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Parliamentary Questions


Question Without Notice No. 744 asked in the Legislative Assembly on 11 November 2021 by Ms K.E. Giddens

Parliament: 41 Session: 1

STATE ECONOMY — JOBS

744. Ms K.E. GIDDENS to the Premier:

I refer to the McGowan Labor government's commitment to create jobs and drive Western Australia's economic recovery. Will the Premier update the house on what the latest Australian Bureau of Statistics labour force figures show about this government's success in supporting jobs and driving the WA economy, as well as how WA's strong and safe response to COVID-19 has supported the entire country?

Mr M. McGOWAN replied:

I thank the member for Bateman. Over the past two years, we have regularly heard comments from eastern states commentators and commonwealth Liberal–National politicians and, indeed, local Liberal–National politicians that what we have been doing to manage the pandemic has been wrong. We have heard that consistently. We are being told our controlled border is costing jobs. We have heard that it will all fail. We heard the federal Treasurer, Mr Frydenberg, and the Liberals and Nationals say last week that we are holding back the national economy. I heard the Prime Minister the other day say that Western Australia is in lockdown. The truth of the matter is that all those people are wrong. Every month our economy gets stronger and stronger, but for those national commentators and Liberals and Nationals across the country, facts do not matter to them. Facts do not matter. They have a narrative, they have a prejudice, and that is what they pursue, and it does not matter what the facts are.

I will tell members what the facts are. The unemployment figures for the nation came out today. Western Australia's unemployment rate has fallen to 3.9 per cent—the lowest of all the states. It is the only state with a ''3'' at the front of its numbers. When we came to office, the unemployment rate left to us was 6.5 per cent, so through our time in office, we have taken it from 6.5 per cent down to 3.9 per cent. I will provide the unemployment rates for the other states: Tasmania, 5.1 per cent; Queensland, 5.1 per cent; South Australia, 5.3 per cent; New South Wales, 5.4 per cent; and Victoria, 5.6 per cent, whilst Western Australia's unemployment rate is 3.9 per cent. Ours is clearly the strongest in the nation by a country mile. Our participation rate is 68.4 per cent and the national average is 64.7 per cent. In other words, we have not only the lowest unemployment rate, but also the largest number of people per capita in the workforce. It is an extraordinarily strong set of employment figures. Our underemployment rate has dropped to 6.3 per cent, the lowest in the country by far. Since this government came to office, 120 000 jobs have been created. More than half of those are full-time positions in Western Australia.

Combined with that, Western Australia has the fewest restrictions and the most open economy. We are leading the nation in exports and we are carrying the country. I note that yesterday a large group of small businesses in Adelaide said they did not want restrictions over Christmas and New Year, which the South Australian government is putting in place. We have made the choice that we do not want those restrictions in place in Western Australia.

Ms L. Mettam interjected.

Mr M. McGOWAN: I am sorry?

Ms L. Mettam: You're restricting operating theatres.

Mr M. McGOWAN: Honestly, the Liberals and Nationals are such low-quality people.

In any event, if we look at the data and the figures, we can see that Western Australia has carried the nation. We have the strongest economy in the nation. We have the lowest unemployment rate in the nation by a long, long way, and we have the best health outcomes of anywhere in Australia. That is because we did the right thing over the period of COVID. We announced last week that we intend to put in place our safe transition plan with a soft landing, high numbers of vaccinations, no disruptions and the best health outcomes. I urge everyone across the nation to look at the actual facts rather than their prejudices.