NSW Election Policy Costing Obligations for Parliamentary Leaders and Members

Parliamentary Budget Officer Amendment Bill 2026

4 Aug 2026: Passed by Parliament and signed off by the governor.

This bill kicks in: TBA

Legislative Council

Legislative Assembly

Assent

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Topics

budget budget officer election policy costing government spending parliamentary procedure public finance state budget

Introduced by: The Hon Daniel Mookhey MLC (ALP); The Hon Paul Scully MP (ALP)

Links to official parliament websites

Official page: progress through parliament

Effects of this bill

If this bill passes, it means that:

Parliamentary leaders must request costings for every proposed policy that impacts the state budget for the current and next four financial years.
Minor party and independent members can request costings for up to two of their proposed policies.
The Parliamentary Budget Officer's appointment date moves to 18 August 2026.
The Parliamentary Budget Officer's position becomes vacant if they become personally insolvent.
The Parliamentary Budget Officer must refuse costing requests from members who are not eligible under the Act.
Members must submit costing requests in writing after the officer's operational plan is tabled in Parliament.

The Debate

What different members said when this bill was debated:

Monica Tudehope LIB

“I indicate the Opposition’s support for the Parliamentary Budget Officer Amendment Bill 2026. I have had some experience with the Parliamentary Budget Office, so I look forward to the PBO being up and running.”

Official source →

Alex Greenwich IND

“I contribute to debate on the Parliamentary Budget Officer Amendment Bill 2026. The Parliamentary Budget Office provides costings on Government and Opposition pre‑election promises to ensure transparency and accountability ahead of an election, and to ensure that promises are realistic and kept in check.”

Official source →

David Mehan ALP

“The Parliamentary Budget Officer Amendment Bill 2026 is a good bill that enhances our democracy by extending to the crossbench and minor parties the ability to cost election promises, and makes amendments to address the bringing forward of the next State election. I am pleased that the bill has support across the House. I commend the bill to the House.”

Official source →

News articles and press releases

Parliamentary Budget Officer Amendment Bill 2026

The Hon. DANIEL MOOKHEY — 2026-05-28

Firstly, the appointment of the Parliamentary Budget Officer will be brought forward by two weeks to account for the 2027 State Election being brought forward to Saturday 13 March to avoid clashing with the Easter long weekend. This results in the Parliamentary Budget Officer commencing as soon as practicable after 18 August 2026. This will ensure the time between the appointment of the Parliamentary Budget Officer and the election remains the same and we are not placing additional pressure on the role due to bringing forward the date of the election. Secondly, there is currently a misalignment between the financial impact period in the published Parliamentary Budget Office costings and the first budget handed down post‑election. The bill proposes to include five financial years for election costings undertaken by the PBO.