NET DEBT — 2021–22 STATE BUDGET
507. Ms M.J. DAVIES to the Treasurer:
I refer to the creation of the debt
monster by the Labor Party when in opposition and the Treasurer's
claims that the state's net debt was at unacceptably high —
Ms A. Sanderson interjected.
The SPEAKER: Order, please,
Minister for Environment!
Ms M.J. DAVIES: I refer to
the creation of the debt monster by the Labor Party when in opposition and the
Treasurer's claims that the state's net debt was at
unacceptably high levels under the Liberal–National government.
(1) Can the
Treasurer confirm that net debt across the budget's forward estimates
is in fact higher than actual net debt reported by the previous Liberal–National
government?
(2) Why has this government now
decided that debt is no longer an issue?
Mr M.
McGOWAN replied:
(1)–(2) Last
week, and every week before that, the criticism was that we are not spending
enough. That is what opposition members came out and said on budget day last
week: ''You need to spend more here, there and everywhere. Why have you got a surplus?'' That was the
criticism last week; now their criticism is the opposite. Do they not think consistency is important and that maybe they
should have a consistent argument? Do they not think that people up
there notice that they have no principles or consistency in what they say and
will say anything on any given day? That is what that question shows.
Let
me give the opposition a history lesson. When the Barnett Liberal–National
government came to office in September 2008, the state's debt
position was about $5.5 billion. It was around that. When it left office, it
was climbing to $43.7 billion across the forward estimates—$5 billion
to $43.7 billion across the forwards. That was the position that it left us.
Then members opposite say, ''Why haven't you paid that all off?'' Why has that now gone? That is
the argument it was running. In the budget, this financial year, we are taking
it to $32.1 billion. It was going to $44 billion under the former government;
we have got it down to $32 billion. That is basically 26 per cent of the state's
debt load that we have removed. We are the only government in Australia doing
that—the only one! The federal government is taking it to a trillion
dollars, the New South Wales government was taking it to $140 billion before
lockdown, the Victorian government was taking it to $150 billion before
lockdown, and we are taking debt down this year, as we did last year and the
year before. To the Nationals WA, which I must say are experts at blowing
budgets, somehow that is not good enough.
Across the forward estimates, we put
a range of things in. We put very careful budgeting around the iron ore price.
Members may have noticed that it dropped again overnight, and it has dropped
significantly over recent days. We basically put across the forwards a $66 floor
for the iron ore price. Secondly, we assume
across the forwards a drop in the economic growth rate, simply because when
international borders open there will be a drop in the nation's
economic growth. That is because Australians will go overseas on holidays in
far larger numbers than people will come in. Thirdly, we have smoothed some of
the capital works program across the forwards—because industry really
wants us to do this—which means that some of the spend is in later
years. Does that not make sense? I tell members of the National and Liberal
Parties that I will not be lectured by the worst financial managers in the
history of Western Australia or Australia. I will not be lectured by them,
because of what they did when they were in office, which is one of the reasons they went down to 18 seats at the election
before last, and one of the reasons they went down to six at the last
election.