Western Australia's Treasurer Rita Saffioti arrives at Parliament House ahead of delivering the 2024-25 Western Australia Budget on Thursday 9 May 2024 in Perth. Source: AAP Images/Richard Wainwright.
Western Australia runs an even larger surplus from resource fees, with poverty relief, housing, health and industrial development making up the bulk of the Western Australian budget.
The first budget, announced by Finance Minister Rita Saffioti on Thursday, projects a $3.2 billion profit in the current financial year and a further $2.6 billion surplus in 2024-2025.
It's the state's sixth consecutive year of operating surpluses, but it's $100 million less than expected as “headwinds” hurt the state's economy, which Saffioti said is the envy of the nation.
“Washington state's economy is well-positioned to continue to lead the nation,” he told reporters.
“Our confidence in our business is strong and we have the wealth and strong capital to support us well into the future.”
The government has announced a $762 million cost-of-living package, including $400 electricity credits for households and small businesses, payments for families with children in school and payments for local residents. It also provides airfare caps.
More than $1 billion has been allocated to boost housing supply and support homelessness services, and stamp duty exemptions have been increased to help first-time home buyers secure properties for less than $600,000.
The measure includes $400 million to provide more public housing, $144 million for new housing and $92 million to support homeless services across the state.
An additional $1.8 billion will be invested to support industry and grow the economy, including $373 million for the state's ports, $352 million for outdoor adventure tourism infrastructure, and $36 million for red tape cuts. .
This includes $500 million to expand Washington state's industrial region with new sites for emerging industries, $200 million for new critical mineral advanced processing facilities, an expansion of the state's power grid and more includes $472 million for renewable energy connections.
The financial plan would invest $1.3 billion in education and training and more than $3 billion in the state's health care system.
Net debt is expected to increase to $28.6 billion at the end of the current fiscal year, $800 million less than forecast and expected to expand to $40.9 billion overall going forward.
Saffioti said the 2023-24 surplus was slightly lower than expected due to fluctuations in commodity prices and the timing of payments from the federal government.
WA is expected to remain profitable, with an expected operating surplus of $2.5 billion to $2.8 billion over the next four years.
Economic growth is expected to be 2% next year and 1.75% in 2023-24.
Opposition parties argued that the Cook government was given a surplus on the back of the resources sector, but failed to bring new ideas to the budget that could transform the state's wealth.
Neil Thomson, the shadow treasurer, said: “This budget shows that this seven-year-old government is exhausted and completely starved of ideas.”
“With less than a year until the next election, we are seeing more band-aids and attempts to make up for the neglect and disinvestment in services that really matter to Western Australians.”
Peak business body Chambers of Commerce and Industry WA criticized the lack of business payroll tax reform, saying businesses were drowning in rising costs and there was not enough budget to deal with the situation.
Public sector unions welcomed funding for additional youth justice staff but said they were disappointed there had been no significant action to address WA's under-resourced child protection system.
The Washington State Chamber of Minerals and Energy said the resources sector is a significant contributor to state finances, with royalties accounting for 26.5% of the government's general revenue.
The Washington State Conservation Council expressed disappointment, saying the budget does little to help mitigate the environmental impacts of climate change as Washington state's fossil fuel emissions increase.
Western Australia Budget 2024/25
* Retained earnings: $2.6 billion
*Revenue: $46.2 billion
*Spending: $43.6 billion
*Net debt: $32.7 billion
*GST revenue: $7.3 billion
* Unemployment rate: 4.0%
*Economic growth rate: 2.0%
This article was first published by ah.
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