Portfolio — 1 May 2026

Treasurer Jim Chalmers used a 1 May media release to signal the shape of the upcoming May Budget, announcing $72.5 million in Commonwealth funding to New South Wales for planning and zoning reform under the National Productivity Fund [TA-260501-treasu-da3db2236223]. The centrepiece is a $67.5 million package to overhaul commercial planning rules, with the explicit target of lifting the share of developments using the fast-track approval pathway from 45 percent to 75 percent [TA-260501-treasu-da3db2236223].

The reforms would modernise zoning definitions, widen the categories of business permitted to operate in employment and mixed-use zones without individual permits, and extend operating hours in industrial zones. A dedicated single-contact authority for major project investment would also be established. The framing links directly to the national Housing Accord, with the NSW reforms presented as a lever to help meet the target of 377,000 new homes in the state by 2029 — a target the release acknowledges faces headwinds from the Middle East conflict.

Beyond NSW, the release confirms $5 million allocations to Queensland and Tasmania for National Competition Principles implementation, plus a further $1 million to Tasmania to remove legislative barriers, bringing total National Productivity Fund commitments above $100 million across states. Chalmers explicitly positioned the broader Productivity Package as central to the May Budget, framing it as the government's answer to inflation and global economic uncertainty [TA-260501-treasu-da3db2236223].

The pre-Budget timing of this announcement is deliberate: by anchoring supply-side planning reform within the productivity agenda, the Treasurer is constructing a through-line from deregulation and zoning flexibility to housing supply, competition, and growth — each element reinforcing the Budget's expected macro-economic narrative.