The WA Treasurer has defended a $3.1 billion surplus, insisting all of the money had already been assigned to infrastructure projects.
Josh Zimmerman
China’s insatiable demand for WA’s iron ore is set to deliver a record-breaking $10.7 billion in mining royalties in 2020-21, with the State also on track to deliver a $3.1b operating surplus.
Peter Law
Australia’s stronger-than-expected economic rebound and high iron ore prices have added $16 billion to the Federal Government’s coffers.
Lanai Scarr
Ten thousand extra elderly Australians will be supported to stay in their own homes, with $1 billion in new funding for the aged-care sector and home-care packages to be announced today.
The boom-time iron ore price which has WA on track for a $2.2 billion budget surplus is ‘not sustainable’, the State’s retiring Treasurer Ben Wyatt warned in his final mid-year economic review.
West Australians are tipped to return to work much quicker than two months ago as billions of dollars of infrastructure investment combine with a housing construction boom to propel WA back to growth.
Australians lost a total of $46.7 billion during the height of the pandemic, with the average household bleeding almost $5000 between March and November.
Sarah Ison
Premier Mark McGowan will contest the March election with a budget surplus of more than $2 billion – nearly double what was predicted in the State Budget just two months ago.
Joe Spagnolo
SA's welfare sector says the state budget will not help those most impacted by the COVID-19 crisis - women, the young, migrants, refugees and older workers.
Tim Dornin
Parliament — and the public — should be more regularly updated on the cost, time and status of ‘projects valued at over $100 million or of high public interest’, according to WA’s Auditor-General.
Treasury secretary Steven Kennedy says the budget response to the pandemic should have a greater impact in a low interest rate environment.
Colin Brinsden
Dean Nalder says the difficulty facing West Australians looking for work was now clear after the State Government revealed the exact number of West Australians using JobKeeper and JobSeeker.
Michael Traill
The nation’s economic recovery from the coronavirus pandemic continues, with half of all mortgage holders who deferred loans during the pandemic now making repayments.
Opposition Leader Liza Harvey has sounded the call to ‘silent West Australians’ in a Budget reply characterising the McGowan Government as ‘mean-spirited’ and ‘starved of hope and aspiration’.
If there was any doubt Australians were happy with Treasurer Josh Frydenberg’s tax-cutting Budget, another gauge of confidence has soared and suggests optimists are back in the driving seat.
The McGowan Government has been accused of concealing a $4.1 billion ‘election slush fund’ in last week’s State Budget, with the Liberal Party’s Dean Nalder blasting the fiscal blueprint.
There were also healthy increases in the survey sub-indices for ‘current’ and ‘future’ economic conditions and for ‘future finances’.
Our youth are feeling despondent. COVID has completely shattered the life they thought they would have. But this latest change may be the straw that breaks the camel’s back.
Lanai ScarrFederal Political Editor
Tradies and other business operators have been warned to do their homework before spending big to make the most of generous new tax concessions unveiled in last week’s Federal Budget.
Neale Prior
Low and middle income earners will have to wait until they do their tax returns later next year to enjoy most of the bounties proclaimed by Josh Frydenberg in his COVID-19 Budget.
The Morrison Government has extended its advantage over Labor and received overwhelming support for its Budget tax cut, according to Newspoll.
Premier Mark McGowan has said bringing down WA’s hard border could mean fresh coronavirus restrictions for businesses as a safeguard designed to contain potential outbreaks.
The Government sells it as ‘safe and strong’. My thought was: ‘underwhelming and unimaginative’.
Gareth Parker
It is the little distractions that can derail a Budget presentation. And a Treasury footnote on the bottom of Page 9 of Budget Paper Number 3, almost derailed Ben Wyatt’s moment of glory.
© West Australian Newspapers Limited 2020
