❓ Mrs. Stojkovski asks about the impact of Omicron and border openings on WA's economy. The Premier responds by highlighting WA's strong economic performance compared to eastern states, attributing it to the government's cautious approach.
AnsweredQoN 37Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
CORONAVIRUS — STATE ECONOMY
37. Mrs J.M.C. STOJKOVSKI to the Premier:
I refer to the government's
safe transition plan and its commitment to responsibly managing the spread of
Omicron in order to save lives and protect jobs. Can the Premier update the
house on what today's labour force figures show about the impact of
Omicron on the economy and the effect of fully opening borders without any
quarantine or testing requirements?
37. Mrs J.M.C. STOJKOVSKI to the Premier:
I refer to the government's
safe transition plan and its commitment to responsibly managing the spread of
Omicron in order to save lives and protect jobs. Can the Premier update the
house on what today's labour force figures show about the impact of
Omicron on the economy and the effect of fully opening borders without any
quarantine or testing requirements?
AnswerView source ↗
I thank the member for Kingsley for
the question.
The decision to delay the full
border reopening was about saving lives and saving the jobs of Western Australians.
It was about minimising the impact of Omicron on our economy and the health of
our citizens. It was part of our measured and cautious approach to dealing with
the issue. However, since 5 February, 33 000 people have come to Western Australia
and quarantined and been tested. It has been remarkable that 33 000 people have
come in, subject to those rules.
The
Australian Bureau of Statistics data came out today and it shows the damage
that Omicron has wreaked on the economies of the eastern states. I want
to take people through it. The total hours worked in other states in January declined significantly. This reflects the mass
furloughing of staff and job losses, in some cases, in the eastern states. In
terms of hours worked, New South Wales hours worked went down over the month of
January by 13.5 per cent; Victoria,
down 13.2 per cent; and South Australia, down seven per cent. Across the
country, the average is 8.8 per cent . Overall,
743 500 people worked reduced hours specifically because of illness. By
contrast, Western Australia was the only state where the hours worked increased
over January, up 1.7 per cent. Not only that, hours worked in Western Australia
are seven per cent above pre-COVID-19 levels. Today's figures show that
the Western Australian labour market is the best that it has been in 13
years. Strong employment growth, a very low unemployment rate and a high level
of job advertisements are what characterises the Western Australian economy. We
continue to have the lowest unemployment
rate of all the states at 3.7 per cent. More than 8 800 new jobs were created
in January . We have had the strongest recovery of all the states and are
one of only two jurisdictions not to go into recession. Since coming to
government, we have created 148 000 jobs. Finally, we again have the highest
participation rate in the country, rising to 69.7 per cent, up from 69 per
cent, which is easily higher than all the other states across Australia. New
South Wales, as I recall, is around the 66 per cent mark. In other words, we
have the largest number of people in the employment market, the lowest
unemployment rate and we did not have the huge decline in hours worked that the
other states have experienced. Today's jobs figures are very good news
for Western Australia.
the question.
The decision to delay the full
border reopening was about saving lives and saving the jobs of Western Australians.
It was about minimising the impact of Omicron on our economy and the health of
our citizens. It was part of our measured and cautious approach to dealing with
the issue. However, since 5 February, 33 000 people have come to Western Australia
and quarantined and been tested. It has been remarkable that 33 000 people have
come in, subject to those rules.
The
Australian Bureau of Statistics data came out today and it shows the damage
that Omicron has wreaked on the economies of the eastern states. I want
to take people through it. The total hours worked in other states in January declined significantly. This reflects the mass
furloughing of staff and job losses, in some cases, in the eastern states. In
terms of hours worked, New South Wales hours worked went down over the month of
January by 13.5 per cent; Victoria,
down 13.2 per cent; and South Australia, down seven per cent. Across the
country, the average is 8.8 per cent . Overall,
743 500 people worked reduced hours specifically because of illness. By
contrast, Western Australia was the only state where the hours worked increased
over January, up 1.7 per cent. Not only that, hours worked in Western Australia
are seven per cent above pre-COVID-19 levels. Today's figures show that
the Western Australian labour market is the best that it has been in 13
years. Strong employment growth, a very low unemployment rate and a high level
of job advertisements are what characterises the Western Australian economy. We
continue to have the lowest unemployment
rate of all the states at 3.7 per cent. More than 8 800 new jobs were created
in January . We have had the strongest recovery of all the states and are
one of only two jurisdictions not to go into recession. Since coming to
government, we have created 148 000 jobs. Finally, we again have the highest
participation rate in the country, rising to 69.7 per cent, up from 69 per
cent, which is easily higher than all the other states across Australia. New
South Wales, as I recall, is around the 66 per cent mark. In other words, we
have the largest number of people in the employment market, the lowest
unemployment rate and we did not have the huge decline in hours worked that the
other states have experienced. Today's jobs figures are very good news
for 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.