❓ Ms. Davies questions the Premier about increased Foodbank demand despite claimed economic success. The Premier deflects, attacking the opposition's past record on cost of living and accusing them of obstructionism.
AnsweredQoN 225Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
STATE BUDGET — COST-OF-LIVING INCREASES
225. Ms M.J. DAVIES to the Premier:
I have a supplementary question. If
the Premier's management, as he has just outlined, of the state's
economy has been so good and has been the creation of so many jobs over the
last two years, why are services like Foodbank Western Australia being
inundated by demand? The numbers are there. The numbers of people accessing
services like Foodbank have doubled under this government's watch.
225. Ms M.J. DAVIES to the Premier:
I have a supplementary question. If
the Premier's management, as he has just outlined, of the state's
economy has been so good and has been the creation of so many jobs over the
last two years, why are services like Foodbank Western Australia being
inundated by demand? The numbers are there. The numbers of people accessing
services like Foodbank have doubled under this government's watch.
AnswerView source ↗
We have focused on getting people
back to work and we have focused on properly funding organisations out there
like those ones. But as some of the ministers have just commented, there is a range
of competing factors in there, including the commonwealth government. But I will
just make sure that you are aware of one thing: during your time as the
Minister for Water, the average cost per household went up by $288. For five
years in government, our average cost went up by $116 per household. In other
words, when you were in office for a shorter time, it went up by more than
double in the same period that we have been in office. Your record is there. We
will continue to remind people of your
record when you were in office. It was an appalling record. The government blew
debt, blew deficits and blew cost-of-living pressures on households all
over Western Australia. Then, when we put in place cost-of-living measures to assist people, you attack them and you
criticise them. You still have not worked out what you stand for—the
lot of you. The six of you have not worked out what you stand for. The only
thing you stand for, which is not a very smart thing to do, is to oppose whatever
the government does. That is the only thing you stand for. No matter how right
it is, how justified it is, how sensible it is, the only thing you stand for is
to oppose what the government does, and if you think that is a recipe for
winning elections, it is not.
back to work and we have focused on properly funding organisations out there
like those ones. But as some of the ministers have just commented, there is a range
of competing factors in there, including the commonwealth government. But I will
just make sure that you are aware of one thing: during your time as the
Minister for Water, the average cost per household went up by $288. For five
years in government, our average cost went up by $116 per household. In other
words, when you were in office for a shorter time, it went up by more than
double in the same period that we have been in office. Your record is there. We
will continue to remind people of your
record when you were in office. It was an appalling record. The government blew
debt, blew deficits and blew cost-of-living pressures on households all
over Western Australia. Then, when we put in place cost-of-living measures to assist people, you attack them and you
criticise them. You still have not worked out what you stand for—the
lot of you. The six of you have not worked out what you stand for. The only
thing you stand for, which is not a very smart thing to do, is to oppose whatever
the government does. That is the only thing you stand for. No matter how right
it is, how justified it is, how sensible it is, the only thing you stand for is
to oppose what the government does, and if you think that is a recipe for
winning elections, it is not.
Explore WA Government Data
Search the full archive in the free dashboard, or query programmatically via API.
Explore more
Government Gazette
Appointments, regulatory notices, planning changes.
Hansard
Debates, questions, speeches and sentiment.
Tabled Papers
Reports and documents tabled in Parliament.
Committees
Committee profiles and recent reports.
Regulations
Subsidiary legislation with filters and summaries.
Bills
Proposed laws and parliamentary progress.
Acts
Current WA legislation and summaries.
Explanatory Memoranda
Bills with EMs (text/PDF) available.
Members
MP profiles, party breakdown and rankings.
Pollie Rankings
Data-driven rankings across 19 categories.
Amendment Chains
Track how schemes and regulations evolve over time.