UnionsWA today commented on the release of the 2015 WA state budget including wide-ranging job and services cuts, huge increases in fees and charges and the sale of public assets.

Meredith Hammat, Secretary UnionsWA said:

“The Budget record of bad decisions and wrong priorities continues.

“There is no vision here for a secure future.

“Premier Barnet has allowed the Budget to be held hostage to falling resource royalties and costly inner city monuments. 

“Now he proposes to pay the ransom through job and service cuts, huge increases to fees and charges and a garage sale of valuable public assets.

“The total cuts to public services through job and wage cuts amounts to a staggering $1.3 billion.

“Such public sector jobs cuts as our economy as the resources boom collapses poses a very real risk to the WA economy.

“Households will go backwards as the Budget introduced huge increases to a raft of state government fees and charges well above the government’s own projected inflation and well above public sector, minimum and other wage increases .

“The sale of ports, electricity generation, the TAB and others public assets means the loss forever of are of a valuable revenue that would otherwise go towards schools, hospitals and other public services.

“Private investment that might instead go towards creating new jobs will instead chase easy profits from existing activity.”

Key Budget Facts

Free and Charges

The Budget includes from 1 July 2015: 

• 4.5% increase in residential electricity tariffs; 

• 4.5% increase in the Water Corporation’s total water tariffs (water, wastewater and drainage); 

• 2.6% increase in public transport standard fares (rounded to the nearest ten cents), with the 60 cent student fare remaining unchanged; 

• 2.7% increase in drivers’ licence fees; 

• 2.6% increase in motor vehicle licence fees; 

• 4.1% increase in compulsory third party (CTP) insurance premiums;  

• 10.6% (or $25) increase in the Emergency Services Levy;

• TAFE fees will rise in total by $17 million.

Total expenditure by the ‘representative household’ on this basket of Government goods and services in 2015-16 is $5,412.27. This is an increase of $198.54 or 3.81% on 2014-15 levels. Link here.

Asset Sales

• Fremantle Port and Kwinana Bulk Terminal
• TAB
• Forest Products Commission
• Portfolio of Government Regional Officer Housing (GROH)
• Securitisation of Keystart loan book
• State Fleet (sale and lease back)
• Some Government office buildings (sale and lease back)
• Specific LandCorp land holdings
• Individual generation assets of Horizon Power and Synergy and non-core assets of Western Power 

Further details here.

Key Budget and Economic Statistics