❓ Treasurer Ripper provides a comprehensive update on Western Australia's strong economic performance since 2001, highlighting growth in GSP, private sector investment, exports, and employment. He defends the government's fiscal policy by comparing WA's economic situation to South Australia's.
AnsweredQoN 260Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
WESTERN AUSTRALIA - ECONOMIC PERFORMANCE 260. Mr M.P. WHITELY to the Treasurer: Can the Treasurer update the house on the state’s economic performance? Mr E.S. RIPPER
AnswerView source ↗
The short answer is, yes I can. The somewhat longer answer is a demonstration of the truth of the short answer. The size of the economy the Labor government inherited in 2001 was $76 billion; by the end of this financial year, we expect the economy to be worth $137 billion. We are expecting growth in gross state product of six per cent in 2006-07; 4.5 per cent in 2007-08; and five per cent in 2008-09. The equivalent national figures are 2.5 per cent in 2006-07, compared with Western Australia’s six per cent; and 3.75 per cent in 2007-08, compared with Western Australia’s 4.5 per cent. That growth has been driven by record levels of business investment. In the financial year in which the present government came to power, there was $9.6 billion worth of private sector investment. We are looking at $27 billion worth of private sector investment in the next financial year. In fact, as at the March quarter of 2007, there had been $104 billion worth of private sector investment in Western Australia since 2001-02. The very good news for the entire house and the entire state is that it does not seem to be at an end. In March 2007 Access Economics listed $138.8 billion worth of current and potential investment proposals in this state. Western Australia has 29 per cent of the national projects that are considered to be potential investment proposals. Every Western Australian, I think, is proud of the state’s export performance. WA now exports more than Queensland, Victoria and South Australia combined. If we took the exports of the second resources state in the country - Queensland - and added them to those of Victoria and South Australia, Western Australia’s exports would exceed the total of those three states. That strength of business investment, export performance and economic growth has also been reflected in employment figures. Employment grew by 173 600 between February 2001 and May 2007 and as a result WA has had very low unemployment rates in the context of very high workforce participation rates. We have used the prosperity of the state to deliver $5.8 billion worth of tax relief over the next four years - five rounds of tax cuts since the state’s prosperity really kicked in. There are, of course, people who want us to do more. When South Australia announced that it would cut its payroll tax, the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Western Australia called for us to do the same thing. However, the South Australian circumstances are quite different from the Western Australian circumstances. For example, South Australia operates on a $30 million forecast surplus compared with our $1.4 billion forecast surplus. South Australia has a $4 billion infrastructure program over four years compared with our $21 billion infrastructure program over four years. Also, of course, South Australia has a different set of economic circumstances. Growth in WA’s domestic economy has been 10.2 per cent; South Australia’s has been 3.3 per cent. Business investment in WA has grown by 28 per cent; in South Australia, it has grown by 6.5 per cent. Employment growth in WA has been 2.8 per cent; in South Australia it has been 1.6 per cent. The important point is that our payroll tax threshold is $750 000; therefore, no firm pays payroll tax on the first $750 000 of payroll. The equivalent threshold in South Australia is only $504 000. Therefore, even when South Australia reduces its payroll tax in the next financial year, firms in Western Australia with a payroll of $5.9 million per annum or less will still pay less in payroll tax than those in South Australia. Several members interjected. Mr E.S. RIPPER : All of these economic figures are very important. However, those members who attack the surplus should remember that every single dollar of the surplus is used to fund our infrastructure program or to repay debt, giving the state a future financial flexibility for more infrastructure. Those members, therefore, who are attacking the surplus are either attacking the infrastructure program or arguing for higher debt. We cannot rest on our laurels. We must deliver that infrastructure program and we must translate the improved service funding into improved services for people. We have a very big challenge to get the commonwealth to invest in what is its most productive, prosperous and export-orientated state. Like any corporation, the commonwealth should be reinvesting in the area that is generating the most return; unfortunately, it is not. The commonwealth is taking $5 billion from this state and not spending it here but spending it elsewhere; that is, it is giving a subsidy of $2 440 per Western Australian per year to the rest of the Federation.
