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Parliamentary Questions


Question Without Notice No. 773 asked in the Legislative Assembly on 13 October 2020 by Ms S.E. Winton

Parliament: 40 Session: 1

2020–21 STATE BUDGET

773. Ms S.E. WINTON to the Treasurer:

I am delighted to ask the first question of our Treasurer after the budget last week. I refer to the work undertaken by the McGowan Labor government to drive economic growth across Western Australia and ensure that WA is kept safe and strong.

(1) Can the Treasurer outline to the house why the Western Australian government has been in a position to invest in supporting WA households, businesses and the broader economy, while at the same time maintaining strong financial management?

(2) Can the Treasurer advise the house whether there has been any feedback from credit rating agencies about this budget?

Mr B.S. WYATT replied:

The shadow Treasurer is not here, so I had to get the member for Wanneroo to bowl me up one! Thank you, member for Wanneroo, for that very good question and I am delighted to answer that.

(1)–(2) When I became Treasurer in 2017, everyone on this side of the house remembers the financial wreckage left to us by the former Liberal–National government. I remember at the time thinking that if something hits us, some form of global fiscal crisis, again, we do not have the balance sheet to respond to that circumstance. Thankfully, three years of effort by this government, the McGowan Labor government, meant that when the pandemic hit us, our response to the pandemic—which, of course, brought on the economic shock, and that has happened around the world—had the balance sheet capacity to respond, and, importantly, we continue to have the balance sheet capacity to deal with any emerging issues.

I do want to put on the record that Standard and Poor's global ratings were quick out of the blocks. In referring to Western Australia, I quote it said —

''Its outperformance is due to elevated commodity prices and a local economy that is on the mend after the quick containment of COVID-19,'' �

Standard and Poor's went on to say —

''Western Australia's economy is recovering because it has so far been successful in suppressing the spread of COVID-19.''

There has been no known community transmission for the past six months, allowing businesses to reopen. That is what Standard and Poor's said, and it was followed up, of course, by Moody's. Again, Moody's identified what this government has done over the last three years. Although WA entered the coronavirus crisis from a position of fiscal strength, its ability to consolidate its fiscal strength before the next shock will largely depend on its capacity to contain further outbreaks of the virus, minimising the disruption to economic activity from lockdowns.

This is the reality that the credit rating agencies get that sometimes my friends on the other side of the chamber do not seem to understand. I have to say that after all that effort, the fact that we could put $600 into the residential electricity account of every household in Western Australia, the fact that we could put $2 500 into the electricity accounts of small businesses in Western Australia, the fact that we could run the largest asset investment program on record as budgeted and yet run a surplus are things that I think people should celebrate.

People can imagine my surprise when the apparent Liberal opposition critiques this strong position that the state government has managed to pursue—although, I think the opposition critiques the position of the surplus; it has been an interesting response, to say the least. I think it highlights the fact that sometimes my friends on the other side have to speak to each other. They have to work out the line of what it is going to be.

Nine hours before the budget, the absent shadow Treasurer said on radio that the surpluses are too big! I note that nine hours before the budget, member for Wanneroo, the surpluses are too big and then after the budget, he said that the surplus was appalling, but then recalibrated to critique the government in a tweet that debt was too high. He then finally got his line right the day after the budget to say, ''Actually, he'd have created a budget surplus in reality that isn't there.'' Not only is the budget surplus appalling and too high, by the next day, it was not even there!

Then, of course, we had Statler and Waldorf—otherwise known as Riverton and Cottesloe—and what a response they gave us! The member for Riverton went all tin hat in his tweet the day after the budget. The 2020–21 WA budget is a fake! It is a fake! But the member for Cottesloe said that it is not a fake; it is actually twice as much—it is $2.7 billion! The opposition could not work out whether the surplus was real, whether it was a fake, whether it was $2.7 billion or $1.2 billion, and I still do not know whether the Liberals have a view on that.

But I think the highlight to me was, of course, the Leader of the Opposition who went on Geoff Hutchison's show the day after the budget, Friday, 9 October. The reporter asked the Leader of the Opposition: was it appropriate to deliver a surplus? No! No! In the current economic circumstances, the surplus would have gone to Roe 8 and Roe 9. The Leader of the Opposition does not understand that if she funded Roe 8 and Roe 9, she would still run exactly the same operating surplus. I suspect the Leader of the Opposition does not understand the difference between operating and cash. All she would have done is increase the net debt position of the state and leave the operating surplus as it is.

At some point, the opposition members are going to have to speak to each other and get their line right. This is the fourth budget of the McGowan government. I think it is our best because it has been set in the hardest circumstances possible, and the reality is the opposition has been nothing but bone idle for the last four years. That has been highlighted by the fact that for 20 years, the Public Accounts Committee has had a briefing, the Treasury officers have been briefing members of Parliament on the budget for 20 years—not the Treasurer of the day, the Under Treasurer and the senior Treasury staff. The fact that the shadow Treasurer and the Leader of the Opposition did not even rock up to that event today highlights the bone idleness of this opposition.