❓ Opposition Leader McGowan questions the Treasurer on job losses and economic diversification. The Treasurer defends the government's record, highlighting WA's relatively low unemployment rate and accusing the opposition of undermining confidence.
AnsweredQoN 377Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
STATE ECONOMY —
DIVERSITY — EMPLOYMENT
377. Mr M.
McGOWAN to the Treasurer:
I refer to the loss of 40 500
full-time jobs in Western Australia over the past 16 months, and 54 000 extra
unemployed Western Australians on the government's watch. Has the
Treasurer failed in his central responsibility to create full-time jobs for Western
Australians and diversify our state's economy?
DIVERSITY — EMPLOYMENT
377. Mr M.
McGOWAN to the Treasurer:
I refer to the loss of 40 500
full-time jobs in Western Australia over the past 16 months, and 54 000 extra
unemployed Western Australians on the government's watch. Has the
Treasurer failed in his central responsibility to create full-time jobs for Western
Australians and diversify our state's economy?
AnswerView source ↗
I
thank the member for the question. We know that the Leader of the Opposition,
the member for Rockingham, is doing his best to talk down the economy. He is
trying to spread depression and uncertainty throughout the economy, because he
knows that what really drives the economy is confidence. He is trying to hurt
the economy for his own advantage. The labour force data came out again today,
and indicated that in the month of May the unemployment rate in Western Australia
went up by 0.1 per cent to 5.7 per cent—the second lowest of any state.
He left that out. Our unemployment rate is second only to that of New South
Wales, given the adjustment we have experienced from the largest boom in the
nation's history when, for year after year on our watch, Western Australia
made up 50 per cent of the total employment growth in this nation. When we came
into government there was zero unemployment—2.8 per cent. We came in
and created thousands of jobs on our watch. As the construction comes down,
many of them are leaving the state—back to New Zealand, New South Wales
and Victoria. The reality is that we are, in the main, finding jobs for the
many thousands of people who are losing them in the mining, oil and gas
sectors. Many are coming back to Perth; many are going out. We have the second
lowest unemployment rate in the nation, in the most difficult structure. Look
at Queensland: its unemployment rate is a good one percentage point above ours.
It is going through structural change.
Mr F.M. Logan : Look at their full-time employment numbers.
Dr M.D. NAHAN : Yes, they are coming down, but they are employed. We are going through
a difficult structural adjustment in this economy; there is no doubt about
that, but the unemployment rate of 5.7 per cent is the second lowest in the
nation, and our participation rate in the workforce is by far the highest in
the nation.
The
opposition sees nothing but negativity. Members opposite are gloating, and they
are trying to augment the problem by undermining the population's
confidence in the job market and others. That is the Leader of the Opposition—a
person who sees advantages in trying to talk down the economy month after
month. His policies—the little red book that he flashes around in a very
bad example of some kind of Maoist—are vacuous. When the opposition
looks for a model for Western Australia, it does not look to Silicon Valley,
Singapore or maybe Israel; it looks to South Australia. Let us go back and
build up those protectionist walls; let us go back into old-time manufacturing.
South Australia does very well, but the problem with that model is that we keep
South Australia alive. If we joined South Australia, we would all be poor.
thank the member for the question. We know that the Leader of the Opposition,
the member for Rockingham, is doing his best to talk down the economy. He is
trying to spread depression and uncertainty throughout the economy, because he
knows that what really drives the economy is confidence. He is trying to hurt
the economy for his own advantage. The labour force data came out again today,
and indicated that in the month of May the unemployment rate in Western Australia
went up by 0.1 per cent to 5.7 per cent—the second lowest of any state.
He left that out. Our unemployment rate is second only to that of New South
Wales, given the adjustment we have experienced from the largest boom in the
nation's history when, for year after year on our watch, Western Australia
made up 50 per cent of the total employment growth in this nation. When we came
into government there was zero unemployment—2.8 per cent. We came in
and created thousands of jobs on our watch. As the construction comes down,
many of them are leaving the state—back to New Zealand, New South Wales
and Victoria. The reality is that we are, in the main, finding jobs for the
many thousands of people who are losing them in the mining, oil and gas
sectors. Many are coming back to Perth; many are going out. We have the second
lowest unemployment rate in the nation, in the most difficult structure. Look
at Queensland: its unemployment rate is a good one percentage point above ours.
It is going through structural change.
Mr F.M. Logan : Look at their full-time employment numbers.
Dr M.D. NAHAN : Yes, they are coming down, but they are employed. We are going through
a difficult structural adjustment in this economy; there is no doubt about
that, but the unemployment rate of 5.7 per cent is the second lowest in the
nation, and our participation rate in the workforce is by far the highest in
the nation.
The
opposition sees nothing but negativity. Members opposite are gloating, and they
are trying to augment the problem by undermining the population's
confidence in the job market and others. That is the Leader of the Opposition—a
person who sees advantages in trying to talk down the economy month after
month. His policies—the little red book that he flashes around in a very
bad example of some kind of Maoist—are vacuous. When the opposition
looks for a model for Western Australia, it does not look to Silicon Valley,
Singapore or maybe Israel; it looks to South Australia. Let us go back and
build up those protectionist walls; let us go back into old-time manufacturing.
South Australia does very well, but the problem with that model is that we keep
South Australia alive. If we joined South Australia, we would all be poor.
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