❓ Shadow Treasurer Wyatt questions the Treasurer about the 2014-15 budget's action plan, specifically regarding abandoned policies on solar feed-in tariffs and 457 visa fees. The Treasurer acknowledges the changes and challenges the opposition to support future cost-saving measures.
AnsweredQoN 141Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
STATE BUDGET 2014–15
141. Mr B.S. WYATT to the
Treasurer:
I refer to the Treasurer's statement on Friday that ''it
is a challenging time but in WA we have an action plan''.
(1) Can the
Treasurer confirm that the action plan included the decision to cut the solar
feed-in tariff payment from 40c to 20c by 2014, a policy that was abandoned?
(2) Can the
Treasurer confirm that the action plan included the imposition of a $4 000 fee
on students of 457 visa holders and that this was abandoned?
(3) Can the
Treasurer guarantee that all other aspects of the action plan upon which the
2014–15 budget and forward estimates were predicated will be met by the
government?
141. Mr B.S. WYATT to the
Treasurer:
I refer to the Treasurer's statement on Friday that ''it
is a challenging time but in WA we have an action plan''.
(1) Can the
Treasurer confirm that the action plan included the decision to cut the solar
feed-in tariff payment from 40c to 20c by 2014, a policy that was abandoned?
(2) Can the
Treasurer confirm that the action plan included the imposition of a $4 000 fee
on students of 457 visa holders and that this was abandoned?
(3) Can the
Treasurer guarantee that all other aspects of the action plan upon which the
2014–15 budget and forward estimates were predicated will be met by the
government?
AnswerView source ↗
(1)–(3)
I thank the member for the questions and look forward to many debates with him
going forward. We do have an action plan; it was enunciated in the last budget.
We are working on that through to the upcoming budget. The action plan has many
aspects to it; some come, some go.
Several members interjected.
Dr M.D. NAHAN : I
look forward to members opposite supporting those aspects of the action plan.
Members opposite make a lot of noise about their fiscal responsibility but on
every action we have taken, they have resisted. I look forward to their help on
the wages policy. I look forward to their support on asset sales policy. I look
forward to their support on efficiency in the public sector. I suspect not. If
they were in the Treasury's shoes, it would look a lot worse. I look
forward to not only adding to the commitments already made in the last budget
but also, more significantly, going down that path to reducing debt, reducing
our level of expenditure and stabilising our revenue sources. Yes, in the last
budget we committed to a feed-in tariff reduction and we stopped it. Yes, we
were going to increase the charge to 457 visa holders. That is all public
knowledge; it occurred a little less than a year ago. We revised our data. In
the meantime, we have stepped up elsewhere and we will continue to do so. I
look forward to the support of the shadow Treasurer but we will get nothing. He
is a man who does the talk but does not do the walk.
I thank the member for the questions and look forward to many debates with him
going forward. We do have an action plan; it was enunciated in the last budget.
We are working on that through to the upcoming budget. The action plan has many
aspects to it; some come, some go.
Several members interjected.
Dr M.D. NAHAN : I
look forward to members opposite supporting those aspects of the action plan.
Members opposite make a lot of noise about their fiscal responsibility but on
every action we have taken, they have resisted. I look forward to their help on
the wages policy. I look forward to their support on asset sales policy. I look
forward to their support on efficiency in the public sector. I suspect not. If
they were in the Treasury's shoes, it would look a lot worse. I look
forward to not only adding to the commitments already made in the last budget
but also, more significantly, going down that path to reducing debt, reducing
our level of expenditure and stabilising our revenue sources. Yes, in the last
budget we committed to a feed-in tariff reduction and we stopped it. Yes, we
were going to increase the charge to 457 visa holders. That is all public
knowledge; it occurred a little less than a year ago. We revised our data. In
the meantime, we have stepped up elsewhere and we will continue to do so. I
look forward to the support of the shadow Treasurer but we will get nothing. He
is a man who does the talk but does not do the walk.
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.