❓ Opposition Leader McGowan questions Premier Barnett on WA's economic performance, citing job losses and debt. Barnett defends his government's record, highlighting achievements and blaming external factors.
AnsweredQoN 933Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
BARNETT GOVERNMENT — PERFORMANCE
933. Mr M. McGOWAN to the Premier:
I refer to the Premier's
eight years in office, with a record mining boom that delivered record revenue,
and the fact that the Premier's record is now the worst jobs crisis in Western
Australian history, with 92 500 unemployed people, a 63 800 increase in the
number of unemployed people since the Liberal–National government came
to power, the worst job figures in the country, 22 consecutive months of job
losses, and the worst debt and deficit —
Several members interjected.
The
SPEAKER : That is enough. Just get to the point, please.
Mr
M. McGOWAN : Mr Speaker, I will start again.
The
SPEAKER : No, you do not need to start again.
Mr
M. McGOWAN : I think members opposite need to hear this.
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER : That
is enough!
Mr M. McGOWAN : To
summarise: the worst jobs crisis in WA history, 63 800 increase in unemployed,
the worst jobs figures in the country, 22 consecutive months of job losses, the
worst debt and deficit in WA history —
Mr S.K. L'Estrange interjected.
The SPEAKER : Member for Churchlands, I was trying to
allow the question to be asked. That is enough.
Mr M. McGOWAN : And I ask —
Several members
interjected.
The SPEAKER : Okay; carry on, Leader of the Opposition.
Mr M. McGOWAN : Has the Premier's record not been
a complete, utter and abysmal failure of economic and financial management?
933. Mr M. McGOWAN to the Premier:
I refer to the Premier's
eight years in office, with a record mining boom that delivered record revenue,
and the fact that the Premier's record is now the worst jobs crisis in Western
Australian history, with 92 500 unemployed people, a 63 800 increase in the
number of unemployed people since the Liberal–National government came
to power, the worst job figures in the country, 22 consecutive months of job
losses, and the worst debt and deficit —
Several members interjected.
The
SPEAKER : That is enough. Just get to the point, please.
Mr
M. McGOWAN : Mr Speaker, I will start again.
The
SPEAKER : No, you do not need to start again.
Mr
M. McGOWAN : I think members opposite need to hear this.
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER : That
is enough!
Mr M. McGOWAN : To
summarise: the worst jobs crisis in WA history, 63 800 increase in unemployed,
the worst jobs figures in the country, 22 consecutive months of job losses, the
worst debt and deficit in WA history —
Mr S.K. L'Estrange interjected.
The SPEAKER : Member for Churchlands, I was trying to
allow the question to be asked. That is enough.
Mr M. McGOWAN : And I ask —
Several members
interjected.
The SPEAKER : Okay; carry on, Leader of the Opposition.
Mr M. McGOWAN : Has the Premier's record not been
a complete, utter and abysmal failure of economic and financial management?
AnswerView source ↗
Mr Speaker —
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER : Thank
you. The wall of noise is coming from both sides.
Mr C.J. BARNETT : I
was disappointed this morning with the unemployment figures.
Mr D.J. Kelly :
Disappointed?
Mr C.J. BARNETT :
Yes, I was. There is no doubt that, as I have said a lot of times, Western Australia
is a specialist, export‑oriented economy. We ride the Asian tiger. It is
a ride we have got to have, but it is a rough ride.
Several members interjected.
Mr C.J. BARNETT :
Mr Speaker, they cannot concentrate.
The SPEAKER : We
have been here about five minutes and we have not even started, so if you want
to have only two questions, and people having an early rest, carry on the way
you are going—both sides.
Mr C.J. BARNETT :
During a period that I never described as a mining boom, because I have seen
them come and go —
Mr M. McGowan : You
did say it was a boom.
Mr C.J. BARNETT : I
did not. However, that is semantics; that is not important.
We had a record rise in Australia's terms of trade,
with commodity prices at unprecedented levels. We saw, as a result, mass
migration, international and interstate, into Western Australia. Our
population, with natural growth, grew by nearly 500 000 people. We have seen a doubling
of mineral production, particularly iron ore. We have seen a trebling of
liquefied natural gas, we have seen the Ord River project, and we have seen
reform in disability, the greatest conservation measure the state has ever seen
in terms of the Kimberley protection, heritage projects brought back to life, 2
000 to 3 000 hotel rooms under development, and so on. We have seen a complete
renaissance of the City of Perth.
Ms M.M. Quirk interjected.
The SPEAKER : Member for Girrawheen, I call you to order
for the first time.