WESTERN AUSTRALIA - ECONOMIC PERFORMANCE
Can the Treasurer update the house on the state’s economic performance? Mr E.S. RIPPER replied: The short answer is, yes I can. The somewhat longer answer is a demonstration of the truth of the short answer. The size of the economy the Labor government inherited in 2001 was $76 billion; by the end of this financial year, we expect the economy to be worth $137 billion. We are expecting growth in gross state product of six per cent in 2006-07; 4.5 per cent in 2007-08; and five per cent in 2008-09. The equivalent national figures are 2.5 per cent in 2006-07, compared with Western Australia’s six per cent; and 3.75 per cent in 2007-08, compared with Western Australia’s 4.5 per cent. That growth has been driven by record levels of business investment. In the financial year in which the present government came to power, there was $9.6 billion worth of private sector investment. We are looking at $27 billion worth of private sector investment in the next financial year. In fact, as at the March quarter of 2007, there had been $104 billion worth of private sector investment in Western Australia since 2001-02. The very good news for the entire house and the entire state is that it does not seem to be at an end. In March 2007 Access Economics listed $138.8 billion worth of current and potential investment proposals in this state. Western Australia has 29 per cent of the national projects that are considered to be potential investment proposals. Every Western Australian, I think, is proud of the state’s export performance. WA now exports more than Queensland, Victoria and South Australia combined. If we took the exports of the second resources state in the country - Queensland - and added them to those of Victoria and South Australia, Western Australia’s exports would exceed the total of those three states. That strength of business investment, export performance and economic growth has also been reflected in employment figures. Employment grew by 173 600 between February 2001 and May 2007 and as a result WA has had very low unemployment rates in the context of very high workforce participation rates. We have used the prosperity of the state to deliver $5.8 billion worth of tax relief over the next four years - five rounds of tax cuts since the state’s prosperity really kicked in. There are, of course, people who want us to do more. When South Australia announced that it would cut its payroll tax, the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Western Australia called for us to do the same thing. However, the South Australian circumstances are quite different from the Western Australian circumstances. For example, South Australia operates on a $30 million forecast surplus compared with our $1.4 billion forecast surplus. South Australia has a $4 billion infrastructure program over four years compared with our $21 billion infrastructure program over four years. Also, of course, South Australia has a different set of economic circumstances. Growth in WA’s domestic economy has been 10.2 per cent; South Australia’s has been 3.3 per cent. Business investment in WA has grown by 28 per cent; in South Australia, it has grown by 6.5 per cent. Employment growth in WA has been 2.8 per cent; in South Australia it has been 1.6 per cent. The important point is that our payroll tax threshold is $750 000; therefore, no firm pays payroll tax on the first $750 000 of payroll. The equivalent threshold in South Australia is only $504 000. Therefore, even when South Australia reduces its payroll tax in the next financial year, firms in Western Australia with a payroll of $5.9 million per annum or less will still pay less in payroll tax than those in South Australia. Several members interjected. Mr E.S. RIPPER : All of these economic figures are very important. However, those members who attack the surplus should remember that every single dollar of the surplus is used to fund our infrastructure program or to repay debt, giving the state a future financial flexibility for more infrastructure. Those members, therefore, who are attacking the surplus are either attacking the infrastructure program or arguing for higher debt. We cannot rest on our laurels. We must deliver that infrastructure program and we must translate the improved service funding into improved services for people. We have a very big challenge to get the commonwealth to invest in what is its most productive, prosperous and export-orientated state. Like any corporation, the commonwealth should be reinvesting in the area that is generating the most return; unfortunately, it is not. The commonwealth is taking $5 billion from this state and not spending it here but spending it elsewhere; that is, it is giving a subsidy of $2 440 per Western Australian per year to the rest of the Federation.
