Cost of Living

It is very hard to miss the rising prices and cost of living in Western Australia at the moment.

It hits you every time you have to fill your car or truck up.

Petrol and diesel are not the only examples, but they have a cascading effect on other products as transport costs climb.

Interest rates around the world are also rising, and as the Australian CPI climbs, it is all but certain that soon Australia will follow suit.

Which means that costs for us all are about to go up again.

While the State Government doesn’t control prices, it has an important role to play in helping people cope with the massive increase in their daily costs.

The State Government fees and charges on a “representative” Western Australian household is currently budgeted at $6,382 a year, and they should immediately focus on how to reduce the amount they charge people for normal Government services. 

Given the massive budget surpluses the Government is getting, thanks to rising iron ore and gas prices, higher tax revenue and the GST fix, they should be looking to minimise the imposts they put on people. 

For example, one easy option for the Government is to stop overcharging people for the delivery of waste water services.

In 2017 the McGowan Government was told by the Economic Regulatory Authority that it was ripping off households to the tune of $400 a year in their charges for wastewater.

The Government did nothing in response.

Five years later, when costs of living are through the roof and so is the Government’s revenue, this is a prime opportunity to stop the rip off and put some much needed dollars back into households.

This can be a short-term measure, lasting only as long as the skyrocketing petrol prices are matched by boom time iron ore royalties for example. In this way it would not result in a permanent increase in budget costs.

Of course, there are plenty of other options available to the Premier to reduce the state cost burden on people; if he is having trouble thinking of some, I am happy to help.

Not that there is any doubt that the McGowan Government can afford to be far more generous than they have been, given their massive revenues that are giving them huge surpluses.

Ratings Agency S&P recently suggested that the McGowan Government might have an $8 billion surplus this year. 

That might be a bit high, but the Government is highly likely to equal or exceed last year’s $5.8 billion, which was the biggest surplus of any state in Australia’s history.

Premier McGowan’s coffers are bulging - the last quarterly financial statement in February told us that GST revenue was up $1 billion, payroll tax was up $422 million, and transfer duty was up $304 million.

Premier McGowan is conservatively sitting on nearly $20 billion in surpluses over five years, so he can well and truly afford to give some back to struggling households.

Instead of filling up his money bin like Scrooge McDuck, he should be urgently reviewing his fees and charges policy as the community grapples with the rapidly rising cost of living.

There’s a state budget coming up in May, and the Western Australian Government has a greater capacity to help its people than any other, but will they step up to the plate?