Premier welcomes Labor's first Budget

13/9/01
Labor's first Budget restores discipline to the State's finances while laying the foundations for the delivery of better services to the community, Premier Geoff Gallop said today.
Welcoming the Treasurer's 2001-02 State Budget, handed down in Parliament today, Dr Gallop said the new Government had shown it could manage the State's finances responsibly while delivering on its election commitments.
"This is a responsible Budget which delivers on Labor's priorities," he said.
"It is a Budget that delivers better services for Western Australians, particularly in the priority areas of health, education, police and the environment.
"And it is a Budget that returns our State's finances to a sound footing by delivering surpluses instead of deficits in future years and reining in State debt.
"For the first time in years the Government is living within its means."
The Premier said the new Labor Government had inherited a financial legacy of unsustainable spending and unfunded commitments.
He said the Budget was the first instalment in a four-year plan to build a stronger State by returning public finances to a sustainable position and maintaining WA's AAA credit rating.
The Government had more than paid for its election commitments totalling $785 million through savings of more than $850 million.
"We have installed discipline in government where there was none and a sense of direction where there was drift," Dr Gallop said.
"We have attacked the waste and extravagance that had become hallmarks of the previous administration and redirected the savings into the areas that matter most to families - better hospitals and schools and safer communities."
Major highlights of Labor's four-year Budget strategy included:

• an extra $385 million for health, well above Labor's pre-election commitment of $240 million in additional expenditure;

• an additional $100 million for education to provide, among other things, 200 additional teachers to improve literacy and numeracy standards behavioural problems in schools;

• 250 additional police officers and $20 million of new funding to keep more police on the beat more often; and

• a 21 per cent increase in funding for the environment this year to protect old growth forests and tackle salinity.

Dr Gallop said the new revenue measures included in the Budget were regrettable but necessary to cover the previous government's unfunded spending commitments.
"While new revenue measures were not part of our financial plan before the election, it would have been irresponsible to allow State finances to drift further into the red," he said.
"But we have done our best to ensure the new measures are fair, modest and targeted at those who can most afford to pay.
"And importantly, WA continues to be the second lowest taxing State in the nation, minimising any adverse impact on investment."
Dr Gallop said one of the most pleasing features of the Budget was the massive capital works program of $3.3 billion this year - the biggest on record.
"This will be a great stimulus for the WA economy and, together with the expected upturn in business investment, will result in thousands of new jobs," he said.
"More than $1 billion will be spent in the portfolio of Planning and Infrastructure alone, reflecting the Government's commitment to public transport and road infrastructure around the State.
"And almost $800 million will be spent on infrastructure development by our two largest public utilities, Western Power and the Water Corporation."
The Premier said the Budget process had been difficult and exhaustive and all those involved deserved praise for their contribution.
"Treasurer Eric Ripper can be proud of his first Budget and I congratulate him and the Treasury Department for their effort," he said.
"My Ministerial colleagues also deserve recognition for the work they contributed to the budget process."Media contact: Kieran Murphy 9222 9475