Mr E.S. RIPPER replied: The short answer is, yes I can. The somewhat longer answer is a demonstration of the truth of the short answer. The size of the economy the Labor government inherited in 2001 was $76 billion; by the end of this financial year, we expect the economy to be worth $137 billion. We are expecting growth in gross state product of six per cent in 2006-07; 4.5 per cent in 2007-08; and five per cent in 2008-09. The equivalent national figures are 2.5 per cent in 2006-07, compared with Western Australia’s six per cent; and 3.75 per cent in 2007-08, compared with Western Australia’s 4.5 per cent. That growth has been driven by record levels of business investment. In the financial year in which the present government came to power, there was $9.6 billion worth of private sector investment. We are looking at $27 billion worth of private sector investment in the next financial year. In fact, as at the March quarter of 2007, there had been $104 billion worth of private sector investment in Western Australia since 2001-02. The very good news for the entire house and the entire state is that it does not seem to be at an end. In March 2007 Access Economics listed $138.8 billion worth of current and potential investment proposals in this state. Western Australia has 29 per cent of the national projects that are considered to be potential investment proposals. Every Western Australian, I think, is proud of the state’s export performance. WA now exports more than Queensland, Victoria and South Australia combined. If we took the exports of the second resources state in the country - Queensland - and added them to those of Victoria and South Australia, Western Australia’s exports would exceed the total of those three states. That strength of business investment, export performance and economic growth has also been reflected in employment figures. Employment grew by 173 600 between February 2001 and May 2007 and as a result WA has had very low unemployment rates in the context of very high workforce participation rates. We have used the prosperity of the state to deliver $5.8 billion worth of tax relief over the next four years - five rounds of tax cuts since the state’s prosperity really kicked in. There are, of course, people who want us to do more. When South Australia announced that it would cut its payroll tax, the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Western Australia called for us to do the same thing. However, the South Australian circumstances are quite different from the Western Australian circumstances. For example, South Australia operates on a $30 million forecast surplus compared with our $1.4 billion forecast surplus. South Australia has a $4 billion infrastructure program over four years compared with our $21 billion infrastructure program over four years. Also, of course, South Australia has a different set of economic circumstances. Growth in WA’s domestic economy has been 10.2 per cent; South Australia’s has been 3.3 per cent. Business investment in WA has grown by 28 per cent; in South Australia, it has grown by 6.5 per cent. Employment growth in WA has been 2.8 per cent; in South Australia it has been 1.6 per cent. The important point is that our payroll tax threshold is $750 000; therefore, no firm pays payroll tax on the first $750 000 of payroll. The equivalent threshold in South Australia is only $504 000. Therefore, even when South Australia reduces its payroll tax in the next financial year, firms in Western Australia with a payroll of $5.9 million per annum or less will still pay less in payroll tax than those in South Australia. Several members interjected. Mr E.S. RIPPER : All of these economic figures are very important. However, those members who attack the surplus should remember that every single dollar of the surplus is used to fund our infrastructure program or to repay debt, giving the state a future financial flexibility for more infrastructure. Those members, therefore, who are attacking the surplus are either attacking the infrastructure program or arguing for higher debt. We cannot rest on our laurels. We must deliver that infrastructure program and we must translate the improved service funding into improved services for people. We have a very big challenge to get the commonwealth to invest in what is its most productive, prosperous and export-orientated state. Like any corporation, the commonwealth should be reinvesting in the area that is generating the most return; unfortunately, it is not. The commonwealth is taking $5 billion from this state and not spending it here but spending it elsewhere; that is, it is giving a subsidy of $2 440 per Western Australian per year to the rest of the Federation.
