❓ The Premier defends the WA Labor government's economic performance, citing job creation and economic growth, while criticizing the Liberal Party's economic plan and past record.
AnsweredQoN 740Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
STATE ECONOMY
740. Mr Y. MUBARAKAI to the Premier:
I refer to the Cook Labor
government's commitment to creating local jobs and strengthening the
economy.
(1) Can the Premier update the
house on the state of the Western Australian economy?
(2) Can the Premier advise the
house of any alternative plans to create jobs and grow the economy?
740. Mr Y. MUBARAKAI to the Premier:
I refer to the Cook Labor
government's commitment to creating local jobs and strengthening the
economy.
(1) Can the Premier update the
house on the state of the Western Australian economy?
(2) Can the Premier advise the
house of any alternative plans to create jobs and grow the economy?
AnswerView source ↗
(1)–(2) I
thank the member for the question. It is a very important one. Of course, as I foreshadowed
last week, today is 24 October and we officially have three million people as
our population in Western Australia. I do not know how they calculate these
things, but nevertheless the statisticians have declared that Western Australia's
population has passed the three-million mark. Two sets of information were
quietly released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics last week. The first
was the ABS labour force data, highlighting WA's economic success. It
revealed that WA had equalled its longest period of sustained low unemployment.
It also revealed that a record 1.62 million people were in jobs.
The second piece of information last
week was from the WA Liberal Party. In stark contrast to the ABS data, the Liberals' so-called plan claims
that the state is in crisis. In fact, the Liberals managed to cram the word ''crisis'' into their wafer-thin catalogue 28 times. What
was more concerning was the fact that the plan failed to articulate any serious
economic policy or the fact that even after seven and a half years in
opposition, this was the best that the Liberals could do.
The government has done a lot over
the last seven and a half years. More than 321 000 jobs have been created since
Labor came into government in 2017. The number of people in a job reached a new
record of 1.62 million and we have grown the
domestic economy by 23.9 per cent from pre-pandemic levels. These are
astonishing outcomes—astonishing—and are a huge credit to the
people of Western Australia. That growth is
around 70 per cent faster than the rate of growth in the national economy. We
kept unemployment below four per cent for 35 of the past 36 months.
In
short, over the last seven years, Labor has taken the worst-performing economy
and made it the best- performing economy in the nation and we got WA's
fair share of the GST. As we know, there are those
over east who continue to attempt to dismantle the GST deal—the latest
being Allegra Spender. Those people
do not understand or know that we are already propping up the rest of the
nation with the billions of dollars
flowing from Western Australia to the east. My government will always fight for
Western Australia's fair share and to maintain our fair share of
the GST. We will fight Peter Dutton and the teals and anyone else who lines up
to try to dismantle our fair share of the GST. Let us not forget the Liberal
Party's record last time it was in
office. Let us have a look at that. It sent WA into a recession. This is the
most astonishing statistic. It took debt in Western Australia from $3.6 billion—a
responsible amount when it took over from Labor last time—to a whopping
$44 billion. Reflect on that, members. That was at a time of record revenue
growth. It not only took all the money, but also borrowed to pay the bills and
destroyed the state's public finances. There were 25 000 jobs.
Several members interjected.
The DEPUTY SPEAKER : Members,
the Premier is on his feet.
Mr R.H. COOK : There were 25 000
jobs lost in the opposition's last two years of government. It was the
highest unemployment in the country and not one single job was created in its
second term of office. If crisis is how the Liberal Party describes the current
situation in Western Australia, how would it describe its own management? Western
Australians know that the biggest risk to the Western Australian economy is the
Western Australian Liberal and National Parties. The Liberal Party's
so-called blueprint released over the weekend confirms that. It was a word
salad of myths that highlight its inexperience and ineptitude and the major
risk that it poses to the Western Australian economy.
Several members interjected.
The DEPUTY SPEAKER :
Ministers!
Mr
R.H. COOK : The word ''blueprint''
may sound solid and convincing but the WA Liberal Party's loose
collection of platitudes and talking points does not represent anything
like a blueprint for Western Australia. The English language is an incredible
thing, but it is no match for the audacity and the incompetence of the WA
Liberal Party and its outrageous representation of its so-called economic
blueprint for Western Australia.
