❓ Mr Alban questions the Treasurer on the government's commitment to a budget surplus and AAA credit rating amid economic pressures. The Treasurer affirms the commitment, highlighting the government's willingness to make tough decisions, and criticises the opposition's financial policies.
AnsweredQoN 692Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
STATE
FINANCES — BUDGET SURPLUS AND AAA CREDIT RATING
692. Mr F.A. ALBAN to the Treasurer:
I note the pressure on state finances from commodity prices
and currency rate movements. Can the Treasurer please confirm the government's
commitment to delivering a budget surplus and maintaining our AAA credit
rating; and, advise the house about the greatest threat to the state's
finances and AAA credit rating?
FINANCES — BUDGET SURPLUS AND AAA CREDIT RATING
692. Mr F.A. ALBAN to the Treasurer:
I note the pressure on state finances from commodity prices
and currency rate movements. Can the Treasurer please confirm the government's
commitment to delivering a budget surplus and maintaining our AAA credit
rating; and, advise the house about the greatest threat to the state's
finances and AAA credit rating?
AnswerView source ↗
Thank you, member for Swan Hills. That is the third question
he has asked me this week—what a gold star effort!
Standard and Poor's, as I
think I have mentioned previously in the house, has made some very important
observations about the nature of the state's finances. Those
observations largely relate to the matters the member for Swan Hills raised—that
is, the fact that 20 per cent of our revenue comes from royalties. We are
exposed to exchange movements and we are exposed to commodity price movements.
However, notwithstanding the impacts that that has on the state's
finances, this government is committed to and places significant emphasis on
continuing to deliver budget surpluses and maintaining the state's AAA
credit rating. One of the things that people cannot doubt about this government
from its election in September 2008 until today is that it is prepared and
willing to make the tough decisions necessary to maintain stability in the
state's finances. That is very important. As we approach what I will
call the pointy end of the electoral cycle, sadly some members will depart. As
we approach that sad time, member for Balcatta, it is important to have a look,
I think —
Mr
M.P. Whitely : It's not sad when he's got superannuation!
Mr
T.R. BUSWELL : I will give the member for Bassendean a tip. The first thing
I would do is get a haircut! His hair looks like it is on independent control
from the rest of his body! Have a look in a mirror!
It is an important fact as we get to
the pointy end of the electoral cycle that we apply some financial scrutiny to
the positions taken and commentary made by the opposition. We have been doing a
bit of work.
Mr
E.S. Ripper : You wouldn't get Treasury to do that, would you? That
would be terrible!
Mr
T.R. BUSWELL : I will tell the member for Belmont what we have not included.
We have not included in some of our analysis the promise by Hon Ken Travers to build a railway
line from Forrestfield to Ellenbrook because, notwithstanding the fact that he
promised to do it in four years, I do not think he can and I do not think he
will. I have not included the member for Cannington's commitment to
build a second airport at Pearce air base. I might include the Leader of the
Opposition's significant shift in long-held, state–federal
relations last week when he announced that he would employ a defence minister
for the state of Western Australia and that he would make —
Mr B.S. Wyatt : The
Premier made the same announcement.
Mr
T.R. BUSWELL : I never heard the Premier make that announcement, member for
Victoria Park. The opposition will have three Armidale-class patrol boats
stationed up in Dampier. I might pay some attention to getting that costed. I
am trying to think what to name it. Maybe it could be ''McGowan's
Navy'' in reflection of that wonderful show from the 1960s called McHale's Navy ! But I will tell
you what, Leader of the Opposition: I do not want you getting grandiose
thoughts that you are the Ernest Borgnine character, Lieutenant Commander
McHale, because you are not. You are this bloke—Captain Wallace
Binghamton. He was the grumpy old bloke who used to come in and stamp out every
element of fun. We probably will not include that, Captain Binghamton, at the
moment.
We decided that we would include policies that appear on the
opposition's website. I will share a couple with the house. There is
the Atwell train station —
Mr
P. Papalia : Is that a policy?
Mr T.R. BUSWELL :
It says ''WA Labor policy statement''.