The short answer is, yes I can. The somewhat longer answer is a demonstration of the truth of the short answer. The size of the economy the Labor government inherited in 2001 was $76 billion; by the end of this financial year, we expect the economy to be worth $137 billion. We are expecting growth in gross state product of six per cent in 2006-07; 4.5 per cent in 2007-08; and five per cent in 2008-09. The equivalent national figures are 2.5 per cent in 2006-07, compared with Western Australia’s six per cent; and 3.75 per cent in 2007-08, compared with Western Australia’s 4.5 per cent. That growth has been driven by record levels of business investment. In the financial year in which the present government came to power, there was $9.6 billion worth of private sector investment. We are looking at $27 billion worth of private sector investment in the next financial year. In fact, as at the March quarter of 2007, there had been $104 billion worth of private sector investment in Western Australia since 2001-02. The very good news for the entire house and the entire state is that it does not seem to be at an end. In March 2007 Access Economics listed $138.8 billion worth of current and potential investment proposals in this state. Western Australia has 29 per cent of the national projects that are considered to be potential investment proposals. Every Western Australian, I think, is proud of the state’s export performance. WA now exports more than Queensland, Victoria and South Australia combined. If we took the exports of the second resources state in the country - Queensland - and added them to those of Victoria and South Australia, Western Australia’s exports would exceed the total of those three states. That strength of business investment, export performance and economic growth has also been reflected in employment figures. Employment grew by 173 600 between February 2001 and May 2007 and as a result WA has had very low unemployment rates in the context of very high workforce participation rates. We have used the prosperity of the state to deliver $5.8 billion worth of tax relief over the next four years - five rounds of tax cuts since the state’s prosperity really kicked in. There are, of course, people who want us to do more. When South Australia announced that it would cut its payroll tax, the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Western Australia called for us to do the same thing. However, the South Australian circumstances are quite different from the Western Australian circumstances. For example, South Australia operates on a $30 million forecast surplus compared with our $1.4 billion forecast surplus. South Australia has a $4 billion infrastructure program over four years compared with our $21 billion infrastructure program over four years. Also, of course, South Australia has a different set of economic circumstances. Growth in WA’s domestic economy has been 10.2 per cent; South Australia’s has been 3.3 per cent. Business investment in WA has grown by 28 per cent; in South Australia, it has grown by 6.5 per cent. Employment growth in WA has been 2.8 per cent; in South Australia it has been 1.6 per cent. The important point is that our payroll tax threshold is $750 000; therefore, no firm pays payroll tax on the first $750 000 of payroll. The equivalent threshold in South Australia is only $504 000. Therefore, even when South Australia reduces its payroll tax in the next financial year, firms in Western Australia with a payroll of $5.9 million per annum or less will still pay less in payroll tax than those in South Australia. Several members interjected. Mr E.S. RIPPER : All of these economic figures are very important. However, those members who attack the surplus should remember that every single dollar of the surplus is used to fund our infrastructure program or to repay debt, giving the state a future financial flexibility for more infrastructure. Those members, therefore, who are attacking the surplus are either attacking the infrastructure program or arguing for higher debt. We cannot rest on our laurels. We must deliver that infrastructure program and we must translate the improved service funding into improved services for people. We have a very big challenge to get the commonwealth to invest in what is its most productive, prosperous and export-orientated state. Like any corporation, the commonwealth should be reinvesting in the area that is generating the most return; unfortunately, it is not. The commonwealth is taking $5 billion from this state and not spending it here but spending it elsewhere; that is, it is giving a subsidy of $2 440 per Western Australian per year to the rest of the Federation.
We have used the prosperity of the state to deliver $5.8 billion worth of tax relief over the next four years - five rounds of tax cuts since the state’s prosperity really kicked in. There are, of course, people who want us to do more. When South Australia announced that it would cut its payroll tax, the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Western Australia called for us to do the same thing. However, the South Australian circumstances are quite different from the Western Australian circumstances. For example, South Australia operates on a $30 million forecast surplus compared with our $1.4 billion forecast surplus. South Australia has a $4 billion infrastructure program over four years compared with our $21 billion infrastructure program over four years. Also, of course, South Australia has a different set of economic circumstances. Growth in WA’s domestic economy has been 10.2 per cent; South Australia’s has been 3.3 per cent. Business investment in WA has grown by 28 per cent; in South Australia, it has grown by 6.5 per cent. Employment growth in WA has been 2.8 per cent; in South Australia it has been 1.6 per cent. The important point is that our payroll tax threshold is $750 000; therefore, no firm pays payroll tax on the first $750 000 of payroll. The equivalent threshold in South Australia is only $504 000. Therefore, even when South Australia reduces its payroll tax in the next financial year, firms in Western Australia with a payroll of $5.9 million per annum or less will still pay less in payroll tax than those in South Australia. Several members interjected. Mr E.S. RIPPER : All of these economic figures are very important. However, those members who attack the surplus should remember that every single dollar of the surplus is used to fund our infrastructure program or to repay debt, giving the state a future financial flexibility for more infrastructure. Those members, therefore, who are attacking the surplus are either attacking the infrastructure program or arguing for higher debt. We cannot rest on our laurels. We must deliver that infrastructure program and we must translate the improved service funding into improved services for people. We have a very big challenge to get the commonwealth to invest in what is its most productive, prosperous and export-orientated state. Like any corporation, the commonwealth should be reinvesting in the area that is generating the most return; unfortunately, it is not. The commonwealth is taking $5 billion from this state and not spending it here but spending it elsewhere; that is, it is giving a subsidy of $2 440 per Western Australian per year to the rest of the Federation.
