Monday, December 21, 2015

WA financial fiasco

Western Australia's Opposition has offered a scathing assessment of the Barnett Government's financial management, arguing it has no one to blame but itself for worsening deficit and debt levels.

Premier Colin Barnett and Treasurer Mike Nahan said the state was caught in a "perfect storm" of falling commodity prices, reduced royalties, lower tax income and dwindling GST revenue.

But shadow treasurer Ben Wyatt said the revised deficit of $3.1 billion and forecast of debt rising to $39 billion was a result of mismanaging the boom.

"When you look at the statistics, when you look at the figures contained in this document, this shows an economy that has literally fallen off a cliff, and Mr Barnett just doesn't know what to do with it," he said.

He also dismissed the Government's continuing assertion that the budget problems could be blamed largely on WA's declining share of GST revenue.

"This is not a GST shock. Our revenue has increased while Mr Barnett has been premier," Mr Wyatt said.

"This is a comprehensive failure on a scale that West Australian's haven't seen before and are unlikely to see into the future."

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