Several members interjected.
Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I
do not know; it is on your website. It has ''WA Labor policy statement''
written on it, and ''WA Labor'' stamped on it. Maybe there is an
imposter! Maybe there is a phantom website out there. There is the train
station with no trains. There is the fixing train congestion policy—that
is, the trains with no drivers policy. There is the building a stronger skilled
public sector policy. That is where the opposition will cancel the contracts at
Fiona Stanley Hospital and Midland Health Campus. The granddaddy of them all is
the lower power bills policy, which will cost $820 million over four years.
To make it easier for everybody to
understand what the single biggest threat to the state's finances is, I
have developed the ''spendometer''. The single biggest threat
sits atop the spending thermometer—blowing money into that thermometer.
At the moment, the grand total is $2.37 billion of commitments from the Labor
Party in opposition; they are largely unfunded.
Point of Order
Mrs M.H.
ROBERTS : I call upon the minister to table the document that he was
referring to.
Several members interjected.
The
SPEAKER : I have taken a point of order from the member for Midland.
I presume, minister, you are searching for the document to table. If you wish
to table that, I will enable you to table it, but it does not look to me to be
an official document of any sort.
Questions without Notice Resumed
Mr
T.R. BUSWELL : I will publish it in a more broad spectrum than perhaps just
tabling it in the house, Mr Speaker.
Let me conclude with this statement,
member for West Swan. It gets back to the very —
Mrs
M.H. Roberts : Too gutless to let us have it.
Mr
T.R. BUSWELL : Member for Midland, I am not afraid to have our costings
scrutinised! I will certainly be making sure that the opposition's
costings are scrutinised from now until 9 March, because the member for Midland
cannot add up.
Mr
B.S. Wyatt interjected.
Mr
T.R. BUSWELL : The member for Victoria Park certainly cannot add up. He
could not even get to four with people who wanted to vote for him.
Several members interjected.
The
SPEAKER : Can I advise members in this place that there are occupational
health and safety issues around various decibel levels? Member for Victoria
Park and Minister for Transport, I do not mind the interplay but I would prefer
that you kept it down a little.
Mr
E.S. Ripper interjected.
The
SPEAKER : Member for Belmont!
Mr
T.R. BUSWELL : I will conclude by answering the member for Swan Hills'
question as follows. We are committed to maintaining a AAA credit rating. We
are committed to keeping the state's finances in surplus. As the
spendometer clearly shows, the biggest threat to the financial security of the
state finances of WA is the Labor Party.
he has asked me this week—what a gold star effort!
Standard and Poor's, as I
think I have mentioned previously in the house, has made some very important
observations about the nature of the state's finances. Those
observations largely relate to the matters the member for Swan Hills raised—that
is, the fact that 20 per cent of our revenue comes from royalties. We are
exposed to exchange movements and we are exposed to commodity price movements.
However, notwithstanding the impacts that that has on the state's
finances, this government is committed to and places significant emphasis on
continuing to deliver budget surpluses and maintaining the state's AAA
credit rating. One of the things that people cannot doubt about this government
from its election in September 2008 until today is that it is prepared and
willing to make the tough decisions necessary to maintain stability in the
state's finances. That is very important. As we approach what I will
call the pointy end of the electoral cycle, sadly some members will depart. As
we approach that sad time, member for Balcatta, it is important to have a look,
I think —
Mr
M.P. Whitely : It's not sad when he's got superannuation!
Mr
T.R. BUSWELL : I will give the member for Bassendean a tip. The first thing
I would do is get a haircut! His hair looks like it is on independent control
from the rest of his body! Have a look in a mirror!
It is an important fact as we get to
the pointy end of the electoral cycle that we apply some financial scrutiny to
the positions taken and commentary made by the opposition. We have been doing a
bit of work.
Mr
E.S. Ripper : You wouldn't get Treasury to do that, would you? That
would be terrible!
