State Budget
Extract from Hansard
26th June 2025
Hon Dr Steve Thomas (12:31 pm): Thank you. I got a bit excited about that!
The motion before the house we are debating today is interesting. I am at least glad that Hon Sandra Carr did not congratulate the Cook Labor government; we have moved on from that a little bit. There are seven really fun parts to this motion. In the few minutes we have got, let us look at some of the bits about budget management. Part (a) of the motion refers to the effective and strategic management of our state's finances. I love "strategic" because presumably the state government strategically orchestrated the biggest boom we have ever by orchestrating the dam failure in South America that drove up the iron ore price, COVID and the massive stimulus packages, which also drove up the iron ore price. The iron ore price is what gives the budget its surpluses, its income and its revenues. The luck of this government is astounding. I think to claim strategic credit, though, is a little bit over the top—the government strategically managed to push the iron ore price up around the world so it could take advantage of it. Well done! I would love to see the strategy that the government put together—"strategic management"!
I have about a minute for each of these. I go to part (b), which refers to the strategic planning for Western Australia's future through a focus on jobs and economic diversification. I thought Hon Tjorn Sibma made a very good point that we have not seen a lot of this to date, but it is pleasing to see that some attempts are being made at economic diversification. That is absolutely great. The first one I like is manufacturing in Western Australia. Let us talk about railcars. We know that railcars are not being manufactured in Western Australia, they are being put together, they are being assembled. The railcars are manufactured elsewhere and they come in. The railcars are being assembled in Western Australia. How well are railcars being assembled in Western Australia? You have to go and get some squeegees from Bunnings to make sure they are operating properly because the windows do not clean properly. There are all these issues with them. In this massive strategic process of economic diversification the government is not manufacturing, it is assembling and messing it up as it goes. The government has a long way to go to have a diversified economy, particularly around manufacturing, in Western Australia.
Hon Dan Caddy interjected.
Hon Dr Steve Thomas: Look, it is Santa Claus without hair over there, well done! Peace to Santa Claus, thank you!
Hon Matthew Swinbourn interjected.
Hon Dr Steve Thomas: Yes, Santa Claus!
The government has also thrown a bit of other money around as well. It has $25 million out there for poles and wires. Apparently that is also economic diversification. There is $25 million going to different companies. Let us invest in manufacturing and poles and wires, but let us have a bit of realism. What is needed for poles and wires in the budget, particularly over the next few years, if there is to be a transition? There needs to be billions of dollars to make a transition work. It is nice to see the government putting some money into a couple of companies. That is good. One of them is in the South West. The Labor Party has worked out that the world does not stop at Mandurah and that is good to see. But is the government diversifying the economy by investing in these companies—good luck to them—or is it simply trying to buy a bit of goodwill out of the process? The government is not diversifying the economy. It has this massive job to do and it is doing this tiny little bit.
Hon Matthew Swinbourn: You have got one minute left to tell us what you would do.
Hon Dr Steve Thomas: We have one minute left. We only have the last section there, so we will run out of time.
The last section refers to strong and targeted regional spending. They love this "strong and targeted regional spending". This is lucky fill in terms of budget revenues. The government has taken lucky fill and moved onto the second step. The government's strategy is to take credit for all the things happened in the world that pushed up revenues to the point at which it is rich and cannot spend the money quickly enough. It is filling up the money bins still, even at this point. The third part of this is: "And we remember where the regions are." Congratulations. The government has not actually enhanced Royalties for Regions; it has not delivered a better Royalties for Region program. It has taken the money and put it into fulfilling its various bits and pieces—its election commitments. There is a lucky fill, the strategy is not working and remember the regions. It has been a great motion.
