❓ Mr Folkard questions the Premier on how the $5.5 billion recovery plan will create jobs and boost local manufacturing. The Premier responds by highlighting job growth statistics, investments in railcar manufacturing, and criticises the opposition's stance on state-funded manufacturing.
AnsweredQoN 544Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
CORONAVIRUS —
STATE ECONOMIC RECOVERY PLAN
544. Mr M.J. FOLKARD to the Premier:
I refer to the McGowan Labor
government's $5.5 billion recovery plan. Can the Premier outline to the
house how this will create more job opportunities for Western Australians and
bring more local manufacturing back to WA?
STATE ECONOMIC RECOVERY PLAN
544. Mr M.J. FOLKARD to the Premier:
I refer to the McGowan Labor
government's $5.5 billion recovery plan. Can the Premier outline to the
house how this will create more job opportunities for Western Australians and
bring more local manufacturing back to WA?
AnswerView source ↗
Obviously, the pandemic has been
difficult for the Western Australian economy. Prior to the pandemic arriving,
we had created over 70 000 jobs since March 2017. Today's figures are
encouraging. We have the strongest employment growth of all the mainland states
in Australia; 19 200 Western Australians found work in July. That means that Western Australia has now recovered
more than 41 000 jobs since the start of the pandemic. The number of people currently employed in Western Australia
is higher than it was when we came to office—by 10 000 people . The unemployment rate has fallen over the last
month by half a percentage point. The number of people unemployed has
also fallen over the last month. Our participation rate has increased from 66.6
per cent to 67.2 per cent and remains the highest in the country, which
obviously impacts the unemployment rate. These statistics take in only the
first two weeks of the phase 4 easing of restrictions in Western Australia, and
obviously the easing will have had benefits since that time. It shows that
through our hard border, we have been able to reopen our economy faster and get
more Western Australians back to work than we otherwise would have. The border
has allowed us to do that. It is self-evident: if we contain the spread of the
virus, we can get more people back to work, and that is what we are doing.
As part of our $5.5 billion recovery
plan that we launched recently, the first state in Australia to do so, we are
committed to bringing local manufacturing back to Western Australia. Yesterday,
the Minister for Transport spoke about our $40.1 million investment in a new
diesel railcar maintenance facility in Bellevue. We are working with the mining
industry on either further maintaining or the construction of railcars in Western
Australia. We brought the Matagarup Bridge back to Western Australia. We are
investing $1.3 billion in railcar manufacturing in Bellevue on top of all this.
The other day we announced $13.2 million of project funding to attract a global
cathode active materials manufacturer to Western Australia so that we can get
further up the chain in manufacturing batteries in Western Australia. We will
do everything we can to help one of those businesses with land and assistance
to establish here in Western Australia. Last week, I announced a project with
the potential to build wind turbines locally. We are doing everything we can to
get manufacturing into Western Australia. I note that the opposition has
rejected local manufacturing and has repeatedly said things like this, and I want
to quote what the opposition leader said at a Business News Western Australia function on 11 March 2020 —
The McGowan Government's
investment in a state run, unsustainable, failed manufacturing industry in
order to placate the union backers is to my mind, just a waste of your money.
What we will not do is heavily
subsidise industries where the state has no comparative advantage, nor bring
back industries from a bygone era.
The Leader of the Opposition was
referring then to railcar manufacturing. We have secured a contract at 25 per cent less cost than the railcars bought
from Queensland by the previous government, with over 50 per cent local content
as part of our contract, as opposed to two per cent local content when the
former government did it. We are committed to local jobs, to local manufacturing,
to our recovery plan and to making sure that Western Australia retains the
enviable position as being the best state in Australia.
difficult for the Western Australian economy. Prior to the pandemic arriving,
we had created over 70 000 jobs since March 2017. Today's figures are
encouraging. We have the strongest employment growth of all the mainland states
in Australia; 19 200 Western Australians found work in July. That means that Western Australia has now recovered
more than 41 000 jobs since the start of the pandemic. The number of people currently employed in Western Australia
is higher than it was when we came to office—by 10 000 people . The unemployment rate has fallen over the last
month by half a percentage point. The number of people unemployed has
also fallen over the last month. Our participation rate has increased from 66.6
per cent to 67.2 per cent and remains the highest in the country, which
obviously impacts the unemployment rate. These statistics take in only the
first two weeks of the phase 4 easing of restrictions in Western Australia, and
obviously the easing will have had benefits since that time. It shows that
through our hard border, we have been able to reopen our economy faster and get
more Western Australians back to work than we otherwise would have. The border
has allowed us to do that. It is self-evident: if we contain the spread of the
virus, we can get more people back to work, and that is what we are doing.
As part of our $5.5 billion recovery
plan that we launched recently, the first state in Australia to do so, we are
committed to bringing local manufacturing back to Western Australia. Yesterday,
the Minister for Transport spoke about our $40.1 million investment in a new
diesel railcar maintenance facility in Bellevue. We are working with the mining
industry on either further maintaining or the construction of railcars in Western
Australia. We brought the Matagarup Bridge back to Western Australia. We are
investing $1.3 billion in railcar manufacturing in Bellevue on top of all this.
The other day we announced $13.2 million of project funding to attract a global
cathode active materials manufacturer to Western Australia so that we can get
further up the chain in manufacturing batteries in Western Australia. We will
do everything we can to help one of those businesses with land and assistance
to establish here in Western Australia. Last week, I announced a project with
the potential to build wind turbines locally. We are doing everything we can to
get manufacturing into Western Australia. I note that the opposition has
rejected local manufacturing and has repeatedly said things like this, and I want
to quote what the opposition leader said at a Business News Western Australia function on 11 March 2020 —
The McGowan Government's
investment in a state run, unsustainable, failed manufacturing industry in
order to placate the union backers is to my mind, just a waste of your money.
What we will not do is heavily
subsidise industries where the state has no comparative advantage, nor bring
back industries from a bygone era.
The Leader of the Opposition was
referring then to railcar manufacturing. We have secured a contract at 25 per cent less cost than the railcars bought
from Queensland by the previous government, with over 50 per cent local content
as part of our contract, as opposed to two per cent local content when the
former government did it. We are committed to local jobs, to local manufacturing,
to our recovery plan and to making sure that Western Australia retains the
enviable position as being the best state in Australia.
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