• WA Liberals’ policy costings given tick of approval by an independent expert.
• Sensible financial management, with surpluses to be maintained and an affordable net debt impact of $3.458 billion across the forward estimates.
• 78% of new measures to focus on key areas identified in Building A Better Future blueprint released last October.
• WA Labor’s uncosted rail buyback identified as a spending risk by Treasury, and at an estimated cost over $5 billion is likely worth more than the WA Liberals’ entire commitments.
A Mettam Liberal Government will put an end to Labor’s warped priorities and get WA’s budget priorities right, with a comprehensive and fully costed plan to address cost of living, health, housing, crime, and regional services.
• 25.4% of new measures allocated towards fixing WA’s sick health system.
• 19.6% on addressing ever-increasing cost-of-living pressures on WA families.
• 19.6% on addressing WA Labor’s housing crisis.
• 13.7% on restoring WA’s police force, cracking down on crime and tackling the domestic violence scourge.
With healthy budget surpluses to be maintained each year, the WA Liberal’s budget plan presents a total net debt impact of $3.458 billion over the forward estimates.
This compares closely to WA Labor’s $3.348 billion in net debt impact over the same period, with that figure excluding uncosted Labor commitments such as the $5 billion-plus freight rail buyback.
The WA Liberals’ policy costings have been verified by Mr Peter Conran AM, a senior former public servant with over 30 years of policy and leadership experience within the Western Australian, Northern Territory, and Commonwealth Governments.
Mr Conran was Secretary to Cabinet and Head of the Cabinet Policy Unit under former Prime Minister John Howard from 2003-2007, and later served as Director General of the Department of Premier and Cabinet in Western Australia from 2008 to 2016.
Mr Conran has provided a letter to the WA Liberal Party confirming that the rationale for individual policy costings are sound, and the final mathematical aggregates are accurate.
The appointment of a well-qualified independent third party to verify budget costings aligns completely with WA Labor’s approach to their costings process when last in Opposition, as does the timing of the release ahead of the election.
COMMENTS ATTRIBUTABLE TO STEVE MARTIN
Western Australians face a clear choice on Saturday - Labor are taking Western Australians for granted and if Labor win on Saturday, nothing will change.
They can vote for a lost Labor Government going from one indulgent pet project to the next, or a serious and financially sustainable plan to invest in our hospitals, provide long-term and cost-of-living relief, boost housing supply and crack down on crime.
The WA Liberals have heard from communities right across our state ignored by Labor, and our policy platform is a direct result of the concerns we’ve heard from Western Australians.
What you see here from the WA Liberals is a clear set of priorities, budgeted in a sustainable way, sensibly managing our state’s finances.
Our plan sees WA continue to deliver healthy surpluses every year with an affordable net debt impact, while we work to address eight years of Labor failure.
I thank Peter Conran AM for agreeing to review our costings and am very pleased that he has provided this independent verification of the work our team has done.
