❓ Dr. Honey questions the Premier about the state budget surplus amidst rising cost of living, citing a consumer confidence survey. The Premier responds by highlighting job creation, high participation rate, and cost-of-living relief measures, while criticizing the previous government's record.
AnsweredQoN 142Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
STATE BUDGET — COST-OF-LIVING INCREASES
142. Dr D.J. HONEY to the Premier:
I
refer to the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Western Australia's
consumer confidence survey released t oday that shows for the first time since September 2020 more Western Australians
expect economic conditions to weaken than to strengthen due largely to the
soaring cost of living. Is the Premier comfortable sitting on a $5.8 billion
surplus while WA families struggle to make ends meet?
142. Dr D.J. HONEY to the Premier:
I
refer to the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Western Australia's
consumer confidence survey released t oday that shows for the first time since September 2020 more Western Australians
expect economic conditions to weaken than to strengthen due largely to the
soaring cost of living. Is the Premier comfortable sitting on a $5.8 billion
surplus while WA families struggle to make ends meet?
AnswerView source ↗
Thank you to the member for the
question.
There are a few things to report in
relation to this. First of all, the employment figures came out today that
showed that 6 882 full-time jobs were created in Western Australia in the month
of February. That means that since this government has been in office, around
152 000 jobs have been created in Western Australia. It is incredibly strong
employment growth in Western Australia. The second point is that we now have
the highest participation rate in history at 70 per cent. We have the highest
rate of all the states and the highest rate in history, which means the
confidence of people in the labour market is extraordinarily strong. Those
figures came out today—in the midst of the Omicron outbreak in Western Australia that has occurred. We have our
record in terms of economic activity and reforms, and our encouragement
of activity and our management of COVID has resulted in those extraordinarily
strong employment figures.
In terms of the cost of living,
obviously we are very sympathetic to Western Australians in terms of these
issues. That is why we gave everyone the $600 grant on their electricity bill a
bit over a year ago. That is why we have, at various points in time, frozen
electricity and water increases. That is why we recently put in place the
two-zone fare cap, which is saving some families up to $3 000 a year in their
use of public transport. That is why we made free rapid antigen tests
available. We in Western Australia are the only government in Australia to have
done that for families. As members know, when you go to buy them, they can be
quite expensive. We have made free RATs available to households and we are
extending that as we speak across Western Australia.
Contrast that with the last
government when there was around a 10 per cent increase in electricity each and
every year on average. That is what happened in terms of cost-of-living
pressures under the last Liberal–National government. At the same time
of record revenues, record debt and record deficits. Members opposite had quite
an extraordinary record the last time they were in office. We understand that
issues are out there, and a lot of them are obviously outside our control. The
war in the Ukraine—as unbelievable as it is that I am actually saying
that; a war in Europe—is causing many unintended and adverse
consequences across the world, particularly in relation to cost-of-living
pressures, but we have a budget that is coming up later this year. In the
lead-up to and during that budget process, all those matters will be
considered.
question.
There are a few things to report in
relation to this. First of all, the employment figures came out today that
showed that 6 882 full-time jobs were created in Western Australia in the month
of February. That means that since this government has been in office, around
152 000 jobs have been created in Western Australia. It is incredibly strong
employment growth in Western Australia. The second point is that we now have
the highest participation rate in history at 70 per cent. We have the highest
rate of all the states and the highest rate in history, which means the
confidence of people in the labour market is extraordinarily strong. Those
figures came out today—in the midst of the Omicron outbreak in Western Australia that has occurred. We have our
record in terms of economic activity and reforms, and our encouragement
of activity and our management of COVID has resulted in those extraordinarily
strong employment figures.
In terms of the cost of living,
obviously we are very sympathetic to Western Australians in terms of these
issues. That is why we gave everyone the $600 grant on their electricity bill a
bit over a year ago. That is why we have, at various points in time, frozen
electricity and water increases. That is why we recently put in place the
two-zone fare cap, which is saving some families up to $3 000 a year in their
use of public transport. That is why we made free rapid antigen tests
available. We in Western Australia are the only government in Australia to have
done that for families. As members know, when you go to buy them, they can be
quite expensive. We have made free RATs available to households and we are
extending that as we speak across Western Australia.
Contrast that with the last
government when there was around a 10 per cent increase in electricity each and
every year on average. That is what happened in terms of cost-of-living
pressures under the last Liberal–National government. At the same time
of record revenues, record debt and record deficits. Members opposite had quite
an extraordinary record the last time they were in office. We understand that
issues are out there, and a lot of them are obviously outside our control. The
war in the Ukraine—as unbelievable as it is that I am actually saying
that; a war in Europe—is causing many unintended and adverse
consequences across the world, particularly in relation to cost-of-living
pressures, but we have a budget that is coming up later this year. In the
lead-up to and during that budget process, all those matters will be
considered.
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.