Several members interjected. Mr E.S. RIPPER : All of these economic figures are very important. However, those members who attack the surplus should remember that every single dollar of the surplus is used to fund our infrastructure program or to repay debt, giving the state a future financial flexibility for more infrastructure. Those members, therefore, who are attacking the surplus are either attacking the infrastructure program or arguing for higher debt. We cannot rest on our laurels. We must deliver that infrastructure program and we must translate the improved service funding into improved services for people. We have a very big challenge to get the commonwealth to invest in what is its most productive, prosperous and export-orientated state. Like any corporation, the commonwealth should be reinvesting in the area that is generating the most return; unfortunately, it is not. The commonwealth is taking $5 billion from this state and not spending it here but spending it elsewhere; that is, it is giving a subsidy of $2 440 per Western Australian per year to the rest of the Federation.
Mr E.S. RIPPER : All of these economic figures are very important. However, those members who attack the surplus should remember that every single dollar of the surplus is used to fund our infrastructure program or to repay debt, giving the state a future financial flexibility for more infrastructure. Those members, therefore, who are attacking the surplus are either attacking the infrastructure program or arguing for higher debt. We cannot rest on our laurels. We must deliver that infrastructure program and we must translate the improved service funding into improved services for people. We have a very big challenge to get the commonwealth to invest in what is its most productive, prosperous and export-orientated state. Like any corporation, the commonwealth should be reinvesting in the area that is generating the most return; unfortunately, it is not. The commonwealth is taking $5 billion from this state and not spending it here but spending it elsewhere; that is, it is giving a subsidy of $2 440 per Western Australian per year to the rest of the Federation.
WESTERN AUSTRALIA - ECONOMIC PERFORMANCE
Can the Treasurer update the house on the state’s economic performance? Mr E.S. RIPPER replied: The short answer is, yes I can. The somewhat longer answer is a demonstration of the truth of the short answer. The size of the economy the Labor government inherited in 2001 was $76 billion; by the end of this financial year, we expect the economy to be worth $137 billion. We are expecting growth in gross state product of six per cent in 2006-07; 4.5 per cent in 2007-08; and five per cent in 2008-09. The equivalent national figures are 2.5 per cent in 2006-07, compared with Western Australia’s six per cent; and 3.75 per cent in 2007-08, compared with Western Australia’s 4.5 per cent. That growth has been driven by record levels of business investment. In the financial year in which the present government came to power, there was $9.6 billion worth of private sector investment. We are looking at $27 billion worth of private sector investment in the next financial year. In fact, as at the March quarter of 2007, there had been $104 billion worth of private sector investment in Western Australia since 2001-02. The very good news for the entire house and the entire state is that it does not seem to be at an end. In March 2007 Access Economics listed $138.8 billion worth of current and potential investment proposals in this state. Western Australia has 29 per cent of the national projects that are considered to be potential investment proposals. Every Western Australian, I think, is proud of the state’s export performance. WA now exports more than Queensland, Victoria and South Australia combined. If we took the exports of the second resources state in the country - Queensland - and added them to those of Victoria and South Australia, Western Australia’s exports would exceed the total of those three states. That strength of business investment, export performance and economic growth has also been reflected in employment figures. Employment grew by 173 600 between February 2001 and May 2007 and as a result WA has had very low unemployment rates in the context of very high workforce participation rates. We have used the prosperity of the state to deliver $5.8 billion worth of tax relief over the next four years - five rounds of tax cuts since the state’s prosperity really kicked in. There are, of course, people who want us to do more. When South Australia announced that it would cut its payroll tax, the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Western Australia called for us to do the same thing. However, the South Australian circumstances are quite different from the Western Australian circumstances. For example, South Australia operates on a $30 million forecast surplus compared with our $1.4 billion forecast surplus. South Australia has a $4 billion infrastructure program over four years compared with our $21 billion infrastructure program over four years. Also, of course, South Australia has a different set of economic circumstances. Growth in WA’s domestic economy has been 10.2 per cent; South Australia’s has been 3.3 per cent. Business investment in WA has grown by 28 per cent; in South Australia, it has grown by 6.5 per cent. Employment growth in WA has been 2.8 per cent; in South Australia it has been 1.6 per cent. The important point is that our payroll tax threshold is $750 000; therefore, no firm pays payroll tax on the first $750 000 of payroll. The equivalent threshold in South Australia is only $504 000. Therefore, even when South Australia reduces its payroll tax in the next financial year, firms in Western Australia with a payroll of $5.9 million per annum or less will still pay less in