Tamworth MP and mayors respond to NSW state budget

"There's a lot of smoke and mirrors in this budget and we need to blow the smoke away so we can get that detail," Mr Anderson said.

The NSW budget was handed down by treasurer Daniel Mookhey on Tuesday, September 19, the first for Labor since 2010, with a focus on returning the $7.8 billion black hole to surplus.

Mr Anderson said even though the Goonoo Goonoo Road upgrade had been given the green light, details were "very sketchy about what that looks like going forward".

The project was slated to have an $8m investment from the NSW government, with a federal government co-contribution of $32m, before it went to a review of national infrastructure projects earlier this year.

Mr Anderson said he was disappointed a new school for Tamworth was not in the state budget and criticised Labor for funding projects the former government already had in place.

Tamworth mayor Russell Webb said he hadn't "seen the fine print" on the $6m allocated to water security in the region, but that he hopes a chunk of it could be spent on the water purification plant to get it "shovel ready".

"In fairness, I have to say, we were told there wouldn't be a lot in this budget for us ... because [we were told] we'd probably get some better funding opportunities coming out in the next budget," Cr Webb said of the meeting he had earlier this year with the state's treasurer.

The water purification plant is expected to take the strain off Tamworth's water supply by recycling local abattoir water back to the industry for their own reuse.

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Gunnedah mayor Jamie Chaffey said the NSW budget had "no pleasant surprises" for his shire and was also disappointed by the lack of new funding announcements.

"This looks great on paper, but the Gunnedah Koala Sanctuary was already committed by previous governments," Cr Chaffey said of the $5.6m allocated for the marsupials' new home.

"And it appears there is no additional funding to include all the critical services originally promised as part of the Gunnedah Hospital Redevelopment."

The $53m upgrade of Gunnedah Hospital was scaled back from original plans released in 2022, due to what NSW Health said earlier this year were increases to the cost of materials.

Gunnedah is also expected to get a new $2.5m early childhood centre at the local TAFE on Hunter Street.

However, Cr Chaffey did welcome funding for energy rebates, assistance for first home buyers, additional paramedics, and the commitment to transition teachers to permanent contracts would still be going ahead.

"The real winner in this Budget is Western Sydney. The whole of regional New South Wales has $1.8 billion listed for new investment, while Western Sydney has in excess of $14 billion," Cr Chaffey said.

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