Every line item in Labor’s ninth consecutive budget handed down on Thursday will have a real impact on West Australians.
The reactions to those items have been steadily flowing in, in the aftermath of the budget’s release, and while some are happy with the results others are furious.
WA Treasurer Rita Saffioti hands down the Western Australian State Budget at Parliament House.Credit: AAPIMAGE
Laura West, 44, is living on a carer’s pension as she looks after her 11-year-old daughter with complex health issues full-time.
“We’ve ended up with another big billion-dollar surplus, and it’s actually quite devastating for families like mine, who could be helped by redirecting that money to provide some assistance,” she said.
“I scrimp and save as much as I can to meet our needs ... but it’s a real struggle. Families like ours who are vulnerable and depended on an income support payment – our standard of living is decreasing.
“I feel like the cost of living crisis is increasing, and we are a wealthy state. That should not be the case.”
Casey Pateman, 39, is also struggling with the cost of living.
She used to work in Kalgoorlie in the mining industry until she decided to move to Perth five years ago, and that was when things changed.
As cost of living went up, Pateman became homeless and was living out of her car with her children.
“Every time you think you’re getting ahead, something else comes up,” she said.
Now living in a home with other people to make ends meet, despite working full-time, Pateman said she was worried there was not enough support in the state budget to help those in similar situations.
One of the few supports handed out for renters was the extension of the WA Rent Relief Scheme, which Pateman said she had tried before, but it only had a limited amount of funding to help.
“There are so many people out there who are homeless, and it will help some but not enough,” she said.
She also said she was “gobsmacked” that the cost of car registration was going up to more than $1000 per year.
Industry bodies voice concerns
Those on the front lines of both the housing and environmental crisis facing the state have been particularly vocal in their disapproval and frustration that the seventh consecutive surplus recorded in WA has not led to increased support in these areas.
Shelter WA chairman Kieran Wong labelled the budget as a “missed opportunity” and said that while there were some “small gains” on the housing front, there were also “big gaps”.
“There was a real chance here to change the course of the trajectory of the housing crisis and to stop the entrenching of the housing inequality that we’re seeing in the state,” he said.
“We had six major priorities in our budget asks, and really not any of the six were addressed in full.
“There was nothing substantive and nothing that will change the course of the housing crisis, deepening into a housing emergency.”
Anglicare WA acting chief executive Philippa Boldy said while the budget had a strong focus on economic infrastructure, “we’re left wondering where the social infrastructure emphasis really is”.
Boldy also expressed concerns about the WA Rent Relief Scheme, which was extended until the end of 2025.
She said Anglicare WA had helped nearly 3000 households avoid eviction through the scheme in the past 18 months, and that while it was good the program had been extended at all, she was not confident that housing pressures would sufficiently ease by the end of the year.
But Matthew Pollock, chief executive at Master Builders WA, said it was a “decent budget”, particularly on the housing and construction front.
He said it showed how important a strong construction industry was to ensuring the state’s economic growth and success.
“Master Builders is pleased to see this record investment in housing and further record investments in supporting WA’s workforce foundations for future economic growth,” he said.
“Delivering on these commitments and working with industry to do so is the crucial part over the next few years.”
UnionsWA secretary Rikki Hendon said she welcomed the promise to diversify investment through the state government’s ‘Made in WA’ plans, which featured heavily.
“This budget really invests in diversifying our economy, and there’s lots of opportunity in that, in terms of building good jobs in a range of different spaces,” she said.
“We also welcome the investment into training and workforce development, including $22 million into free courses for Tafe, for tradies.”
But while development and increased infrastructure spending were perhaps the most heavily featured in this budget, it was plans for the environment that fell short.
Conservation Council WA executive director Matt Roberts said while they welcomed the commitment to the green energy transition – mentioned among infrastructure spending plans – other action on environmental issues was lacking.
“Budgets are meant to show the priorities of the government and what this budget demonstrates is that nature and the environment are not a priority at this stage which is a great concern,” he said.
“We have a state where we have an extinction crisis. We have growing climate concerns and what we see here is business as usual, where environment and nature barely get a mention in the budget.”
Strong political opposition
WA’s Liberal-National opposition and the Greens were naturally critical of Thursday’s budget.
Shadow treasurer Sandra Brewer was particularly scathing, stating the surplus was not down to any policy efforts, but due to “extraordinary economic good luck”.
WA Greens leader Brad Pettitt said that “not only is this budget not sexy, it’s actually not kind or courageous either”.
“It’s a budget that, frankly, is failing to address any of the key issues that the state is facing,” he said.
“Western Australians should feel really disappointed that a state that runs consecutive multibillion-dollar surpluses is failing to deal with key challenges.”
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