Tensions between the New South Wales and federal Labor governments are rising in the lead-up to the final planned national cabinet of the year, with the state’s premier, Chris Minns, insisting he was not “whingeing” as he demanded more funding for police and infrastructure.
Minns said the federal government had so far failed to respond to his request for help paying the bill for policing the frequent protests sparked by the Israel-Hamas war, or for the “disappointing” infrastructure cuts unveiled last week.
He said NSW taxpayers deserved a “fair share” of the funding from the federal government’s “deeper pockets” ahead of the final parliamentary sitting fortnight for the year.
“We haven’t received a response from the commonwealth government for funding in relation to [protest policing] or in relation to these infrastructure projects or the ‘no worse off’ GST guarantee or health agreements,” Minns said on Monday.
“There are a lot of things that are in abeyance at the moment that we do need clarity on. NSW taxpayers deserve their fair share.”
Minns wrote to the federal government more than a week ago to request the federal government help pay for policing protests over the Israel-Gaza conflict that have been held weekly since Hamas terrorists attacked Israel on 7 October.
“I don’t think it’s unreasonable for the NSW government, or potentially the Victorian government too if they want, to ask the commonwealth for help,” he said at the time.
The planned 6 December national cabinet is expected to focus on NDIS and health funding. The state government also wants progress on police funding and infrastructure before then.
Minns said NSW taxpayers contributed “enormous amounts of money” to the federal budget and they wanted adequate funding in return.
“It is not the NSW government whingeing,” Minns said. “It is voters and the state taxpayers in NSW that deserve to have access to world-class education and functioning hospitals and infrastructure that’s been promised.”
The roads minister, John Graham, said conversations between Canberra and Macquarie Street had continued at the weekend but they were yet to reach a new agreement. “We don’t accept that’s the final settlement,” he said.
At the weekend the federal agriculture minister, Murray Watt, rebuffed criticism from state governments about the funding changes, backing the new formula of 50-50 contributions over the former 80-20 arrangement.
Asked why state premiers were criticising the federal government, Watt said having a “crack at Canberra” was often seen as a “route to success” in state politics.
Watt conceded that “in some cases” state governments would need to stump up more funding of their own under the new formula but that the federal government’s funding amount had not changed.
“If both governments are chipping in money – and we’re talking about billions of dollars here – it’s incumbent on both governments to share the risk of those cost blowouts,” he said.
NSW parliament resumes on Tuesday. The government is expected to focus on passing legislation to allow for the extension of Russell Balding’s term as chairman of Racing NSW and greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets.