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER :
Member for Cannington, I call you to order for the first time. I call to order
the member for Joondalup for the first time. Thank you.
Mr C.J. BARNETT :
On almost all the major projects that have been achieved over the past eight
years, the one constant has been the opposition and the criticism by members
opposite on everything—on Elizabeth Quay, on the stadium, on the Ord
River and on genetically modified crops; I could go on and on and on. All we
get is negativity.
Mr J.R. Quigley interjected.
The SPEAKER : Member for Butler, I call you to order for
the first time.
Mr C.J. BARNETT : We have two significant issues. They
should be items of public debate in the election campaign, and they will be. I am
as conscious as anyone that many people have lost their jobs. From a period
only two years ago when the resources industry was saying that it was 200 000
people short—I never said that because that is the cycle, and cycles
come up and go down—a lot of people have been displaced, a lot of
people have lost their jobs, and a lot of people are concerned about job
security and their financial position. That is the rough ride that we have.
Insecurity about unemployment and employment is probably the most important
issue and it is therefore important that we have a state government that is
capable of making decisions and growing mining, farming, tourism and all of
those activities, not an opposition that simply criticises. That is all the opposition
does—knock, knock, knock, criticise. We have a financial issue. Yes,
state debt is far higher than I, the Treasurer or anyone else would want. When
this state loses $4.7 billion this financial year to the other states, there is
no circumstance in which this state could run a surplus—none at all.
Mr
J.R. Quigley interjected.
The SPEAKER : Member for Butler, I call you to order for
the second time.
Mr C.J. BARNETT : If we were to say that we would run a surplus
while we get 30c in the dollar GST —
Mr B.S. Wyatt : You knew about that; you could have seen
that coming.
Mr C.J. BARNETT : Surpluses are on an annual basis, July to
June. That is the way it works. If we were to say that there must be a surplus,
do you know what we would have done? We would have had to fire teachers and
nurses, close schools—all those sorts of things would have happened,
and we were not prepared to do that. We have funded disability; we have funded
people who needed care in our community—child protection and all of
those things. If the opposition wanted to have a balanced budget in this
environment, tell us how many nurses would be sacked, which schools would be
closed, and how many people would lose their disability benefits. That is the
issue that the opposition can never face.
I will make one point. I was not going to say this, but I will. In four
years—eight years of government, but let us just look at the four years—when
did the opposition have this government under serious pressure? When?
Several members interjected.
Mr C.J. BARNETT : Tell me the issue. Tell me the issue,
because when the opposition was in government —
Several members interjected.
The
SPEAKER : Thank you!
Mr
J.R. Quigley interjected.
The
SPEAKER : Member for Butler!
Mr
C.J. BARNETT : When the Labor Party was in power, we had member after member
before the Corruption and Crime Commission. We had them reeling. Through the
Gallop and Carpenter governments, it went on and on and on. The whole
Parliament was just a fiasco!
Going for a third term is not easy,
I recognise that. I recognise that the economy is going through not a recession,
as the opposition would say, but a difficult time. But when did the opposition
land a knockout blow? Did it do it once? No, it did not. It could not even do
it! Members opposite banged on about the water park at Elizabeth Quay. Big
deal! They picked on Troy Buswell when he had a mental health problem. That is
what they did. They picked on someone who had —
Several members interjected.
The
SPEAKER : Thank you. All right—10 seconds.
Mr
C.J. BARNETT : Probably the most contentious issues were the issues relating
to Troy Buswell. We saw that just in the last week with a report. The
opposition looked for the smoking gun; it thought there was a cover‑up
and there was not. There was none. The CCC found no cover‑up, no smoking
gun; that is as close as the opposition got to landing a big punch, and it
could not do that!
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER : Thank
you. The wall of noise is coming from both sides.
Mr C.J. BARNETT : I
was disappointed this morning with the unemployment figures.
Mr D.J. Kelly :
Disappointed?
Mr C.J. BARNETT :
Yes, I was. There is no doubt that, as I have said a lot of times, Western Australia
is a specialist, export‑oriented economy. We ride the Asian tiger. It is
a ride we have got to have, but it is a rough ride.
Several members interjected.
Mr C.J. BARNETT :
Mr Speaker, they cannot concentrate.
The SPEAKER : We
have been here about five minutes and we have not even started, so if you want
to have only two questions, and people having an early rest, carry on the way
you are going—both sides.
Mr C.J. BARNETT :
During a period that I never described as a mining boom, because I have seen
them come and go —
Mr M. McGowan : You
did say it was a boom.
