One Nation rejects NSW budget office scrutiny of election policies

One Nation's New South Wales leader Mike Newman said the party would not submit its policies to the state's Parliamentary Budget Office before the 2027 election, The Sydney Morning Herald reported.

The refusal follows the Labor government's plan to change legislation so that the independent office can assess One Nation's promises alongside those of the government and the main opposition. The proposed change has not yet been enacted.

Newman instead demanded a comprehensive assessment of the budget cost of the government's net-zero policy. Under the existing rules described in the report, party leaders can request costings for policies they or their party members have announced, rather than use that process to assess another party's programme.

Federal One Nation figure Barnaby Joyce said the party had its own economic advisers, including chartered accountants. Treasurer Daniel Mookhey and opposition treasury spokesman Scott Farlow argued that a party seeking to govern should submit financially sustainable promises for assessment.

The dispute concerns scrutiny ahead of the election. It does not establish what an independent costing of One Nation's programme would find.