cannot risk going back to the old Labor days with infrastructure backlogs and school closures to fund public sector union wage claims.”
Last week global ratings agency Standard and Poor’s (S&P) noted Australian wages caps, like the one in NSW, have “struck a pragmatic middle ground” as the “fiscal scars and debt overhang from COVID-19 linger”.
NSW has had the lowest unemployment rate among the states for the past five months, recording 3.1 per cent in January 2023, and the Liberals and Nationals Government remains on track to return the Budget to surplus in 2024-25.
NSW remains the only Australian state with two triple-A credit ratings and a double-A plus rating.
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