❓ Opposition questions the Premier on whether increased household fees and charges contributed to small business closures. The Premier deflects, blaming the previous government's debt and land tax policies.
AnsweredQoN 443Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
SMALL BUSINESS —
FEES AND CHARGES
443. Ms L. METTAM to the Premier:
On behalf of the member for Dawesville,
I welcome the students from South Halls Head Primary School who are in the
gallery today.
I
refer to the closure of Ku De Ta, Rosendorffs, SpudBAR, Primal Pantry, Transit
Clothing, Cantina 663, Red Cray , Dome in Leederville, Baker and
Shuhandler, Fast Eddy's Cafe, Romany, Hobnob Bridal, the Terrace Hotel,
the Broken Hill Hotel, Clarence's Bar and the list goes on.
Several government members
interjected.
The SPEAKER : Members on my
right!
Ms L. METTAM : Given household expenditure —
Mr B.S. Wyatt interjected.
The SPEAKER : Members! I will
hear the question in silence. Treasurer, I call you to order for the first
time.
Ms L. METTAM : Given that
household expenditure makes up more than half of Western Australia's
economy, will the Premier admit that his $850-a-year increase to household fees
and charges has been a significant cause of the small business crisis here in
WA?
FEES AND CHARGES
443. Ms L. METTAM to the Premier:
On behalf of the member for Dawesville,
I welcome the students from South Halls Head Primary School who are in the
gallery today.
I
refer to the closure of Ku De Ta, Rosendorffs, SpudBAR, Primal Pantry, Transit
Clothing, Cantina 663, Red Cray , Dome in Leederville, Baker and
Shuhandler, Fast Eddy's Cafe, Romany, Hobnob Bridal, the Terrace Hotel,
the Broken Hill Hotel, Clarence's Bar and the list goes on.
Several government members
interjected.
The SPEAKER : Members on my
right!
Ms L. METTAM : Given household expenditure —
Mr B.S. Wyatt interjected.
The SPEAKER : Members! I will
hear the question in silence. Treasurer, I call you to order for the first
time.
Ms L. METTAM : Given that
household expenditure makes up more than half of Western Australia's
economy, will the Premier admit that his $850-a-year increase to household fees
and charges has been a significant cause of the small business crisis here in
WA?
AnswerView source ↗
Obviously, I feel for people who
close their doors in business. It is sad when a business does not work, its
lease ends and it cannot renew the lease, or it goes broke. It is very sad and
it has been going on now a very long time that many small businesses do not
survive. That is a sad thing and I feel deeply for them. That is why we have
provided additional assistance in terms of employing apprentices, and why I made
the announcement last week about Lotterywest retailers and supporting them,
which I will talk more about later today. I have found that a range of these
operators who have closed their doors have said the biggest impost on them was
the increase in land tax by the last government—that is what they have
said. Members have to understand that those small businesses pay the land tax
that the previous government put up. This government has not put up land tax
and we had —
Mr D.C. Nalder : Have you put
it down?
Mr M. McGOWAN : Honestly, the
member for Bateman's interjections are so ludicrous—no wonder
they did not make him the deputy leader—seriously! I wish they would.
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER : Members!
Mr M. McGOWAN : I actually
think that the member for Nedlands is better than you—that is saying
something!
Mr D.C. Nalder interjected.
Mr M. McGOWAN : Land tax was
put up three times during the course of the last government, and that has been
difficult for many businesses to manage. We would love to cut taxes but, of
course, forty thousand million dollars of Liberal–National debt has
made that difficult.
Mr D.C. Nalder interjected
The
SPEAKER : Member for Bateman! I call
you to order for the second time. I have warned you a couple of times.
Mr M. McGOWAN : The previous
government provided the biggest debt in the history of this state.
Mr D.C. Nalder interjected.
The SPEAKER : Member for
Bateman! I call you to order for the third time.
Mr M. McGOWAN : The previous
government provided the biggest debt per capita at that point in time of any
state, despite having record revenues when it was in office. They were the most
irresponsible people in government this country has ever seen. They had revenue
going through the roof, yet they grew expenditure by far more than they grew
revenue; therefore there is a big hangover because of the Liberal–National
government's time in office.
Dr D.J. Honey interjected.
The SPEAKER : Member for
Cottesloe!
Mr M. McGOWAN : Everyone
across the community knows that this government has been responsible in dealing
with those issues. It is about time that the Liberal Party and the Leader of
the Opposition apologised for what it did to the state. It is about time they
apologised for the debt they left, the recession they left —
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER : Members, it is a
wall of noise! I cannot hear the Premier.
Mr M. McGOWAN : The Leader of
the Opposition should apologise for the debt they left, the recession they left
and the increase in electricity and water fees and charges that they left.
Members opposite should apologise for all those things and then people might
take them seriously.
close their doors in business. It is sad when a business does not work, its
lease ends and it cannot renew the lease, or it goes broke. It is very sad and
it has been going on now a very long time that many small businesses do not
survive. That is a sad thing and I feel deeply for them. That is why we have
provided additional assistance in terms of employing apprentices, and why I made
the announcement last week about Lotterywest retailers and supporting them,
which I will talk more about later today. I have found that a range of these
operators who have closed their doors have said the biggest impost on them was
the increase in land tax by the last government—that is what they have
said. Members have to understand that those small businesses pay the land tax
that the previous government put up. This government has not put up land tax
and we had —
Mr D.C. Nalder : Have you put
it down?
Mr M. McGOWAN : Honestly, the
member for Bateman's interjections are so ludicrous—no wonder
they did not make him the deputy leader—seriously! I wish they would.
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER : Members!
Mr M. McGOWAN : I actually
think that the member for Nedlands is better than you—that is saying
something!
Mr D.C. Nalder interjected.
Mr M. McGOWAN : Land tax was
put up three times during the course of the last government, and that has been
difficult for many businesses to manage. We would love to cut taxes but, of
course, forty thousand million dollars of Liberal–National debt has
made that difficult.
Mr D.C. Nalder interjected
The
SPEAKER : Member for Bateman! I call
you to order for the second time. I have warned you a couple of times.
Mr M. McGOWAN : The previous
government provided the biggest debt in the history of this state.
Mr D.C. Nalder interjected.
The SPEAKER : Member for
Bateman! I call you to order for the third time.
Mr M. McGOWAN : The previous
government provided the biggest debt per capita at that point in time of any
state, despite having record revenues when it was in office. They were the most
irresponsible people in government this country has ever seen. They had revenue
going through the roof, yet they grew expenditure by far more than they grew
revenue; therefore there is a big hangover because of the Liberal–National
government's time in office.
Dr D.J. Honey interjected.
The SPEAKER : Member for
Cottesloe!
Mr M. McGOWAN : Everyone
across the community knows that this government has been responsible in dealing
with those issues. It is about time that the Liberal Party and the Leader of
the Opposition apologised for what it did to the state. It is about time they
apologised for the debt they left, the recession they left —
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER : Members, it is a
wall of noise! I cannot hear the Premier.
Mr M. McGOWAN : The Leader of
the Opposition should apologise for the debt they left, the recession they left
and the increase in electricity and water fees and charges that they left.
Members opposite should apologise for all those things and then people might
take them seriously.
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.