Policy experts from the Committee for Sydney respond to the NSW Budget 2025-26 – with overarching comments from CEO Eamon Waterford, followed by focused analysis on:

• Planning and housing
• Equity and fairness
• Economy and innovation
• Climate and resilience
• Culture and sport.

Eamon Waterford, CEO, Committee for Sydney:

“The 2025 Budget is the third in a trilogy from Treasurer Mookhey – representing a story of budget repair while investing in critical housing delivery and energy transition challenges.

“We commend Treasurer Mookhey’s first three budgets, which articulate a clear objective of solving the long-term challenge of budget repair and essential services – it is all too rare in modern politics for this level of measured consistency.

“Like all good stories, three is enough. For next year, we would expect to see a new narrative emerge for NSW, with some signals in this year’s budget pointing to the likely main character: economic development and growth.

“Meanwhile, some areas that need long-term investment are only background characters and require more focus: climate change adaptation; investment in the next trunk transport corridors; active transport and essential worker housing.”

Planning and Equity – Estelle Grech, Policy Manager, Committee for Sydney:

On planning and housing:

“We hope to see the $1 billion guarantee scheme focused on stimulating more housing diversity in the market – funding projects that include affordable housing, and more family-friendly apartments that are known to be popular, in-demand products, but more difficult to sell off-the-plan.

“The move to smooth out the ‘works-in-kind’ developer contributions process is a smart, overdue step to accelerate infrastructure delivery. As the Premier rightly put it; “you can’t build new homes without roads, parks and schools to match, and the community shouldn’t have to wait for them.” This principle is at the heart of doing density well.”

On equity and fairness:

“Prevention is better than cure and while this budget includes some welcome steps to address root causes, like investments in preventative child protection services and mandatory sexual harassment and violence prevention content in RSA training, it misses a major opportunity: pokies reform.

“This year’s budget is also the debut of the long-awaited Performance and Wellbeing Statement. There are some solid indicators in the mix, and we’re keen to see future budgets do more than just nod at them. Ideally, investments should follow where the wellbeing need is highest.”

Economy and Mobility – Jeremy Gill, Head of Policy, Committee for Sydney:

On economy and innovation:

“After years of slow burn, economic development is firmly on the government’s agenda in this budget.

“Sydney’s innovation engine is getting the fuel injection it needs with the creation of the Investment Delivery Authority and nearly $80 million in new innovation funding.

“The NSW Budget puts some real economic muscle behind the state’s Innovation Blueprint, backing up ambition with coordination, capital, and a pathway to accelerate major projects across sectors like tech, clean energy and advanced manufacturing.  

“While cutting red tape is important, it’s only one piece of the productivity puzzle. Real transformation will require a broader economic strategy – one that builds industry capability, lifts workforce skills, supports innovation adoption, and scales up the future-facing sectors where NSW has the potential to lead as detailed in Transforming Sydney’s Economy.”

On mobility and transport:

“It’s the year of the humble bus, the unsung hero workhorse of the transport stable. The $452 million investment will expand and improve Sydney’s bus network, including 50 new bendy buses for overcrowded inner-city routes. It also backs our call to align services with housing growth and school demand, boosting coverage in fast-growing suburbs and increasing frequency where it’s needed most.

“While it’s good to see needed road improvements in Sydney in excess of $12.5 billion, it’s disappointing that there is no increased investment in walking and cycling infrastructure at all.”

Climate and resilience – Sam Kernaghan, Resilience Director, Committee for Sydney:

“After an unprecedented (but not unexpected) run of fires, floods and storms over the past five years, we welcome the NSW Government allocating over $1bn per year in funding for disaster relief for the next four years.

“This funding recognises the need to support communities when natural hazard events hit, but also points to the need for significant new funding to reduce natural hazard risk, and complement the ongoing NSW Government investment in disaster adaptation planning, community preparedness, strengthening homes and infrastructure, and buying back hazard exposed properties. 

“Investing in a resilient drinking water supply is critical for households and businesses in the face of rapid population growth, increased natural hazard events, and the realisation that Sydney is always less than five years from running out of the water.

“$756m for the Prospect Pretreatment Plan is one small step towards enabling the continued supply of safe, secure and reliable drinking water, which needs to be supported by new investment in desalination, purified recycled water and stormwater harvesting.

“The looming shortfall in energy generation should put the energy transition near the top of the governments’ agenda. New funding for transmission acceleration and logistics will support delivery of crucial new energy regional Renewable Energy Zones. This is not enough. There is a clear urgency for new funding and leadership to investigate the potential of urban renewable energy zones in places like Sydney to provide new generation and storage, and support an equitable approach to the energy transition as set out in Sydney as a Renewable Energy Zone.”

Culture and Sport – Matt Levinson, Policy Lead, Committee for Sydney:

“We strongly support the government’s vision for the potential of culture to transform our visitor economy and build stronger communities, but while there are kernels for optimism here with specific targeted investments, the budget does not match that vision. 

“The great news is that the budget doubles down on the state’s potential for a competitive edge in screen, sound and digital entertainment – industries that showcase our stories to the world in a show of soft power, and fuel jobs, exports and creative careers. More work is underway for creative workers, and it’s much needed for a workforce hit hard by post-covid housing and cost of living impacts. 

“We welcome the commitments to address upgrade and maintenance backlogs at cultural institutions and sports facilities, particularly Olympic era facilities facing serious challenges 25 years on, however, it’s nothing near the scale of investment required to deliver vital new sporting infrastructure across the metropolitan area.

“Of largest concern to the Committee is that most major cultural institutions face large operational funding cuts – with increased expectations around self-funding, likely ticketed shows and commercial event bookings. This will inevitably lead to significant job cuts across the cultural sector, and further limit access for communities at a time when cost of living is already biting hard.   

“The focus on housing is crucial, but we’re running the risk of delivering much needed housing in a city where you can only participate in sport and creative culture if you can afford it, or live in the right place.”