The NSW government is preparing to deliver a "back to basics" budget as Labor's coalition predecessors, inflation and rising construction costs cop the blame for spending constraints.
Infrastructure upgrades and maintenance at NSW hospitals and schools will receive billions amid a backlog of required work and rising costs.
The state was not alone in facing challenging economic conditions, Treasurer Daniel Mookhey said on Tuesday.
"Just like households who are having to renovate are facing cost pressures on their building programs, so is the government," he said.
"The complication we have here in NSW is that many of these cost blowouts were left untreated by our predecessors, at the same time that our predecessors were unleashing billions of dollars in additional spending at a time of high inflation."
More than $1 billion will go to addressing a backlog of accessibility and maintenance work at schools in Labor's second budget since winning the March 2023 election.
Education Minister Prue Car attended Bonnyrigg High School in Sydney's west on Tuesday, one of the schools she said would benefit from the "back to basics" budget on June 18.
Some $600 million will go toward school maintenance and $150 million for accessibility works, with about $200 million to be spent on a backlog of upgrades and refurbishments promised but not delivered under the former government, she said.
The funding was needed despite the projects - including bathroom renovations and basic maintenance - being unglamorous, Ms Car said.
But Opposition Leader Mark Speakman said the announced funding represented a cut rather than an investment in schools.
"This is just more smoke and mirrors from Labor on school infrastructure,” he said.
Ms Car said the government's funding was calculated differently, was worth more and would deliver.
"I've been to schools where they made the announcements and never invested in any of the maintenance, so I think the experience in schools of what the coalition promised when it came to basic minor works and basic maintenance speaks for itself," she said.
Meanwhile, the government also announced upgrades for health facilities at a cost of $3.4 billion.
Health Minister Ryan Park said he had successfully lobbied for an extra $840 million in infrastructure funding.
"The envelope that the previous government had set aside was not going to be enough to deliver the hospitals that the community were promised," he said.
Inflation and skill shortages have impacted construction, pushing up some project costs by more than 30 per cent, Mr Park said.
Ongoing hospital redevelopments around the state will receive extra funds, while Port Macquarie Hospital, on the state's mid-north coast, will receive $265 million to provide more clinical services, including emergency and maternity services.
Mr Park announced on Tuesday another $47.8 million for the redevelopment of Ryde Hospital in Sydney's northwest, bringing the total cost to more than $526 million.
The build began under the previous government and is due for completion in 2027.
Some $250 million will go to critical maintenance at the state's health facilities.
Emergency departments started the year with their busiest quarter on record, according to NSW Bureau of Health Information figures.
