“I understand that the feds have a budget clean-up job to do but by slashing our funding for big ticket items like health, it’s just shifting their own problems and costs on down the line with little regard as to how states like NSW are going to find the $1.2 billion over four years that they’re taking out of the system,” Mr Gee said.

“In NSW we’ve already had to make some difficult decisions and do a lot of belt tightening to get the budget back under control, and just when we’re getting on top of it, we have to cop this hit with our own budget just one month away. Just what services do they expect us to cut?”

Mr Gee said there were some positives to come out of the budget and they include the federal government’s commitment to maintaining the National Disability Insurance Scheme and its promise to embark on a “a huge infrastructure program”.

“I’m also glad that the NSW Health Minister [Jillian Skinner] has ruled out cuts to hospital services or charging co-payments for emergency services.”