BUDGET LEAVES TOO MANY BEHIND

Last week’s State Budget was a budget of missed opportunities, misplaced priorities, and more pain for those already doing it tough. It did little to address serious issues in housing, health, and education, and reinforced the Cook Labor Government’s focus on the wrong priorities for Western Australians.

The cost-of-living relief so desperately needed by many never materialised—despite Premier Cook repeatedly claiming it was his number one priority. The Government appeared to have deliberately misled Western Australians by claiming a $52 decrease in household fees and charges, when households were in fact left needing to find an additional $382 to cover those costs.

There was a further 2.5 per cent increase in energy and water charges and a 5 per cent increase in the Emergency Services Levy. The cost of owning and running a car also rose, now exceeding $1000 a year.

Shadow Treasurer Sandra Brewer led the Liberals’ interrogation of the Budget, accusing the Government of deliberately excluding last year’s $400 electricity credit from its ‘household basket’ calculation to create the illusion of a saving.

In response to the Budget, she said families were now facing nearly $400 in extra costs and, unless they regularly used public transport or had school-aged children, there was virtually nothing in the Budget to support them.

She also noted that despite Premier Cook’s promise to pay down debt "like a mortgage," and years of record revenue, State debt was now projected to hit $42.5 billion within four years - an almost $9 billion increase in the middle of a once-in-a-lifetime economic boom.

The economic pain inflicted by the Government was yet another example of its misplaced priorities. Transport infrastructure, mainly METRONET, continued to dominate spending, with funding over the next four years double that allocated to health and education combined.

Hospital waitlists ballooned, with elective surgery numbers rising from 19,000 in 2017 to nearly 30,000, while ambulance ramping remained at record highs. Yet investment in frontline health continued to fall behind.

Small and medium businesses were also being punished, facing higher costs, increased red tape, and no meaningful support. This Government seemed happy to take their taxes but gave little back in return.