payroll tax than those in South Australia. Several members interjected. Mr E.S. RIPPER : All of these economic figures are very important. However, those members who attack the surplus should remember that every single dollar of the surplus is used to fund our infrastructure program or to repay debt, giving the state a future financial flexibility for more infrastructure. Those members, therefore, who are attacking the surplus are either attacking the infrastructure program or arguing for higher debt. We cannot rest on our laurels. We must deliver that infrastructure program and we must translate the improved service funding into improved services for people. We have a very big challenge to get the commonwealth to invest in what is its most productive, prosperous and export-orientated state. Like any corporation, the commonwealth should be reinvesting in the area that is generating the most return; unfortunately, it is not. The commonwealth is taking $5 billion from this state and not spending it here but spending it elsewhere; that is, it is giving a subsidy of $2 440 per Western Australian per year to the rest of the Federation.
Mr E.S. RIPPER replied: The short answer is, yes I can. The somewhat longer answer is a demonstration of the truth of the short answer. The size of the economy the Labor government inherited in 2001 was $76 billion; by the end of this financial year, we expect the economy to be worth $137 billion. We are expecting growth in gross state product of six per cent in 2006-07; 4.5 per cent in 2007-08; and five per cent in 2008-09. The equivalent national figures are 2.5 per cent in 2006-07, compared with Western Australia’s six per cent; and 3.75 per cent in 2007-08, compared with Western Australia’s 4.5 per cent. That growth has been driven by record levels of business investment. In the financial year in which the present government came to power, there was $9.6 billion worth of private sector investment. We are looking at $27 billion worth of private sector investment in the next financial year. In fact, as at the March quarter of 2007, there had been $104 billion worth of private sector investment in Western Australia since 2001-02. The very good news for the entire house and the entire state is that it does not seem to be at an end. In March 2007 Access Economics listed $138.8 billion worth of current and potential investment proposals in this state. Western Australia has 29 per cent of the national projects that are considered to be potential investment proposals. Every Western Australian, I think, is proud of the state’s export performance. WA now exports more than Queensland, Victoria and South Australia combined. If we took the exports of the second resources state in the country - Queensland - and added them to those of Victoria and South Australia, Western Australia’s exports would exceed the total of those three states. That strength of business investment, export performance and economic growth has also been reflected in employment figures. Employment grew by 173 600 between February 2001 and May 2007 and as a result WA has had very low unemployment rates in the context of very high workforce participation rates. We have used the prosperity of the state to deliver $5.8 billion worth of tax relief over the next four years - five rounds of tax cuts since the state’s prosperity really kicked in. There are, of course, people who want us to do more. When South Australia announced that it would cut its payroll tax, the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Western Australia called for us to do the same thing. However, the South Australian circumstances are quite different from the Western Australian circumstances. For example, South Australia operates on a $30 million forecast surplus compared with our $1.4 billion forecast surplus. South Australia has a $4 billion infrastructure program over four years compared with our $21 billion infrastructure program over four years. Also, of course, South Australia has a different set of economic circumstances. Growth in WA’s domestic economy has been 10.2 per cent; South Australia’s has been 3.3 per cent. Business investment in WA has grown by 28 per cent; in South Australia, it has grown by 6.5 per cent. Employment growth in WA has been 2.8 per cent; in South Australia it has been 1.6 per cent. The important point is that our payroll tax threshold is $750 000; therefore, no firm pays payroll tax on the first $750 000 of payroll. The equivalent threshold in South Australia is only $504 000. Therefore, even when South Australia reduces its payroll tax in the next financial year, firms in Western Australia with a payroll of $5.9 million per annum or less will still pay less in payroll tax than those in South Australia. Several members interjected. Mr E.S. RIPPER : All of these economic figures are very important. However, those members who attack the surplus should remember that every single dollar of the surplus is used to fund our infrastructure program or to repay debt, giving the state a future financial flexibility for more infrastructure. Those members, therefore, who are attacking the surplus are either attacking the infrastructure program or arguing for higher debt. We cannot rest on our laurels. We must deliver that infrastructure program and we must translate the improved service funding into improved services for people. We have a very big challenge to get the commonwealth to invest in what is its most productive, prosperous and export-orientated state. Like any corporation, the commonwealth should be reinvesting in the area that is generating the most return; unfortunately, it is not. The commonwealth is taking $5 billion from this state and not spending it here but spending it elsewhere; that is, it is giving a subsidy of $2 440 per Western Australian per year to the rest of the Federation.
