Surpluses ahead but we'll pay for our success
Sean Nicholls 1:49 PM NSW Treasurer Gladys Berejiklian has unveiled budget surpluses worth more than $8 billion over the next four years.
State Budget 2016
The budget explained in six charts
![Schools, trains and unicorns are winners, while public servants and foreign property investors lose out.](/web/20160621085350im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/p/8/i/b/l/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gpn9my.gpn60y.png/1466497105684.jpg)
Inga Ting 6:18 PM It all looks rosy now but there's a sting coming.
Why NSW will lose more than $10 billion
![Other states are beneficiaries of NSW's success.](/web/20160621085350im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/p/c/q/y/r/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gpn5w5.gpn60y.png/1466497105684.jpg)
Matt Wade 4:49 PM NSW is a victim of its own success when it comes to the taxing of goods and services.
$1b for new suburban trains
![The Baird government has earmarked more than $1 billion for new suburban trains.](/web/20160621085350im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/p/3/z/i/r/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gpn80u.gpn60y.png/1466497105684.jpg)
Matt O'Sullivan 12:40 PM It is the first major purchase for Sydney Trains since the troubled Waratah project.
NSW Budget 2016: Winners and losers
![Schools, trains and unicorns are winners, while public servants and foreign property investors lose out.](/web/20160621085350im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/p/8/i/b/l/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gpn8n4.gpn60y.png/1466497105684.jpg)
Kirsty Needham 5:21 PM Schools, trains and unicorns are in the money, while public servants and foreign property investors lose out.
New schools, 1100 new classrooms
![Money for new schools and upgrades...](/web/20160621085350im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/i/b/7/o/h/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gpn7x1.gpn60y.png/1466497105684.jpg)
Kelsey Munro 4:14 PM Sydney's north is the big winner in new school allocation.
$1b health boost but funding cliff still looms
![NSW State Treasurer Gladys Berejiklian poses with the 2016/17 budget papers outside State Parliament House.](/web/20160621085350im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/p/n/5/l/z/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gpn8ea.gpn60y.png/1466497105684.jpg)
Kate Aubusson 5:34 PM Health services will receive almost $1 billion additional funding in the latest NSW budget, but the budget fails to address the impending funding black hole.
$80 million for cycling infrastructure
![Cyclists on the steps leading up to the Harbour Bridge.](/web/20160621085350im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/p/n/j/1/5/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gpnhdl.gpn60y.png/1466497105684.jpg)
Sean Nicholls 12:00 AM Improving bicycle access to the Sydney Harbour Bridge could be one of the projects bankrolled by a new $80 million cycling infrastructure fund.
Latest NSW news
Could you beat the Class of '67?
![Cumberland prefects of 1967. David Cook (Far left, second row) Malcolm McDivitt (Centre, bottom row).](/web/20160621085350im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/p/m/m/2/6/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gplr6y.11bc3y.png/1466399828563.jpg)
Eryk Bagshaw The very first students to sit the HSC had no calculators. Can you answer the questions they faced?
'It's a weight off my shoulders'
!["Housing is my biggest issue," says April Sheppeard.](/web/20160621085350im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/p/m/7/c/i/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gpm39e.11bc3y.png/1466397806688.jpg)
Kirsty Needham April Sheppeard was living in a refuge with a baby when she enrolled in TAFE. Now she's getting high distinctions.
NAB customer 'felt violated'
![Ross Kent will start at National Australia Bank on May 2.](/web/20160621085350im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/k/k/e/u/k/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gplh6h.11bc3y.png/1466386377349.jpg)
Esther Han A major bank is being tipped off when disloyal customers approach its rivals seeking loans.
Early elections not ruled out
![Inner West Council Administrator Richard Pearson was heckled at his council's first public meeting.](/web/20160621085350im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/p/2/y/b/k/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gpn3o8.11bc3y.png/1466441144636.jpg)
Jacob Saulwick The administrator appointed to run an enlarged Inner West Council says he would have no problem with council elections taking place early next year instead of September.
Sydney school hunting for unicorns
!["We want to help create a critical mass of ... professionals with the practical skills required to thrive as an ...](/web/20160621085350im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/p/l/t/p/x/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gpmln6.11bc3y.png/1466379827654.jpg)
Sean Nicholls A new Sydney "entrepreneur school" will be established by the state government in partnership with universities and TAFE to foster potential technology and other start ups in NSW.
$3 million a week a 'waste'
![Labor Treasury spokesman Ryan Park.](/web/20160621085350im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/n/z/0/l/k/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gpmgeu.11bc3y.png/1466363500646.png)
James Robertson NSW taxpayers are spending $3 million a week on consultants, new figures show.
Surgeons charge patients exorbitant fees
![Mark Brandt and his wife Linda used their savings to pay his out-of-pocket health costs.](/web/20160621085350im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/p/m/e/d/n/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gpmebg.11bc3y.png/1466380779329.jpg)
Kate Aubusson Cancer patients are being charged exorbitant out-of-pocket costs for "flashy" surgeries by surgeons who don't disclose the full financial burden or alternatives in the public system, cancer experts say.
