❓ Ms. Davies questions the Premier on the lack of cost-of-living relief for WA families, citing increased fees and charges and criticism from Anglicare WA. The Premier defends the government's record, highlighting a reduction in fees and charges, direct payments to households, and support for not-for-profit organisations and Aboriginal communities.
AnsweredQoN 296Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
COST OF LIVING —
FEES AND CHARGES
296. Ms M.J. DAVIES to the Premier:
I
refer to the increase in government fees and charges by $1 050 a year since
2017 and comments by Anglicare WA chief
executive officer Mark Glasson that the budget was lazy policy and left his
organisation bewildered. Why has the Premier failed to deliver
meaningful cost-of-living relief to Western Australian families?
FEES AND CHARGES
296. Ms M.J. DAVIES to the Premier:
I
refer to the increase in government fees and charges by $1 050 a year since
2017 and comments by Anglicare WA chief
executive officer Mark Glasson that the budget was lazy policy and left his
organisation bewildered. Why has the Premier failed to deliver
meaningful cost-of-living relief to Western Australian families?
AnswerView source ↗
Madam Speaker, that question ignores
everything that occurred in the budget. In the budget that was handed down on Thursday, the totality of fees and charges by
government to ordinary Western Australians, the cost of that, will go down in the next financial year by 3.8 per cent.
We are the only government in Australia doing that without increasing debt, yet the Leader of the Opposition complains about it. I was at a function
last night at the Australian Hotels Association accommodation awards and a couple
of people came up to me, who work in accommodation with ordinary incomes and
the like, and said, ''You're the only government that has ever
given us anything.'' These are people who work at the front desk, in
cleaning, in maintenance or what have you in a major hotel. Two women came up
to me and said, ''Your government is the only one who has ever given us
anything. No-one has ever given us anything before. We never received anything
from government to help us with cost of living. You are giving us $400 from 1 July
to help us with our electricity bills and you gave us $600 back in October 2020
to help us with our electricity bills.'' Then one of the women said, ''And
I just got my 15 RATs today.'' I assume that if they live in the outer
suburbs, they are getting the two-zone fare, which is saving them potentially
thousands of dollars each year. That is what we are doing: a 3.8 per cent
reduction in the totality of the basket of household goods and fees, services,
water, electricity, licensing fees and the like, all across the board in Western
Australia, without increasing debt. When the
commonwealth puts in place initiatives, and they are not for everyone, all it
is doing is adding it to the credit
card. We are paying down debt at the same time as providing this support for
families in Western Australia.
In terms of that specific
organisation, indexation funding was provided to not-for-profit organisations
to the tune, from memory, of about $100 million to assist them with ongoing
increases in costs and a whole range of social justice initiatives across the
board that the Minister for Community Services has rolled out, particularly
additional child protection officers and the like. For the first time since the
commonwealth Liberal–National government pulled out of funding remote
Aboriginal communities, we are using our good financial management to put in
place a $350 million down payment on
providing maintenance services, electricity, water and new housing for
Aboriginal communities. That is what we are doing. I realise the
Nationals and Liberals in Western Australia always want to look for the negative in everything, but that is
the truth of what this government is providing, because we manage the finances well, because we kept COVID out and
because we kept our royalty streams coming into Western Australia, we
are supporting people across the board across Western Australia.
everything that occurred in the budget. In the budget that was handed down on Thursday, the totality of fees and charges by
government to ordinary Western Australians, the cost of that, will go down in the next financial year by 3.8 per cent.
We are the only government in Australia doing that without increasing debt, yet the Leader of the Opposition complains about it. I was at a function
last night at the Australian Hotels Association accommodation awards and a couple
of people came up to me, who work in accommodation with ordinary incomes and
the like, and said, ''You're the only government that has ever
given us anything.'' These are people who work at the front desk, in
cleaning, in maintenance or what have you in a major hotel. Two women came up
to me and said, ''Your government is the only one who has ever given us
anything. No-one has ever given us anything before. We never received anything
from government to help us with cost of living. You are giving us $400 from 1 July
to help us with our electricity bills and you gave us $600 back in October 2020
to help us with our electricity bills.'' Then one of the women said, ''And
I just got my 15 RATs today.'' I assume that if they live in the outer
suburbs, they are getting the two-zone fare, which is saving them potentially
thousands of dollars each year. That is what we are doing: a 3.8 per cent
reduction in the totality of the basket of household goods and fees, services,
water, electricity, licensing fees and the like, all across the board in Western
Australia, without increasing debt. When the
commonwealth puts in place initiatives, and they are not for everyone, all it
is doing is adding it to the credit
card. We are paying down debt at the same time as providing this support for
families in Western Australia.
In terms of that specific
organisation, indexation funding was provided to not-for-profit organisations
to the tune, from memory, of about $100 million to assist them with ongoing
increases in costs and a whole range of social justice initiatives across the
board that the Minister for Community Services has rolled out, particularly
additional child protection officers and the like. For the first time since the
commonwealth Liberal–National government pulled out of funding remote
Aboriginal communities, we are using our good financial management to put in
place a $350 million down payment on
providing maintenance services, electricity, water and new housing for
Aboriginal communities. That is what we are doing. I realise the
Nationals and Liberals in Western Australia always want to look for the negative in everything, but that is
the truth of what this government is providing, because we manage the finances well, because we kept COVID out and
because we kept our royalty streams coming into Western Australia, we
are supporting people across the board across Western Australia.
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