Scrapping a public transport "accounting trick" will save $10 billion over eight years, NSW Labor says as major parties take pot shots over the top of the state's purse.
The Opposition is adamant it can maintain the state's budgetary position without racking up more debt, adding new taxes or selling public assets.
When pressed for potential savings on Friday, Shadow treasurer Daniel Mookhey said Labor would cut the Transport Asset Holding Entity, saving $10.2 billion over eight years and another $56.3 billion over the following 15.
"(NSW Treasurer) Mr Kean has a hole in his budget," Mr Mookhey told reporters.
"Where's he gonna get the $66 billion to bail out this accounting trick gone wrong?"
The troubled transport entity, which manages the state's rail assets, was set up to make the NSW budget look good and is currently "at risk", the NSW Auditor-General has said.
The premier has defended the measure as a better management structure, similar to other states.
Labor would also turf the government's planned $250 household energy bill payment, to start in July, due to the state's debt levels, Chris Minns says.
"We've made (our offsets) very clear to the people of NSW," the Labor leader said.
"Those metros must be our priority."
Privatisation has emerged as a major point of contention this week after the coalition attacked Mr Minns' promise to use state-owned company dividends, currently worth $1.5 billion, to fund projects.
During the coalition's 12-year rule, it has offloaded a series of assets, including ports and the electricity network, to fund its large-scale infrastructure projects, such as the Sydney Metro.
Mr Kean on Friday ruled out privatising Sydney Water - something Premier Dominic Perrrotet declined to do a day earlier. The entity's profits put about $500 million into state coffers annually.
"We are absolutely ruling that out," he told reporters.
"Our plans are to deliver a $116 billion infrastructure pipeline, which is already funded."
Mr Kean said there were no plans to privatise any state asset, explaining previous sales were to build the infrastructure the state "missed out on" under the previous 16-year Labor rule.
General government sector net debt is projected to be $78.4 billion or 10.2 per cent of the state's economy by June 2023, rising to 13.8 per cent by 2026.
The debt is then expected to stabilise and begin to come down by 2030.
Meanwhile, the treasurer effectively invited federal Opposition Leader Peter Dutton to join NSW Liberals on the hustings in March.
While Mr Dutton was a conspicuous absence from the Victorian Liberals' election campaign in November, Mr Kean said he would certainly welcome the "outstanding leader" on the campaign trail.
Elsewhere, the Nationals launched their election campaign with a new $1 billion promise for the regions, split across local roads, freight-focused projects and building more resilient infrastructure.
