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.