Public transport fee relief and car rego cut by $100 in NSW budget targeting cost-of-living pressures

NSW will lower the threshold for a weekly road toll cap from $60 to $50 for 12 months and reduce registration by $100. Photograph: Steve Christo/Corbis/Getty Images View image in fullscreen NSW will lower the threshold for a weekly road toll cap from $60 to $50 for 12 months and reduce registration by $100. Photograph: Steve Christo/Corbis/Getty Images Public transport fee relief and car rego cut by $100 in NSW budget targeting cost-of-living pressures Australia’s most populous state forecast to plunge into worse-than-expected $2.3bn deficit in 2026-27, before rebounding to a $1.1bn surplus following year Get our breaking news email , free app or daily news podcast Public transport fares will be frozen for one year and vehicle registration cut by $100 under New South Wales budget measures designed to provide cost-of-living relief ahead of the upcoming election. In Tuesday’s budget, the last before the March 2027 state poll, the Minns government has made a direct appeal to working families in seats threatened by One Nation and the Coalition, especially in Sydney’s west. Public transport fares in the Opal system, capped at $50 a week, will be cheaper than expected , with prices to remain unchanged. They typically go up in July. The government will lower the threshold of its weekly road toll cap, beyond which drivers can claim back any additional tolls they incur, from $60 to $50 for 12 months. Drivers will be able to claim back up to $350 a week after paying $50. Australia’s most populous state is forecast to plunge into a worse-than-expected $2.3bn deficit in 2026-27, before rebounding to a $1.1bn surplus the following year, which would be the state’s first surplus since the pandemic sank state finances. NSW Labor expects the surplus to grow to $1.9bn by 2029-30. The state’s gross debt levels are forecast to breach the $200bn level by 2027-28, higher than previously expected. Sign up for the Breaking News Australia email The NSW treasurer, Daniel Mookhey, framed the budget on Tuesday as a means to provide cost-of-living relief and create a “state working families can afford” to live in. He said the overwhelming pressure in NSW was that it was “too expensive to buy a house and too expensive to rent”. Property downturn In his budget speech, Mookhey credited private investment in renewable projects for helping keep the state out of recession, contrasting Labor’s support for the energy transition with “some in this parliament [who] oppose net zero”. “One side is for creating thousands of jobs and growing the economy by reaching net zero. One side is not,” he said. View image in fullscreen The NSW treasurer Daniel Mookhey. Photograph: Blake Sharp-Wiggins/The Guardian The Liberal opposition leader, Kellie Sloane, said last year her language had “softened” in relation to her party’s commitment to net zero emissions by 2050. The Nationals voted to support “in principle” their federal counterparts’ plan to abandon the target. On Tuesday, the opposition bac