❓ Opposition questions the Treasurer on WA's economic performance, citing declining final demand and wage stagnation. The Treasurer refutes claims of recession, highlighting WA's economic growth and job creation under the current government.
AnsweredQoN 981Legislative Council
QuestionView source ↗
STATE ECONOMY —
WAGES GROWTH
981. Hon CHARLES SMITH to the minister representing the
Treasurer:
I refer to yesterday's
release of the national accounts showing that Western Australia's
economy continues to wither on the vine with the state recording its sixth
consecutive quarterly decline in final demand and Australian workers'
real incomes falling sharply despite rising labour productivity.
(1) Does the
Treasurer concede that the Western Australian economy is experiencing its
fourth recession when measured by real final demand since 2012?
(2) Does the government have any
plan to raise workers' wages?
WAGES GROWTH
981. Hon CHARLES SMITH to the minister representing the
Treasurer:
I refer to yesterday's
release of the national accounts showing that Western Australia's
economy continues to wither on the vine with the state recording its sixth
consecutive quarterly decline in final demand and Australian workers'
real incomes falling sharply despite rising labour productivity.
(1) Does the
Treasurer concede that the Western Australian economy is experiencing its
fourth recession when measured by real final demand since 2012?
(2) Does the government have any
plan to raise workers' wages?
AnswerView source ↗
I thank the honourable member for
some notice of the question. The following answer has been provided to me by
the Treasurer.
(1) The
honourable member is clearly struggling to interpret Australian Bureau of
Statistics data. ABC news, ABC radio, Channel Seven Perth, 6PR radio, 97.3
Coast FM radio, Business News Western Australia and The West
Australian had no such trouble, all correctly reporting that Western Australia
leads the nation for economic growth, with
state final demand increasing 0.8 per cent in the June quarter. For the
honourable member's benefit, the only recorded recession in Western
Australia's history was in 2016–17 under the previous Liberal–National
government, when the overall economy contracted by 1.8 per cent.
(2) Annual growth
in wages has picked up from 1.2 per cent at the election to 1.6 per cent now.
This is what happens when a government creates jobs, rather than destroys them.
This government has created more than 52 000 jobs since the election. In the
last term of the previous government, not a single job was created; rather,
there was a net loss of nearly 700 jobs.
some notice of the question. The following answer has been provided to me by
the Treasurer.
(1) The
honourable member is clearly struggling to interpret Australian Bureau of
Statistics data. ABC news, ABC radio, Channel Seven Perth, 6PR radio, 97.3
Coast FM radio, Business News Western Australia and The West
Australian had no such trouble, all correctly reporting that Western Australia
leads the nation for economic growth, with
state final demand increasing 0.8 per cent in the June quarter. For the
honourable member's benefit, the only recorded recession in Western
Australia's history was in 2016–17 under the previous Liberal–National
government, when the overall economy contracted by 1.8 per cent.
(2) Annual growth
in wages has picked up from 1.2 per cent at the election to 1.6 per cent now.
This is what happens when a government creates jobs, rather than destroys them.
This government has created more than 52 000 jobs since the election. In the
last term of the previous government, not a single job was created; rather,
there was a net loss of nearly 700 jobs.
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.