Small relief rises from a tight ship, but there might yet be rough seas ahead

June 23, 2026 — 7:30pm

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How lucky can we get? Many of us are suffering under the cost of living crisis, but the state government is just announcing its budget for the new financial year, and it’s happy to come to our rescue. (That there’s a state election coming up in March is entirely coincidental.)

Treasurer Daniel Mookhey says that, for one year only, he will cut the cost of registering your car by $100 and forgo any increase in public transport fares.

And for motorists who pay a lot of tolls and so may claim a rebate on spending above $60 a week, he’ll make it above $50 a week for a year.

What’s that? It doesn’t sound all that exciting? Not compared with a nice big cut in income tax?

Well, no, it doesn’t seem exciting. Pretty mundane, really. But doesn’t that describe most of our cost of living – continually shelling out for the ordinary things in life?

And although it may do little to gladden the heart, it will cost the Minns government more than half a billion dollars. Just for a year.

Even so, Mookhey expects the budget deficit for the coming financial year to be $2.3 billion, compared with $3 billion in the........

© The Sydney Morning Herald