❓ The Treasurer outlines WA's economic performance during the COVID-19 pandemic, highlighting the benefits of a 'hard border' strategy and the strength of the mining sector. WA's economy grew despite national contractions, and retail trade showed strong growth.
AnsweredQoN 612Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
CORONAVIRUS —
STATE ECONOMY
612. Mr Y. MUBARAKAI to the Treasurer:
Can the Treasurer outline to the
house what Western Australia's success in stopping the spread of
COVID-19 has meant for the Western Australian economy; and outline to the house
why a strong Western Australian economy is so important for Australia and the
broader national economy?
STATE ECONOMY
612. Mr Y. MUBARAKAI to the Treasurer:
Can the Treasurer outline to the
house what Western Australia's success in stopping the spread of
COVID-19 has meant for the Western Australian economy; and outline to the house
why a strong Western Australian economy is so important for Australia and the
broader national economy?
AnswerView source ↗
I thank the member for Jandakot for
his very good question.
In his answer just a minute ago, the
Premier referred to the sacrifice that Western Australians have made over the
period that the coronavirus has impacted us. It has had a huge social impact
and, of course, there has been a large community
wealth impact as well. We saw that with the release of the national accounts
last week, which highlighted in the June quarter the largest contraction
in WA's recorded history—that is, a contraction of six per cent
for that quarter. I want to point out that it highlighted that those states
that have adopted what has been referred to as a hard border strategy did
better than those that did not; for example, South Australia, Western Australia,
Tasmania and Queensland did better than other states in Australia. That is
because we have managed to control the virus. I will come back to that in just
a minute. It also highlighted that despite a six per cent contraction in the
June quarter, in 2019–20 the Western
Australian economy grew by 1.1 per cent. It is an extraordinary outcome, which
highlights the strength of Western Australia's
economy in the lead-up to the impact of the coronavirus. I will give the member
for Jandakot some context. That 1.1 per cent growth was the fastest
growth in state final demand in Western Australia in seven years. That was able
to be delivered in 2019–20. Importantly, it was underpinned by business
investment, with our mining sector doing what the mining sector does. As the
Premier has said, we went to great lengths to ensure that the mining sector
could remain open. Interestingly, some of the states that we had to fight to
keep our mining sector going did not close their borders. Now, of course, we
are seeing the impact of that on their economies and on the national economy.
Business investment grew by 9.3 per cent in 2019–20, which is a very
strong growth by any stretch of the imagination.
As data is being released around the world, we are also
seeing, unfortunately, some very large contractions. The United Kingdom's
economy contracted by an incredible 20 per cent. The Euro area economy contracted
by 12 per cent. The United States'
economy contracted by just over nine per cent. The Australian economy fared
fairly well compared with most places in the world, contracting by seven
per cent in the June quarter. Western Australia, on a comparative basis, has
done very, very well. We are seeing in today's payroll data the fact
that 88 per cent of the jobs that we lost by late April have come back into the
system. By way of an aside—I always make this point—this data
is volatile, but it highlights a very positive trend. Over the recent break, we
saw the retail trade data come in. Incredibly, it grew by 3.8 per cent in July.
From memory, member for Jandakot, July was one of the strongest, if not the
strongest, months on record. Over the last 12 months, retail trade grew by 6.2 per
cent, which is the fastest growth in retail trade in seven years. We are seeing
good outcomes in the economy.
I have been somewhat surprised by
some of the narrative emerging, particularly on the east coast, and, I think,
in some of the untidier commentary around the Victorian response to its second
wave outbreak of the coronavirus and this
whole idea that the state must open up to protect the economy. An interesting
dataset was released by Our World in Data, which is a collaboration of
researchers out of the University of Oxford, that examined the issue around coronavirus restrictions to try to limit
the health impact and the impact on the economy. It highlighted very, very clearly that when we control the virus, it is the best economic lever we can
pull. Indeed, of the countries that were examined—the researchers
examined not only countries, but also blocs; the European Union, the Group of
Seven, the North American Free Trade Agreement and the Organisation for
Economic Cooperation and Development et cetera—Australia did very well.
