❓ A parliamentary question regarding WA's economic performance, with the opposition questioning the government's policies amid negative economic indicators, and the Premier defending the government's record, citing improvements and investments.
AnsweredQoN 907Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
STATE ECONOMY
907. Mr D.C. NALDER to the Premier:
I refer to the most recent
Australian Bureau of Statistics figures that show that Western Australia has
the equal highest unemployment rate in the country, and the recent CommSec
State of the States report, which found that Western Australia is last or
second last in every single category. Can the Premier confirm that dwelling
commencements are down 27.8 per cent, housing finance is down 26.1 per cent,
and Western Australia's unemployment rate is 20.4 per cent above the
decade average because of the government's failed policies?
907. Mr D.C. NALDER to the Premier:
I refer to the most recent
Australian Bureau of Statistics figures that show that Western Australia has
the equal highest unemployment rate in the country, and the recent CommSec
State of the States report, which found that Western Australia is last or
second last in every single category. Can the Premier confirm that dwelling
commencements are down 27.8 per cent, housing finance is down 26.1 per cent,
and Western Australia's unemployment rate is 20.4 per cent above the
decade average because of the government's failed policies?
AnswerView source ↗
It is commonly acknowledged and
accepted that Western Australia is getting itself back on track, and the only
people who do not like that are members of the Liberal Party. Under my
government, the state is coming out of a domestic recession, but under the
Liberal Party we were in recession for four years. Members will find that
consumer confidence is up, business confidence is up, we have the most people
employed in Western Australian history, and 40 000 new jobs have been created
under our government. Members will find that companies like BHP, Rio, FMG and
other major companies around Western Australia, lithium miners, and liquefied
natural gas producers are investing. Aquaculture is also taking off. All sorts
of businesses now have confidence to invest in Western Australia, because this
government is doing two important things. Firstly, it is creating jobs in an
environment in which jobs can occur and, secondly, it is getting the state's
finances back under control to create confidence in our economy. We saw the
other day, under the management of this government, for the first time in 10
years, a lift in our credit rating. All we saw under the last government was
our credit rating continuing to go down, because of a lack of confidence in the
management of the state's finances under the Liberals and Nationals. I can
see the member for Bateman is just dying to jump out of his chair.
Mr D.C. Nalder : I am.
Mr
M. McGOWAN : But I am going to
keep speaking. I can quote Josh Frydenberg, from 22 September. He said —
''So while the WA economy has
seen those boom times recede somewhat, the fundamentals of the WA economy
remain sound and we've seen an improvement in some of the key economic
indicators like unemployment,''�
Several members interjected.
Mr M. McGOWAN : That was Josh
Frydenberg. Do you know him? He continued —
''Should the WA economy
continue to strengthen, as is our expectation, then that will be critically
important to the overall Australian economy.''
Deloitte Access Economics had this
to say on 4 September —
We continue to emerge from the worst
economic downturn for WA in living memory.
Who was in government then? It was
the other side. As I said, we are no longer in a domestic recession. State
final demand rose by 1.3 per cent in annual average terms in 2017–18,
the first positive growth since 2012–13. Business confidence is at a five
and a half year high, according to the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Western
Australia. Short-term business confidence is at a seven-year high, according to
the CCI. The only people who hate all this good news are members of the Liberal
Party. They just hate it. I have another one. A record number of people are in
work—1 348 562 Western Australians are employed—43 000
additional jobs since Labor came to office. The member quoted the CommSec
report. Let us see what members opposite had to say about the CommSec report
when they were in government. Here we go. This is what Colin Barnett had to say
about the CommSec report —
''It is flawed, an appalling
piece of economic analysis to try and compare Western Australia today with
where it was at the peak of the commodity cycle �
Someone else had something to say.
Mike Nahan, then Treasurer, said —
''This survey and its ranking
provides us no information at all and some people will try to spin it as a negative
and talk down the economy �
accepted that Western Australia is getting itself back on track, and the only
people who do not like that are members of the Liberal Party. Under my
government, the state is coming out of a domestic recession, but under the
Liberal Party we were in recession for four years. Members will find that
consumer confidence is up, business confidence is up, we have the most people
employed in Western Australian history, and 40 000 new jobs have been created
under our government. Members will find that companies like BHP, Rio, FMG and
other major companies around Western Australia, lithium miners, and liquefied
natural gas producers are investing. Aquaculture is also taking off. All sorts
of businesses now have confidence to invest in Western Australia, because this
government is doing two important things. Firstly, it is creating jobs in an
environment in which jobs can occur and, secondly, it is getting the state's
finances back under control to create confidence in our economy. We saw the
other day, under the management of this government, for the first time in 10
years, a lift in our credit rating. All we saw under the last government was
our credit rating continuing to go down, because of a lack of confidence in the
management of the state's finances under the Liberals and Nationals. I can
see the member for Bateman is just dying to jump out of his chair.
Mr D.C. Nalder : I am.
Mr
M. McGOWAN : But I am going to
keep speaking. I can quote Josh Frydenberg, from 22 September. He said —
''So while the WA economy has
seen those boom times recede somewhat, the fundamentals of the WA economy
remain sound and we've seen an improvement in some of the key economic
indicators like unemployment,''�
Several members interjected.
Mr M. McGOWAN : That was Josh
Frydenberg. Do you know him? He continued —
''Should the WA economy
continue to strengthen, as is our expectation, then that will be critically
important to the overall Australian economy.''
Deloitte Access Economics had this
to say on 4 September —
We continue to emerge from the worst
economic downturn for WA in living memory.
Who was in government then? It was
the other side. As I said, we are no longer in a domestic recession. State
final demand rose by 1.3 per cent in annual average terms in 2017–18,
the first positive growth since 2012–13. Business confidence is at a five
and a half year high, according to the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Western
Australia. Short-term business confidence is at a seven-year high, according to
the CCI. The only people who hate all this good news are members of the Liberal
Party. They just hate it. I have another one. A record number of people are in
work—1 348 562 Western Australians are employed—43 000
additional jobs since Labor came to office. The member quoted the CommSec
report. Let us see what members opposite had to say about the CommSec report
when they were in government. Here we go. This is what Colin Barnett had to say
about the CommSec report —
''It is flawed, an appalling
piece of economic analysis to try and compare Western Australia today with
where it was at the peak of the commodity cycle �
Someone else had something to say.
Mike Nahan, then Treasurer, said —
''This survey and its ranking
provides us no information at all and some people will try to spin it as a negative
and talk down the economy �
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