The future sustainability of the NSW budget is being put at risk by today’s announcement by Treasurer Daniel Mookhey that contributions towards the NSW Generations Fund (NGF) will be indefinitely suspended.
Shadow Treasurer Damien Tudehope MLC has raised concerns that the Minns Labor Government is planning to abolish a fund set up to responsibly manage the state’s debt.
“The taxpayers of NSW should be concerned that the savings responsibly invested for the future are going to be raided to pay for Labor’s unfunded election promises”, Mr Tudehope said.
“The NSW Generations Fund (NGF) is NSW’s superannuation fund that delivers investment returns to ensure the state’s long-term debt obligations are managed responsibly.
“NSW taxpayers expect the Government to responsibly manage funds for the future while spending within their means today, its clear Labor does not agree with this approach.
“The Treasurer needs to rule out any move to abolish the NGF and assure NSW taxpayers that the fund will remain in place for the purpose of debt retirement.”
The Treasurer has also asked a Labor-dominated committee to review the long-term strategy for the NGF.
“The Treasurer is asking members of his own party to lead a committee to review the NGF strategy, it is akin to putting Dracula in charge of the bloodbank.”
The NGF was established by the former Coalition Government as a responsible way to manage the State’s debt obligations to ease the burden of the State’s debt on future generations by setting funds aside.
Contributions into the NGF included the sale of WestConnex and cash surpluses delivered by budget surpluses and invested by the State’s funds management arm TCorp.