Daniel Mookhey: best way to fix the rental crisis is to build, new NSW treasurer says

While some of those cities have implemented rent freezes and caps, the treasurer rules out such policies, insisting they are not necessarily working.

Mookhey, the son of Indian migrants, says the benefits of having a stable home should not be underestimated. At just five, his father died, leaving his mother widowed in western Sydney.

The government has promised to set aside 30% of government land for social, affordable and diverse housing.

Success to the treasurer looks like creating a state where people can live in a house they can afford, while working a job that pays them a decent wage, near good schools and hospitals.

However, energy supply and power bills are near the top of the long list of state woes.

Last week he met with the prospective buyers of the Eraring power station, slated to close in 2025.

Many in the industry have speculated that the government will ask the coal-fired station to remain open, which is an option the treasurer has refused to rule out.

Adding to the budget pressures this week was Bill Shorten, who suggested state governments needed to contribute more to the national disability insurance scheme.

Last month, Mookhey became the first NSW minister to be sworn in on sacred Hindu text the Bhagavad Gita.

Mookhey says they plan to continue taking an equal role in looking after their boys, aged 7 and 4.

The next state budget will be handed down in September.

Much like his spectacles, Mookhey has begun assembling a wardrobe of experts and advisers of past and present treasurers, including Jim Chalmers, to provide some options.