CORONAVIRUS —
SMALL BUSINESS — GOVERNMENT GRANT
933. Mrs
A.K. HAYDEN to the Premier:
Given
the economic impact of COVID-19, including the latest outbreak in South
Australia, will the Premier provide a grant of up to $10 000 —
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER: Members, please!
I want to hear this.
Mrs
A.K. HAYDEN: Will the government
provide a grant of up to $10 000, like the other states have done, to assist
those small businesses that continue to suffer substantial financial harm from
the COVID-19 crisis to assist them to survive, rebuild and save jobs?
Mr M.
McGOWAN replied:
This is the same question that the
Liberal Party has asked on numerous occasions. We are now in the final sitting
week of Parliament before the state election. I ask: is it Liberal Party policy
to provide 100 000 grants of $10 000; is that its policy?
Mrs A.K. Hayden: That's
not what I said.
Mr M. McGOWAN: My mistake, Mr
Speaker. The Minister for Small Business just advised me that 226 000 businesses are classed as small businesses in WA.
Is it Liberal Party policy to give them all $10 000, as it has committed
to in its press releases? Does that remain its policy? I tell you what, Mr
Speaker; the Treasurer might be retiring but he is still active and he will be
adding this up in the lead-up to March so that the people of Western Australia understand exactly what the Liberal Party is going
to do to this state's finances should it be elected. Look at New South
Wales. Today its Liberal government delivered a $16 billion deficit. That is
what has come from the Liberal government over there. It privatised all the
assets; it sold everything on the basis that that would secure the state's future. What happens now? It is a $16
billion deficit. This government delivers surpluses so that this state is
kept safe and secure for the future. That is the difference. We have people who
understand the proper management of the state. The Liberal Party does not, and
the tone of that question shows that it does not. The Western Australian economy is going the best of any economy in
Australia by a long, long way. We now have the lowest unemployment rate in Australia. We have the highest
participation rate in Australia. We have a state government in surplus. Whether
it is in housing, construction, mining, hospitality or retail, Western Australia
is leading the nation. We are investing more in training to train Western Australians
to take up those numerous job opportunities that are out there. All we hear
from the Liberal Party is that it wants to bankrupt the state. That is all we
hear from the Liberal Party. The Liberal Party's view is, ''Let's
just go and bankrupt Western Australia.'' That appears to be the Liberal
Party's policy. Do not worry, we have the press releases to prove it!
The choice is very clear for Western
Australians: a government that is keeping Western Australia safe and strong
versus a mob that would have let COVID-19 back in and would bankrupt the state.