❓ The Treasurer outlines how the WA government's COVID-19 stimulus package will reduce household fees and charges, attributing this to strong financial management and the hard border. They highlight a one per cent reduction in household fees and charges, costing the budget an additional $37 million on top of the $402 million freeze.
AnsweredQoN 493Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
CORONAVIRUS —
HOUSEHOLD FEES AND CHARGES — GOVERNMENT SUPPORT
493. Mr S.A. MILLMAN to the Treasurer:
I refer to the state government's
support for Western Australians impacted by COVID-19 through its $2.3 billion
investment in stimulus and support measures. Can the Treasurer outline to the
house how these measures by the McGowan Labor government will help deliver a reduction
in household fees and charges for Western Australians; and can the Treasurer advise
the house whether these support measures could have been delivered without the
strong financial management of the McGowan Labor government prior to COVID-19?
HOUSEHOLD FEES AND CHARGES — GOVERNMENT SUPPORT
493. Mr S.A. MILLMAN to the Treasurer:
I refer to the state government's
support for Western Australians impacted by COVID-19 through its $2.3 billion
investment in stimulus and support measures. Can the Treasurer outline to the
house how these measures by the McGowan Labor government will help deliver a reduction
in household fees and charges for Western Australians; and can the Treasurer advise
the house whether these support measures could have been delivered without the
strong financial management of the McGowan Labor government prior to COVID-19?
AnswerView source ↗
I thank the member for Mount Lawley
for that question, which he delivered with such flourish!
As we know, the restrictions that
have been imposed in Western Australia and around Australia were at their most
severe, in our state anyway, from mid-March through to early May. Those
decisions and, as the Premier has already outlined, the discipline of Western Australians
have been incredibly effective in controlling the spread of the virus. That is
why we are now able to move through to phase 4 restrictions this Saturday,
allowing further economic activity to restart.
There
is no doubt that, combined with the discipline of Western Australians, our hard
border has enabled this success in containing the spread of the virus and has
also enabled us to open up the economy at a much faster rate than other states.
We have seen states like Victoria sadly having to reimpose restrictions. Just
this week the commonwealth government Treasurer, Josh Frydenberg, highlighted
what the impact would be if we were to reimpose restrictions. In Western
Australia alone we would be looking at a cost to the economy of about $500
million a week, which is why that hard border is so important. We do not want
to inflame the spread of the virus.
As a result of coming out of our toughest restrictions, we
are seeing much better economic data. There has been a sharp recovery in consumer confidence and retail spending. As I have
outlined to this place before, payroll jobs data highlights the fact that the number of jobs has been increasing since we
began to lift restrictions in May. Data released just yesterday shows that internet job vacancies—a lead indicator
of employment—increased by 29.4 per cent in May alone.
Importantly, job ads are up by 30 per cent since the end of May. These are
important indicators of what the economy is doing, coming off what we would
call pandemic lows after we had to effectively close parts of the economy.
Combined with a range of other
stimulus measures, I announced this morning that we have been able to reduce
household fees and charges for the first time since the introduction of the
GST. Household fees and charges have now declined by one per cent. In 2020–21,
that is about $63.50 for a representative household. There is no doubt that
this will cost the budget an additional $37 million on top of the $402 million
that we announced to freeze the entire basket. Why is that? What is driving the
decline? It is because the McGowan government took the decision to pass on the
13 per cent average fall in gross rental values between 2015 and 2018 for
metropolitan properties.
We
have debated local government rates in this chamber. Some local governments are
now very, very keen to hand off their rating powers; it would seem that
they do not want to take responsibility for their own rates. We took the
financial decision to pass on lower property prices, so we are seeing
households receiving either a reduction in or a freeze on their GRV-related
state government charges. By way of example, GRVs in respect of the emergency services levy will see metropolitan commercial
properties fall by around $127, and industrial properties by around $ 169.
Regional GRVs have not yet been revised by the Valuer-General, but we will
nonetheless freeze them, regardless of the Valuer-General's decision on
what he will do about regional GRVs. That is combined with the $2 500 that we
pay into Synergy small business accounts to offset the broad range of utility
charges they receive. That is simply because we understand that we have to
support households and businesses. We can do that for the reason that we have
worked hard over three years to get the finances back on track in Western Australia.
The singular impact we have had—the fact that we can open up our
economy at a much faster rate—is because of the discipline of Western Australians
and the hard border we have with the rest of the nation.
for that question, which he delivered with such flourish!
As we know, the restrictions that
have been imposed in Western Australia and around Australia were at their most
severe, in our state anyway, from mid-March through to early May. Those
decisions and, as the Premier has already outlined, the discipline of Western Australians
have been incredibly effective in controlling the spread of the virus. That is
why we are now able to move through to phase 4 restrictions this Saturday,
allowing further economic activity to restart.
There
is no doubt that, combined with the discipline of Western Australians, our hard
border has enabled this success in containing the spread of the virus and has
also enabled us to open up the economy at a much faster rate than other states.
We have seen states like Victoria sadly having to reimpose restrictions. Just
this week the commonwealth government Treasurer, Josh Frydenberg, highlighted
what the impact would be if we were to reimpose restrictions. In Western
Australia alone we would be looking at a cost to the economy of about $500
million a week, which is why that hard border is so important. We do not want
to inflame the spread of the virus.
As a result of coming out of our toughest restrictions, we
are seeing much better economic data. There has been a sharp recovery in consumer confidence and retail spending. As I have
outlined to this place before, payroll jobs data highlights the fact that the number of jobs has been increasing since we
began to lift restrictions in May. Data released just yesterday shows that internet job vacancies—a lead indicator
of employment—increased by 29.4 per cent in May alone.
Importantly, job ads are up by 30 per cent since the end of May. These are
important indicators of what the economy is doing, coming off what we would
call pandemic lows after we had to effectively close parts of the economy.
Combined with a range of other
stimulus measures, I announced this morning that we have been able to reduce
household fees and charges for the first time since the introduction of the
GST. Household fees and charges have now declined by one per cent. In 2020–21,
that is about $63.50 for a representative household. There is no doubt that
this will cost the budget an additional $37 million on top of the $402 million
that we announced to freeze the entire basket. Why is that? What is driving the
decline? It is because the McGowan government took the decision to pass on the
13 per cent average fall in gross rental values between 2015 and 2018 for
metropolitan properties.
We
have debated local government rates in this chamber. Some local governments are
now very, very keen to hand off their rating powers; it would seem that
they do not want to take responsibility for their own rates. We took the
financial decision to pass on lower property prices, so we are seeing
households receiving either a reduction in or a freeze on their GRV-related
state government charges. By way of example, GRVs in respect of the emergency services levy will see metropolitan commercial
properties fall by around $127, and industrial properties by around $ 169.
Regional GRVs have not yet been revised by the Valuer-General, but we will
nonetheless freeze them, regardless of the Valuer-General's decision on
what he will do about regional GRVs. That is combined with the $2 500 that we
pay into Synergy small business accounts to offset the broad range of utility
charges they receive. That is simply because we understand that we have to
support households and businesses. We can do that for the reason that we have
worked hard over three years to get the finances back on track in Western Australia.
The singular impact we have had—the fact that we can open up our
economy at a much faster rate—is because of the discipline of Western Australians
and the hard border we have with the rest of the nation.
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.