The 20 companies with no women on boards
![It's still lonely for women at the top of Australia's corporate ladder.](/web/20160621085350im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/k/4/e/g/5/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gplsct.11bc3y.png/1466393356262.jpg)
Jessica Irvine Is it acceptable that 20 companies in the ASX200 still have zero female representation on their board?
Flat note at Joan Sutherland centre
![Opposition Leader Bill Shorten gestures during the Australian Labor Party 2016 federal election campaign launch.](/web/20160621085350im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/p/m/p/e/w/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gpmr0h.11bc3y.png/1466335939034.jpg)
Damien Murphy The "feel" of an election campaign launch speech can be a good indication that a change is going to come.
'Airbnb for camping' under threat
![Selected visitors: YouCamp founder James Woodford (right) with Kangaroo Valley land owner Peter Botsman.](/web/20160621085350im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/p/l/h/0/k/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gpm74g.11bc3y.png/1466333788744.jpg)
Jacob Saulwick A rapidly growing service giving people a chance to camp in glorious seclusion is facing opposition.
Dam could spill on Monday
![Warragamba Dam, Sydney's main catchment, last spilled over in August 2015 - and may again on Monday.](/web/20160621085350im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/p/k/j/n/l/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gpmomm.11bc3y.png/1466351826817.jpg)
Ashleigh Tullis, Emma Partridge Warragamba Dam could spill due to heavy rainfall predicted for Sunday evening.
Question no one in government can answer
![The NSW government says "certain limitations" in IT systems mean it cannot count up reports of child sexual abuse.](/web/20160621085350im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/j/o/o/u/p/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gpj6jg.11bc3y.png/1466417331843.jpg)
Patrick Begley 12:15 AM The NSW government does not know how many reports of sexual abuse against children in state care it receives. Â
Baird's budget has $70 billion to build
![Deanne and Spiro Coucouvinis at the cafe in the city they have run since 2003. It will be demolished to make way for the ...](/web/20160621085350im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/l/5/q/c/a/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gpm8cr.11bc3y.png/1466333788744.jpg)
Kirsty Needham Lucy Turnbull's Greater Sydney Commission gets $62m boost to "engage" community as city faces more wrecking balls.
Anger at fee that will drain accounts of elderly
![Refusing to sign: Charles Linsell says of the demand, "It makes me an accomplice to theft."](/web/20160621085350im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/p/m/a/o/s/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gpm2pn.11bc3y.png/1466333788744.jpg)
Kirsty Needham The government argues the fee covers insurance to protect the vulnerable from being "ripped off".
Rugby clubs forfeit games over safety
![Some juniors are competing with players twice their size.](/web/20160621085350im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/p/g/a/c/7/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gpksh1.11bc3y.png/1466333788744.jpg)
Eamonn Duff Junior rugby clubs are not showing up for games as fears deepen about the disparities in player sizes and safety.
'For me, the door is shut now'
![Geraldine Hewitt searched for years for her biological father.](/web/20160621085350im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/n/h/8/e/e/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gpki4j.11bc3y.png/1466376536010.jpg)
Harriet Alexander Geraldine Hewitt searched for her anonymous sperm donor father, until a phone call changed everything.
'It's not just a free-for-all playtime'
!["They're definitely learning, it's not just a free-for-all playtime": Emilie Capes, with husband, Jeremy, and their ...](/web/20160621085350im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/p/m/b/8/h/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gpllpu.11bc3y.png/1466387939442.jpg)
Kelsey Munro For Randwick mum Emilie Capes, sending her two- and three-year-old to preschool is a crucial investment.
Bone breaks every 3.4 minutes: report
![Hip fractures and other common breaks are predicted to increase with the ageing population.](/web/20160621085350im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/p/m/a/4/6/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gpm9yq.11bc3y.png/1466333788744.png)
Kate Aubusson Online tool to predict your risk launched as osteoporosis rate rises in Australia.
Major flooding events 'on the increase'
![Bureau of Meteorology researchers have detected a significant increase in major flood events along the eastern ...](/web/20160621085350im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/1/m/q/s/c/s/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gplbwi.11bc3y.png/1466333788744.jpg)
Peter Hannam New research as Sydney braces for second east coast low in as many weeks.
Sydney Trains worker killed by train
![A Sydney Trains employee was struck and killed by a train between Clyde and Auburn early on Saturday.](/web/20160621085350im_/http://www.smh.com.au/content/dam/images/g/j/z/g/u/4/image.related.thumbnail.90x60.gpmabc.11bc3y.png/1466333788744.jpg)
Michael McGowan and Catherine Armitage A Sydney Trains employee working on the T1 Western Line was struck and killed by a train early this morning.