NSW pays extra annually in curiosity on the state’s huge debt than it spends on NSW Police and TAFE mixed, Premier Chris Minns has revealed.
Mr Minns mentioned the federal government was on observe to document $187 billion value of debt within the subsequent three years – equal to greater than $20,000 per particular person in NSW – which might value the state about $7 billion in curiosity a yr.
He mentioned COVID-19 was the obvious and acceptable cause for the debt however future generations must pay it off.
As NSW moved away from its most profitable export of coal, it could must search for new methods to service the debt, which Mr Minns mentioned would lie in increasing industries and enterprises in Western Sydney.
“I’m not joking when I say a big part of the wealth and economic prosperity of NSW is still in mining,” he informed a Western Sydney leaders discussion board on Thursday.
He mentioned the restrictive insurance policies of nations shopping for NSW coal and ore – not miners in NSW – was the difficulty shifting ahead.
“Even the most ardent supporters of coal understand that it has severe medium-term challenges in securing the export markets of the future,” Mr Minns mentioned.
“All our major export markets have committed themselves to zero-emission energy policies in the decades ahead.”
With NSW exporting $58 billion value of coal final yr, Mr Minns mentioned the state had a really giant gap to fill.
“We’ve got to fill that gap and I see Western Sydney as a big driver of economic growth,” he mentioned.
“Western Sydney carries the economic future of our state and our nation on its back but it does it in a carefree, almost nonchalant way.”
He mentioned Western Sydney was already a hub for superior manufacturing, small and medium-sized enterprises and centres of upper training and analysis.
“We need young people to lift their gaze slightly and think about what we have that the world needs,” Mr Minns mentioned.
Source: www.perthnow.com.au
