AnalysisCost of living was front of mind, but did the WA budget live up to expectations?
Like any long-suffering Fremantle Dockers fan, Western Australia's Treasurer Rita Saffioti knows a thing or two about hope.
Maybe it's why she's so comfortable pushing ahead with all 18 parts of the government's landmark Metronet plans, despite only one line opening so far and the costs blowing out another $707 million in this year's budget to a total of $12.5 billion.
Ms Saffioti, who delivered her first budget in the Dockers' trademark purple, can see Metronet transforming suburbs across Perth in the way the Mandurah line did when it was built nearly two decades ago.
And maybe it will become a reality, like the "future prosperity" that Premier Roger Cook hopes further investing in industry will bring.
But the reaction to the budget revealed many who believe the government's focus on the big picture is leaving out West Australians who are doing it tough right now.
They've been promising for a long time this would be a budget focused on the rising cost of living, and in lots of ways it was, with a $400 power bill credit for households and small businesses and up to $250 for families of every school-aged child on top of support for those living in the regions.
Measures welcomed by many – but as a start, not an end.
"One budget is not the solution to our problems," Anglicare WA CEO Mark Glasson said yesterday.
"We need to focus on long-term cost-of-living relief."
People doing it tough
That's the part many were disappointed was missing from the budget, including mum Rebecca Johnson.
She's taken to planning every meal at the start of the month and making her own butter because it's too expensive to buy.
"We start by checking the specials across the main supermarkets and then we find the cheapest option and we try and build our budget around that," Ms Johnson told the ABC.
When that doesn't work, the mother of four turns to Foodbank, local churches and community support services for help to feed the 10 people inside her Maddington home, including herself and her four kids, as well as her sister, brother-in-law and their three kids.
And she's not alone.
"What we're seeing now is a representation from every part of the community, including dual-income households, who are just trying to balance a budget so they can keep their home," Foodbank WA CEO Kate O'Hara said.
Recognising that extra demand, the government has promised money like the $92 million extra it’s giving to to many homelessness services, but like the power credit, that money will be eaten up quickly.
"Handouts are great and I appreciate them to be a hand up for a certain period of time, but long-term it doesn't actually help because that money disappears," Ms Johnson said.
Asked why the government has relied on one-off handouts so heavily, Saffioti said it was in recognition of the immediate pressures facing people like Rebecca.
"In particular over the past three years, we've seen inflation in the economy, we've seen of course interest rate increases, and so this is a time where we believe Western Australians need the help," she told the ABC.
But those handouts have come at a significant cost to the bottom line. The power credits alone have cost the state more than $2 billion altogether.
"The same amount of money spent on this one-off electricity credit could have delivered energy efficient retrofits and solar power to three-quarters of all social homes across WA, saving tenants up to $2500 per year per household," was an alternative Shelter WA CEO Kath Snell suggested.
Making changes to payroll tax was another opportunity the Chamber of Commerce and Industry believes was missed.
Long-term view
Asked if the government’s windfalls could have been better used to create longer-term structural change like that, Saffioti said the government was doing it in other ways.
"What we're doing is driving economic growth. One of the best ways that we can support Western Australian families is make sure we keep creating jobs in Western Australia," she told the ABC.
Part of that, the government hopes, will come from diversifying the economy away from iron ore, which is expected to account for 88 per cent of royalty income this financial year.
Lithium was meant to help, but estimates for its contribution have been cut by $260 million this year alone.
To try to achieve that elusive diversification goal, the government's spending $1.8 billion in this budget, including $200 million on a critical minerals processing facility (pending Commonwealth approval) and $500 million on a "Strategic Industries Fund" to "unlock WA's strategic industrial areas".
It "would be great" if those efforts reduced reliance on iron ore within five years, according to the treasurer, but if history is any guide, that hope is optimistic at best.
And even if that dream came true, a strong economy doesn't mean nobody needs help – it takes money being directed to the right areas at the right times.
There is still hope Cook and Saffioti can do that, having delivered a budget that has generally been received across the board as a good start.
It's hardly a traditional pre-election budget ahead of next year's poll, but with such a massive margin the gamble might be that it's better to spend closer to the election — something the government can afford to do with such massive surpluses behind it.
But it's no simple task, with governments also having to manage the often unseen side of budgets by paying down debt, keeping the lights on and hospitals running and all the other core business of government, while not driving inflation higher.
At the core of every budget though is a tightrope – balancing spending on the now while also preparing for the future.
Focus too much on the latter and you'll be booted out of power before your vision becomes reality.
Only thinking about the former leaves you open to accusations of lacking vision and allowing a bright-eyed opposition to win over the public.
This government has the power to do both, with massive surpluses as far as the eye (or at least the budget papers) can see, and a very strong chance of being re-elected in March next year.
But, as every Dockers fan knows, relying on hope can leave you waiting a long time for results.
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