The DEPUTY SPEAKER : Before I give
you the call, Leader of the Liberal Party, I remind everyone that we have certain rules in this place about how people
behave. If things start to get a little bit rowdy, like they did yesterday ,
I will start calling people to order. Okay. Just remember, you get three
chances and we will see what happens after that. Let us carry on.
thank the member for the question. It is a very important one. Of course, as I foreshadowed
last week, today is 24 October and we officially have three million people as
our population in Western Australia. I do not know how they calculate these
things, but nevertheless the statisticians have declared that Western Australia's
population has passed the three-million mark. Two sets of information were
quietly released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics last week. The first
was the ABS labour force data, highlighting WA's economic success. It
revealed that WA had equalled its longest period of sustained low unemployment.
It also revealed that a record 1.62 million people were in jobs.
The second piece of information last
week was from the WA Liberal Party. In stark contrast to the ABS data, the Liberals' so-called plan claims
that the state is in crisis. In fact, the Liberals managed to cram the word ''crisis'' into their wafer-thin catalogue 28 times. What
was more concerning was the fact that the plan failed to articulate any serious
economic policy or the fact that even after seven and a half years in
opposition, this was the best that the Liberals could do.
The government has done a lot over
the last seven and a half years. More than 321 000 jobs have been created since
Labor came into government in 2017. The number of people in a job reached a new
record of 1.62 million and we have grown the
domestic economy by 23.9 per cent from pre-pandemic levels. These are
astonishing outcomes—astonishing—and are a huge credit to the
people of Western Australia. That growth is
around 70 per cent faster than the rate of growth in the national economy. We
kept unemployment below four per cent for 35 of the past 36 months.
In
short, over the last seven years, Labor has taken the worst-performing economy
and made it the best- performing economy in the nation and we got WA's
fair share of the GST. As we know, there are those
over east who continue to attempt to dismantle the GST deal—the latest
being Allegra Spender. Those people
do not understand or know that we are already propping up the rest of the
nation with the billions of dollars
flowing from Western Australia to the east. My government will always fight for
Western Australia's fair share and to maintain our fair share of
the GST. We will fight Peter Dutton and the teals and anyone else who lines up
to try to dismantle our fair share of the GST. Let us not forget the Liberal
Party's record last time it was in
office. Let us have a look at that. It sent WA into a recession. This is the
most astonishing statistic. It took debt in Western Australia from $3.6 billion—a
responsible amount when it took over from Labor last time—to a whopping
$44 billion. Reflect on that, members. That was at a time of record revenue
growth. It not only took all the money, but also borrowed to pay the bills and
destroyed the state's public finances. There were 25 000 jobs.
Several members interjected.
The DEPUTY SPEAKER : Members,
the Premier is on his feet.
Mr R.H. COOK : There were 25 000
jobs lost in the opposition's last two years of government. It was the
highest unemployment in the country and not one single job was created in its
second term of office. If crisis is how the Liberal Party describes the current
situation in Western Australia, how would it describe its own management? Western
Australians know that the biggest risk to the Western Australian economy is the
Western Australian Liberal and National Parties. The Liberal Party's
so-called blueprint released over the weekend confirms that. It was a word
salad of myths that highlight its inexperience and ineptitude and the major
risk that it poses to the Western Australian economy.
Several members interjected.
The DEPUTY SPEAKER :
Ministers!
Mr
R.H. COOK : The word ''blueprint''
may sound solid and convincing but the WA Liberal Party's loose
collection of platitudes and talking points does not represent anything
like a blueprint for Western Australia. The English language is an incredible
thing, but it is no match for the audacity and the incompetence of the WA
Liberal Party and its outrageous representation of its so-called economic
blueprint for Western Australia.
The DEPUTY SPEAKER : Before I give
you the call, Leader of the Liberal Party, I remind everyone that we have certain rules in this place about how people
behave. If things start to get a little bit rowdy, like they did yesterday ,
I will start calling people to order. Okay. Just remember, you get three
chances and we will see what happens after that. Let us carry on.
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