The short answer is, yes I can. The somewhat longer answer is a demonstration of the truth of the short answer. The size of the economy the Labor government inherited in 2001 was $76 billion; by the end of this financial year, we expect the economy to be worth $137 billion. We are expecting growth in gross state product of six per cent in 2006-07; 4.5 per cent in 2007-08; and five per cent in 2008-09. The equivalent national figures are 2.5 per cent in 2006-07, compared with Western Australia’s six per cent; and 3.75 per cent in 2007-08, compared with Western Australia’s 4.5 per cent. That growth has been driven by record levels of business investment. In the financial year in which the present government came to power, there was $9.6 billion worth of private sector investment. We are looking at $27 billion worth of private sector investment in the next financial year. In fact, as at the March quarter of 2007, there had been $104 billion worth of private sector investment in Western Australia since 2001-02. The very good news for the entire house and the entire state is that it does not seem to be at an end. In March 2007 Access Economics listed $138.8 billion worth of current and potential investment proposals in this state. Western Australia has 29 per cent of the national projects that are considered to be potential investment proposals. Every Western Australian, I think, is proud of the state’s export performance. WA now exports more than Queensland, Victoria and South Australia combined. If we took the exports of the second resources state in the country - Queensland - and added them to those of Victoria and South Australia, Western Australia’s exports would exceed the total of those three states. That strength of business investment, export performance and economic growth has also been reflected in employment figures. Employment grew by 173 600 between February 2001 and May 2007 and as a result WA has had very low unemployment rates in the context of very high workforce participation rates. We have used the prosperity of the state to deliver $5.8 billion worth of tax relief over the next four years - five rounds of tax cuts since the state’s prosperity really kicked in. There are, of course, people who want us to do more. When South Australia announced that it would cut its payroll tax, the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Western Australia called for us to do the same thing. However, the South Australian circumstances are quite different from the Western Australian circumstances. For example, South Australia operates on a $30 million forecast surplus compared with our $1.4 billion forecast surplus. South Australia has a $4 billion infrastructure program over four years compared with our $21 billion infrastructure program over four years. Also, of course, South Australia has a different set of economic circumstances. Growth in WA’s domestic economy has been 10.2 per cent; South Australia’s has been 3.3 per cent. Business investment in WA has grown by 28 per cent; in South Australia, it has grown by 6.5 per cent. Employment growth in WA has been 2.8 per cent; in South Australia it has been 1.6 per cent. The important point is that our payroll tax threshold is $750 000; therefore, no firm pays payroll tax on the first $750 000 of payroll. The equivalent threshold in South Australia is only $504 000. Therefore, even when South Australia reduces its payroll tax in the next financial year, firms in Western Australia with a payroll of $5.9 million per annum or less will still pay less in payroll tax than those in South Australia. Several members interjected. Mr E.S. RIPPER : All of these economic figures are very important. However, those members who attack the surplus should remember that every single dollar of the surplus is used to fund our infrastructure program or to repay debt, giving the state a future financial flexibility for more infrastructure. Those members, therefore, who are attacking the surplus are either attacking the infrastructure program or arguing for higher debt. We cannot rest on our laurels. We must deliver that infrastructure program and we must translate the improved service funding into improved services for people. We have a very big challenge to get the commonwealth to invest in what is its most productive, prosperous and export-orientated state. Like any corporation, the commonwealth should be reinvesting in the area that is generating the most return; unfortunately, it is not. The commonwealth is taking $5 billion from this state and not spending it here but spending it elsewhere; that is, it is giving a subsidy of $2 440 per Western Australian per year to the rest of the Federation.