Mr
T.R. BUSWELL : I will tell the member for Belmont what we have not included.
We have not included in some of our analysis the promise by Hon Ken Travers to build a railway
line from Forrestfield to Ellenbrook because, notwithstanding the fact that he
promised to do it in four years, I do not think he can and I do not think he
will. I have not included the member for Cannington's commitment to
build a second airport at Pearce air base. I might include the Leader of the
Opposition's significant shift in long-held, state–federal
relations last week when he announced that he would employ a defence minister
for the state of Western Australia and that he would make —
Mr B.S. Wyatt : The
Premier made the same announcement.
Mr
T.R. BUSWELL : I never heard the Premier make that announcement, member for
Victoria Park. The opposition will have three Armidale-class patrol boats
stationed up in Dampier. I might pay some attention to getting that costed. I
am trying to think what to name it. Maybe it could be ''McGowan's
Navy'' in reflection of that wonderful show from the 1960s called McHale's Navy ! But I will tell
you what, Leader of the Opposition: I do not want you getting grandiose
thoughts that you are the Ernest Borgnine character, Lieutenant Commander
McHale, because you are not. You are this bloke—Captain Wallace
Binghamton. He was the grumpy old bloke who used to come in and stamp out every
element of fun. We probably will not include that, Captain Binghamton, at the
moment.
We decided that we would include policies that appear on the
opposition's website. I will share a couple with the house. There is
the Atwell train station —
Mr
P. Papalia : Is that a policy?
Mr T.R. BUSWELL :
It says ''WA Labor policy statement''.
Several members interjected.
Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I
do not know; it is on your website. It has ''WA Labor policy statement''
written on it, and ''WA Labor'' stamped on it. Maybe there is an
imposter! Maybe there is a phantom website out there. There is the train
station with no trains. There is the fixing train congestion policy—that
is, the trains with no drivers policy. There is the building a stronger skilled
public sector policy. That is where the opposition will cancel the contracts at
Fiona Stanley Hospital and Midland Health Campus. The granddaddy of them all is
the lower power bills policy, which will cost $820 million over four years.
To make it easier for everybody to
understand what the single biggest threat to the state's finances is, I
have developed the ''spendometer''. The single biggest threat
sits atop the spending thermometer—blowing money into that thermometer.
At the moment, the grand total is $2.37 billion of commitments from the Labor
Party in opposition; they are largely unfunded.
Point of Order
Mrs M.H.
ROBERTS : I call upon the minister to table the document that he was
referring to.
Several members interjected.
The
SPEAKER : I have taken a point of order from the member for Midland.
I presume, minister, you are searching for the document to table. If you wish
to table that, I will enable you to table it, but it does not look to me to be
an official document of any sort.
Questions without Notice Resumed
Mr
T.R. BUSWELL : I will publish it in a more broad spectrum than perhaps just
tabling it in the house, Mr Speaker.
Let me conclude with this statement,
member for West Swan. It gets back to the very —
Mrs
M.H. Roberts : Too gutless to let us have it.
Mr
T.R. BUSWELL : Member for Midland, I am not afraid to have our costings
scrutinised! I will certainly be making sure that the opposition's
costings are scrutinised from now until 9 March, because the member for Midland
cannot add up.
Mr
B.S. Wyatt interjected.
Mr
T.R. BUSWELL : The member for Victoria Park certainly cannot add up. He
could not even get to four with people who wanted to vote for him.
Several members interjected.
The
SPEAKER : Can I advise members in this place that there are occupational
health and safety issues around various decibel levels? Member for Victoria
Park and Minister for Transport, I do not mind the interplay but I would prefer
that you kept it down a little.
Mr
E.S. Ripper interjected.
The
SPEAKER : Member for Belmont!
Mr
T.R. BUSWELL : I will conclude by answering the member for Swan Hills'
question as follows. We are committed to maintaining a AAA credit rating. We
are committed to keeping the state's finances in surplus. As the
spendometer clearly shows, the biggest threat to the financial security of the
state finances of WA is the Labor Party.
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