Opposition questions the Premier regarding stamp duty relief, accusing the government of economic mismanagement. The Premier vehemently denies the accusations, highlighting positive economic indicators and criticising the previous government's performance.

AnsweredQoN 928Legislative Assembly
Asked
23 October 2019
Portfolio
Premier

QuestionView source ↗

STATE ECONOMY —
STAMP DUTY REBATE
928. Mrs L.M. HARVEY to the Premier:
I
refer to the Premier's announcement today regarding some stamp duty relief
on apartments. Can the Premier confirm that today's stimulus
measure is a clear admission that his government's economic
mismanagement has damaged the economy, and in
particular the housing sector, and that struggling Western Australians are
worse off under this government?

AnswerView source ↗

What
a pathetic question! Under this government, we have unemployment going down; we
have more than 50 000 more people in work; we have secured more support
from the federal government than any government in history; we secured a GST
deal, with a floor for Western Australia; we have got a surplus back; we got a credit
rating upgrade; and we are the only state or territory government in Australia
with debt tracking downwards. Using our good
financial management, we are able to make important announcements like this
today, and the Liberal Party whinges. Under the previous government, the
state was in recession and there was record debt and record deficits. Had we
continued on the previous government's trend of 6.5 per cent
expenditure growth each year, our state would be heading towards nearly $70 billion
worth of debt. We have cut many billions of dollars from the former government's debt trajectory. We announce
an important stamp duty initiative to get activity back into the multistorey construction market and the Liberal Party comes in here and whinges. When the
Liberal Party was in government, it put up land tax three times, cancelled
payroll tax cuts and stamp duty cuts, put up fees and charges by a record amount—80
per cent for water and 80 per cent for electricity—at the same time as
driving up debt by levels that had never before been seen in this state, and
lost the AAA credit rating, yet Liberal members come in here and complain about
our government. What a pathetic question!

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