We have used the prosperity of the state to deliver $5.8 billion worth of tax relief over the next four years - five rounds of tax cuts since the state’s prosperity really kicked in. There are, of course, people who want us to do more. When South Australia announced that it would cut its payroll tax, the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Western Australia called for us to do the same thing. However, the South Australian circumstances are quite different from the Western Australian circumstances. For example, South Australia operates on a $30 million forecast surplus compared with our $1.4 billion forecast surplus. South Australia has a $4 billion infrastructure program over four years compared with our $21 billion infrastructure program over four years. Also, of course, South Australia has a different set of economic circumstances. Growth in WA’s domestic economy has been 10.2 per cent; South Australia’s has been 3.3 per cent. Business investment in WA has grown by 28 per cent; in South Australia, it has grown by 6.5 per cent. Employment growth in WA has been 2.8 per cent; in South Australia it has been 1.6 per cent. The important point is that our payroll tax threshold is $750 000; therefore, no firm pays payroll tax on the first $750 000 of payroll. The equivalent threshold in South Australia is only $504 000. Therefore, even when South Australia reduces its payroll tax in the next financial year, firms in Western Australia with a payroll of $5.9 million per annum or less will still pay less in payroll tax than those in South Australia. Several members interjected. Mr E.S. RIPPER : All of these economic figures are very important. However, those members who attack the surplus should remember that every single dollar of the surplus is used to fund our infrastructure program or to repay debt, giving the state a future financial flexibility for more infrastructure. Those members, therefore, who are attacking the surplus are either attacking the infrastructure program or arguing for higher debt. We cannot rest on our laurels. We must deliver that infrastructure program and we must translate the improved service funding into improved services for people. We have a very big challenge to get the commonwealth to invest in what is its most productive, prosperous and export-orientated state. Like any corporation, the commonwealth should be reinvesting in the area that is generating the most return; unfortunately, it is not. The commonwealth is taking $5 billion from this state and not spending it here but spending it elsewhere; that is, it is giving a subsidy of $2 440 per Western Australian per year to the rest of the Federation.
Several members interjected. Mr E.S. RIPPER : All of these economic figures are very important. However, those members who attack the surplus should remember that every single dollar of the surplus is used to fund our infrastructure program or to repay debt, giving the state a future financial flexibility for more infrastructure. Those members, therefore, who are attacking the surplus are either attacking the infrastructure program or arguing for higher debt. We cannot rest on our laurels. We must deliver that infrastructure program and we must translate the improved service funding into improved services for people. We have a very big challenge to get the commonwealth to invest in what is its most productive, prosperous and export-orientated state. Like any corporation, the commonwealth should be reinvesting in the area that is generating the most return; unfortunately, it is not. The commonwealth is taking $5 billion from this state and not spending it here but spending it elsewhere; that is, it is giving a subsidy of $2 440 per Western Australian per year to the rest of the Federation.
Mr E.S. RIPPER : All of these economic figures are very important. However, those members who attack the surplus should remember that every single dollar of the surplus is used to fund our infrastructure program or to repay debt, giving the state a future financial flexibility for more infrastructure. Those members, therefore, who are attacking the surplus are either attacking the infrastructure program or arguing for higher debt. We cannot rest on our laurels. We must deliver that infrastructure program and we must translate the improved service funding into improved services for people. We have a very big challenge to get the commonwealth to invest in what is its most productive, prosperous and export-orientated state. Like any corporation, the commonwealth should be reinvesting in the area that is generating the most return; unfortunately, it is not. The commonwealth is taking $5 billion from this state and not spending it here but spending it elsewhere; that is, it is giving a subsidy of $2 440 per Western Australian per year to the rest of the Federation.
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