It came ninth, globally. I thought that I would get Treasury to test where Western
Australia would sit if it were a country—Premier, I apologise—and
found that Western Australia is the fourth-best
performing nation on the planet in respect of both health and economic
outcomes. That is the reality when we control the virus, because that is
the best economic lever we can pull. I want to emphasise to those, perhaps, in
that small group within Western Australia—it is a small group within Western
Australia—who want restrictions eased immediately and those on the east
coast who I think are playing a very bitter political game, that the best thing
we can do for Australians and for Western Australia has been proven: control
the virus. That means that we get on top of the economy and see the sorts of
outcomes that we are seeing here in Western Australia.
his very good question.
In his answer just a minute ago, the
Premier referred to the sacrifice that Western Australians have made over the
period that the coronavirus has impacted us. It has had a huge social impact
and, of course, there has been a large community
wealth impact as well. We saw that with the release of the national accounts
last week, which highlighted in the June quarter the largest contraction
in WA's recorded history—that is, a contraction of six per cent
for that quarter. I want to point out that it highlighted that those states
that have adopted what has been referred to as a hard border strategy did
better than those that did not; for example, South Australia, Western Australia,
Tasmania and Queensland did better than other states in Australia. That is
because we have managed to control the virus. I will come back to that in just
a minute. It also highlighted that despite a six per cent contraction in the
June quarter, in 2019–20 the Western
Australian economy grew by 1.1 per cent. It is an extraordinary outcome, which
highlights the strength of Western Australia's
economy in the lead-up to the impact of the coronavirus. I will give the member
for Jandakot some context. That 1.1 per cent growth was the fastest
growth in state final demand in Western Australia in seven years. That was able
to be delivered in 2019–20. Importantly, it was underpinned by business
investment, with our mining sector doing what the mining sector does. As the
Premier has said, we went to great lengths to ensure that the mining sector
could remain open. Interestingly, some of the states that we had to fight to
keep our mining sector going did not close their borders. Now, of course, we
are seeing the impact of that on their economies and on the national economy.
Business investment grew by 9.3 per cent in 2019–20, which is a very
strong growth by any stretch of the imagination.
As data is being released around the world, we are also
seeing, unfortunately, some very large contractions. The United Kingdom's
economy contracted by an incredible 20 per cent. The Euro area economy contracted
by 12 per cent. The United States'
economy contracted by just over nine per cent. The Australian economy fared
fairly well compared with most places in the world, contracting by seven
per cent in the June quarter. Western Australia, on a comparative basis, has
done very, very well. We are seeing in today's payroll data the fact
that 88 per cent of the jobs that we lost by late April have come back into the
system. By way of an aside—I always make this point—this data
is volatile, but it highlights a very positive trend. Over the recent break, we
saw the retail trade data come in. Incredibly, it grew by 3.8 per cent in July.
From memory, member for Jandakot, July was one of the strongest, if not the
strongest, months on record. Over the last 12 months, retail trade grew by 6.2 per
cent, which is the fastest growth in retail trade in seven years. We are seeing
good outcomes in the economy.
I have been somewhat surprised by
some of the narrative emerging, particularly on the east coast, and, I think,
in some of the untidier commentary around the Victorian response to its second
wave outbreak of the coronavirus and this
whole idea that the state must open up to protect the economy. An interesting
dataset was released by Our World in Data, which is a collaboration of
researchers out of the University of Oxford, that examined the issue around coronavirus restrictions to try to limit
the health impact and the impact on the economy. It highlighted very, very clearly that when we control the virus, it is the best economic lever we can
pull. Indeed, of the countries that were examined—the researchers
examined not only countries, but also blocs; the European Union, the Group of
Seven, the North American Free Trade Agreement and the Organisation for
Economic Cooperation and Development et cetera—Australia did very well.
It came ninth, globally. I thought that I would get Treasury to test where Western
Australia would sit if it were a country—Premier, I apologise—and
found that Western Australia is the fourth-best
performing nation on the planet in respect of both health and economic
outcomes. That is the reality when we control the virus, because that is
the best economic lever we can pull. I want to emphasise to those, perhaps, in
that small group within Western Australia—it is a small group within Western
Australia—who want restrictions eased immediately and those on the east
coast who I think are playing a very bitter political game, that the best thing
we can do for Australians and for Western Australia has been proven: control
the virus. That means that we get on top of the economy and see the sorts of
outcomes that we are seeing here in Western Australia.
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.