State budget time. The surplus looks strong two point four billion dollars. But those electricity credits you've gotten used to, they're gone. Rita Safiotti is the state's treasurer and she joins us live on six PR today from State Parliament.
Good afternoon, afternoon, Olie, how are you?
I'm very well. How would you describe your budget?
Well, it's a budget about jobs, about trying to protect Wa from this significant global chaos that is unfolding before us. So it's very much about trying to fortify protect our state from the economic instability so we can continue to grow jobs and support Western Australians to get good, full time jobs in Wa.
Is there enough focus on cost of living treasure of those electricity credits we all got used to, they're not going to exist anymore.
Well, in total, we're investing nine hundred and sixty three million in cost of living measures. It includes, for example, the rebates and no interest loans for the residential battery rebates. Of course we're still rolling out even into the first into July next year, the WA student assistance payments, where we're seeing families being able to recover hundreds of dollars in some cases six or seven hundred dollars for per family. We've also got the one zone Platfair, we're delivering and
passing on the Commonwealth Energy Bill relief. Plus we're also got a number of targeted measures, including things like supporting kids, sport vouchers for families. We're harving trans WA fares, so there's a whole range of initiatives across regional WA and also metropolitan Politan area. So we are still providing a significant cost of relief package, cost of living package, but we're also making sure that things like the student assistance payments get rolled out over the next month.
Utilities, what are we going to be paying more for our power?
There'll be a two point five percent increase, which is less than the CPI two point seventy five and that's what are we committed to at the time of the election.
Similarly for water, for licensing, for those public transport fairs, well.
Public transport fares, again it depends on where you live. We're reducing the two we're bringing in a one's own fair cap, so that means if you live anywhere outside that one's own fair fair range, you'll be getting savings. And that's for some regional towns and also Metropolitan Perth. And of course we're reinter well. We're now committing to pre public transport for kids to make sure we can continue that and roll that out over this year and
next year. So these are some of the new initiatives that were announced today, and that's pre public transport for kids going to school and that is saving families one hundreds of dollars a year.
Is there extra money being allocated towards health and education in this year's budget, treasurer.
Absolutely, so we've got one point eight billion extra in education and training, and if it's particular, seven hundred million dollars for extra spending in our schools and that includes three hundred and ninety five million dollars to support students with disability in our schools and extra education assistance. So that's been a big ticket item. And also education infrastructure, so we're spending a significant amount, the biggest spend on
education infrastructure since Kevin Rudd's building the education revolution. Now the other on health, we've got significant spending. Of course we've got the Women's and Babies Hospital, but in particular we continue to roll out the new hospital in Gerlton very much targeting making sure we can continue to deliver the new hospital upgrades in both Bumbery and Peel and
throughout the state. We're increasing pats and that support for regional people need needing to travel to attend their health services. We're also increasing the amount of.
Funding into our hospitals over eight hundred million and continuing to roll out other initiatives to support our hospitals, things like, for example, more beds to support transitional care people moving out of the hospital setting to the aged care setting, and.
Also supporting other reforms to try and support the emergency departments and then include using technology but also creating some care hubs for older Western Australians too to try and keep them out of hospitals where we can.
I know a number of announcements have been made over the last week about the congestion busting projects in both the Northern and the Southern suburbs or of housing announcements. So there's a lot of work obviously going on. A lot of money is being channeled into public infrastructure projects. Have we got the workers able to complete this work while we still are trying to balance that mix and fix the housing crisis one.
Of the good the one of the good initiatives or some of the good initiatives in today's budget continue to be how we support Western Australians get access to feed pre taped. So we've seen tens of thousands of Western Australians getting access to free taste and that means more Western Australians training, and we're extending some of that fee
free tape to the construction trades plasterers, carpenter's, bricklayers. Another initiative where I worked with the private sector with the training organizations is to actually pay the wage of the apprentices and so we're seen over one thousand new apprentices under this g It's called a Group Training Organization wage subsidy program and we've seen as significant boost in our
construction workforce. Will continue to work on this in particular, and that's why we're continuing to pour more money into our tape system. We've also got the Builder Life Package which is supporting some Eastern state trades come to WA. That's working too, and will continue to try and improve our training effort to get as many young Western Australians involved in trades as possible.
Two more from me I know your time is limited today, but any commitments on those major projects like Westport or the Perth Entertainment and Sporting precincts.
Oh yeah, we've got money dedicated to those projects, in particular in relation to Westport. For example, the freeway widening program along Kanana Freeway well support Westport, but we're also putting further funding into planning and also support for some environmental outcomes in that area. And we can continue to acquire land in the entire Westport area to support the Western Trade Coast and some of the new businesses that
will be operating in that area. And in relation to the pres Entertainment Precinct yet, we've got funding for that to deliver that project as well.
Just go back to some of your earlier comments on I'm paraphrasing here, but the turbulent times of the world economy, what are you forecasting or what is Treasury forecasting for economic growth? And how's that eye on all price is going to stack over the next year or so?
Yeah, Well, the iron ore price we have always budgeted conservatively, which you know, will I think be very very good for our state because what we're seeing is these commodity prices bouncing around as a result of what's happening in the world. So we continue to budget conservatively on the iron ore price, noting and that I think today the iron ore price is just over ninety dollars, and you know it was peaking at one hundred and forty about
a year ago. In relation to our economy, like I said, there's significant economic headwinds, and that's why this budget's about investing in things like making more things here, more manufacturing in wa and also trying to attract new projects. Our forecasts are very very strong still in relation to economic growth. We expect our state economy to grow between two point five and three percent over the next two or three years.
But that's why we've invested. We're investing so much into trying to attract as much private sector investment in the state to continue to drive new jobs. And we've got a big program thirteen billion dollars in energy and water infrastructure to roll that out support new jobs and new investment, because we need to do that given what's happening around the world. We need to basically reinforce in a sense
portress WI. We need to keep working to make sure we can protect ourselves from some of these terrible global issues that are impacting everybody.
And what about those other envious treasures in other states in Australia. We'll be looking at your books today and maybe they'll start to yell across a nuther more, refire that TST again.
Yeah. No, they have been yelling already a bit, and we've got some big commentators over there who keep yelling at us. But look, if we didn't have this GST deal, we couldn't invest in the economic infrastructure that supports new projects. And this other figure which we use to and which is in the budget is that Wa as a state receives thirty nine billion dollars less than we pay to Canbra and that means all these companies in Wa who are working hard, a lot of those profits go over
to Canberra. Now, if we didn't have the finances to build these new projects, to get these new projects underway, that would be a negative impact not only to Wa but Australia. So we say supporting Wa supports national economic growth and the national finances and will continue to prosecute that case against all other Eastern state commentators who try and tear away our GST deal treasures.
Thanksy time, thank you,