Mr C.J. BARNETT : I
did not. However, that is semantics; that is not important.
We had a record rise in Australia's terms of trade,
with commodity prices at unprecedented levels. We saw, as a result, mass
migration, international and interstate, into Western Australia. Our
population, with natural growth, grew by nearly 500 000 people. We have seen a doubling
of mineral production, particularly iron ore. We have seen a trebling of
liquefied natural gas, we have seen the Ord River project, and we have seen
reform in disability, the greatest conservation measure the state has ever seen
in terms of the Kimberley protection, heritage projects brought back to life, 2
000 to 3 000 hotel rooms under development, and so on. We have seen a complete
renaissance of the City of Perth.
Ms M.M. Quirk interjected.
The SPEAKER : Member for Girrawheen, I call you to order
for the first time.
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER :
Member for Cannington, I call you to order for the first time. I call to order
the member for Joondalup for the first time. Thank you.
Mr C.J. BARNETT :
On almost all the major projects that have been achieved over the past eight
years, the one constant has been the opposition and the criticism by members
opposite on everything—on Elizabeth Quay, on the stadium, on the Ord
River and on genetically modified crops; I could go on and on and on. All we
get is negativity.
Mr J.R. Quigley interjected.
The SPEAKER : Member for Butler, I call you to order for
the first time.
Mr C.J. BARNETT : We have two significant issues. They
should be items of public debate in the election campaign, and they will be. I am
as conscious as anyone that many people have lost their jobs. From a period
only two years ago when the resources industry was saying that it was 200 000
people short—I never said that because that is the cycle, and cycles
come up and go down—a lot of people have been displaced, a lot of
people have lost their jobs, and a lot of people are concerned about job
security and their financial position. That is the rough ride that we have.
Insecurity about unemployment and employment is probably the most important
issue and it is therefore important that we have a state government that is
capable of making decisions and growing mining, farming, tourism and all of
those activities, not an opposition that simply criticises. That is all the opposition
does—knock, knock, knock, criticise. We have a financial issue. Yes,
state debt is far higher than I, the Treasurer or anyone else would want. When
this state loses $4.7 billion this financial year to the other states, there is
no circumstance in which this state could run a surplus—none at all.
Mr
J.R. Quigley interjected.
The SPEAKER : Member for Butler, I call you to order for
the second time.
Mr C.J. BARNETT : If we were to say that we would run a surplus
while we get 30c in the dollar GST —
Mr B.S. Wyatt : You knew about that; you could have seen
that coming.
Mr C.J. BARNETT : Surpluses are on an annual basis, July to
June. That is the way it works. If we were to say that there must be a surplus,
do you know what we would have done? We would have had to fire teachers and
nurses, close schools—all those sorts of things would have happened,
and we were not prepared to do that. We have funded disability; we have funded
people who needed care in our community—child protection and all of
those things. If the opposition wanted to have a balanced budget in this
environment, tell us how many nurses would be sacked, which schools would be
closed, and how many people would lose their disability benefits. That is the
issue that the opposition can never face.
I will make one point. I was not going to say this, but I will. In four
years—eight years of government, but let us just look at the four years—when
did the opposition have this government under serious pressure? When?
Several members interjected.
Mr C.J. BARNETT : Tell me the issue. Tell me the issue,
because when the opposition was in government —
Several members interjected.
The
SPEAKER : Thank you!
Mr
J.R. Quigley interjected.
The
SPEAKER : Member for Butler!
Mr
C.J. BARNETT : When the Labor Party was in power, we had member after member
before the Corruption and Crime Commission. We had them reeling. Through the
Gallop and Carpenter governments, it went on and on and on. The whole
Parliament was just a fiasco!
Going for a third term is not easy,
I recognise that. I recognise that the economy is going through not a recession,
as the opposition would say, but a difficult time. But when did the opposition
land a knockout blow? Did it do it once? No, it did not. It could not even do
it! Members opposite banged on about the water park at Elizabeth Quay. Big
deal! They picked on Troy Buswell when he had a mental health problem. That is
what they did. They picked on someone who had —
Several members interjected.
The
SPEAKER : Thank you. All right—10 seconds.
Mr
C.J. BARNETT : Probably the most contentious issues were the issues relating
to Troy Buswell. We saw that just in the last week with a report. The
opposition looked for the smoking gun; it thought there was a cover‑up
and there was not. There was none. The CCC found no cover‑up, no smoking
gun; that is as close as the opposition got to landing a big punch, and it
could not do that!
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