Extract from Hansard [ASSEMBLY - Tuesday, 15 May 2007] p2156b-2212a Mr Eric Ripper; Mr Paul Omodei; Deputy Speaker; Mr Troy Buswell; Mr Terry Waldron; Acting Speaker; Dr Steve Thomas; Mr Trevor Sprigg; Ms Katie Hodson-Thomas; Speaker; Mr Max Trenorden; Mr Tony McRae; Mr Terry Redman; Mr John Castrilli; Mr Tony Simpson APPROPRIATION (CONSOLIDATED ACCOUNT) BILL (NO. 1) 2007 APPROPRIATION (CONSOLIDATED ACCOUNT) BILL (NO. 2) 2007 Declaration as Urgent On motion by Mr E.S. Ripper (Treasurer), resolved - That the Appropriation (Consolidated Account) Bill (No. 1) 2007 and the Appropriation (Consolidated Account) Bill (No. 2) 2007 be considered urgent bills. Cognate Debate Leave granted for the Appropriation (Consolidated Account) Bill (No. 1) 2007 and the Appropriation (Consolidated Account) Bill (No. 2) 2007 to be considered cognately, and for the Appropriation (Consolidated Account) Bill (No. 1) 2007 to be the principal bill. Second Reading - Cognate Debate Resumed from 10 May. MR P.D. OMODEI (Warren-Blackwood - Leader of the Opposition) [3.27 pm]: I will not be the lead speaker for the opposition on these bills. I am a firm believer that every generation of Western Australians should have a better lifestyle, access to better facilities and more opportunities than the generation preceding it. We currently enjoy unprecedented economic prosperity in Western Australia, on the back of the industrialisation of China and the global resources boom. Unfortunately, we are yet to take advantage of the opportunities these good times provide us. Despite strong economic growth, low unemployment and record government revenues, this government cannot even provide for the present. How then, can we trust the Carpenter government to secure our future? The people of Western Australia have every right to ask just where their hard-earned money is going, when Western Australia has a shortage of teachers in the classroom, a shortage of police officers on the beat, a shortage of nurses in hospitals, the least affordable housing in Australia, the highest taxing Treasurer in the country, unacceptable waiting times for health care and a government riddled with corruption. The Carpenter government had become complacent in these good economic times. It believes that everything is okay because it has a stack of cash. Withdrawal of Remark Mr R.C. KUCERA: I heard the Leader of the Opposition make reference to the government - that is, the current government - being riddled with corruption. There is no evidence to support such a contention, and I suggest it be withdrawn. Mr C.J. BARNETT: There is absolutely no doubt that this government is riddled with corruption. There is a Corruption and Crime Commission report full of it. There are five disgraced former ministers sitting on the back bench. Of course the government is absolutely ridiculed with corruption. Mr P.B. Watson: Name the five. Mr C.J. BARNETT: I can count five, and Norm makes six. The DEPUTY SPEAKER: It is not a matter for debate. I did not hear the comment and I do not think any direct accusations were made. I ask members to continue with the debate at hand. Debate Resumed Mr P.D. OMODEI: The government believes that everything is okay because it has a stack of cash in the bank and the Western Australian public can be bought. The government’s spending is growing at an unsustainable rate. It is employing more public servants and paying more in public service wages, but there are still staff shortages in key areas. This government tries to spend its way out of political problems while the waiting lists of our hospitals are growing and schools are falling to pieces. Let us not forget the New South Wales experience. Just over a decade ago, New South Wales was an economic powerhouse. The then government called that state the “Premier State”. Twelve years on, in spite of raking in billions of dollars in stamp duty and goods and services tax receipts, its economy is on the verge of recession. Its jobless rate is the second worst on mainland Australia; its public service wage bill has blown out; its public infrastructure is crumbling; its budget is back in deficit; and it cannot pay for today let alone invest in tomorrow. Members should not think that cannot happen here. The Treasurer’s record tax and spend regime already has Western Australia heading down the same path. Western Australian taxpayers cannot trust this state Labor government with their money. The Carpenter government is currently mismanaging the good times. [1] Extract from Hansard [ASSEMBLY - Tuesday, 15 May 2007] p2156b-2212a Mr Eric Ripper; Mr Paul Omodei; Deputy Speaker; Mr Troy Buswell; Mr Terry Waldron; Acting Speaker; Dr Steve Thomas; Mr Trevor Sprigg; Ms Katie Hodson-Thomas; Speaker; Mr Max Trenorden; Mr Tony McRae; Mr Terry Redman; Mr John Castrilli; Mr Tony Simpson By any measure this state’s budget was a fizzer. It made more headlines for what it failed to deliver rather than for what it did deliver. It was a tired budget from a tired government that has no vision for the future of Western Australia. The Western Australian Treasurer believes that building a hospital is a vision. It is not a vision. This government is in office to provide infrastructure, including hospitals and schools. The budget failed to deliver real tax cuts to the Western Australian public; it failed the housing affordability test; it failed our capital city; it failed our regions; it failed our households; and it failed our businesses. The Treasurer claims that his tax cuts would equate to $413 million next financial year; however, the budget papers forecast only $95 million in tax cuts next year. He is still the highest taxing Treasurer in Australia. If his track record is anything to go by, the Treasurer will collect more tax next year than ever before. The Treasurer also claimed that there will be land tax cuts of $360 million next year. We now know that that is a phantom figure. The Treasurer will collect an additional $40 million in land tax next year, which is a 10 per cent increase. Most people will find, when their land tax bills are delivered, that they will pay more. The Western Australian public has every right to feel cheated by this deceptive Treasurer, especially when these phoney tax cuts are coupled with a four per cent increase in household fees and charges. This increase, which is about 30 per cent higher than the forecast rate of inflation, broke a long-held Labor promise to keep spikes in household charges under the consumer price index increase. The Carpenter government did not have one genuine reason for increasing household fees and charges this year. Perhaps the only justification it can give is that it is not an election year. In February this year, the Liberal Party announced a tax package that it said the Treasurer should at least match in this year’s budget. It was a package that included stamp duty relief for homebuyers and motorists, land tax cuts and payroll tax reductions. This package was designed to cut the total amount of taxation revenue collected by $328 million. It provided real tax relief to households and the business and property sectors. It would have started the process of transforming Western Australia from the highest to the lowest taxing state in this nation. The package set the bar for significant tax relief, which the Western Australian public expected. The Treasurer had the opportunity to soar over the top of that bar, but he feebly limboed under the bar. It is no wonder that with $90 million in tax cuts the Treasurer has found it difficult to sell his budget in the past week. The Liberal Party is committed to once again making Western Australia the lowest taxing state in this nation. It is an integral part of the Liberal Party’s strategic vision for the future of Western Australia. This process will take a number of budgets and involve a major improvement in spending discipline. That is why we have established an expenditure review committee - to rein in government spending. The committee will eradicate the wasteful management practices of the Carpenter government and ensure the efficient delivery of core public services. The Liberal Party will transform backroom bureaucrats and fat cats into front-line delivery roles such as teachers, nurses, police officers and child protection officers. Under Labor, the size of the public service has now grown by more than 18 000 people. However, the people of Western Australia are not seeing any improvements in service delivery. The task force will identify government waste and duplication in the public service and come up with a plan to improve service delivery through the reallocation of resources. We cannot afford to have government spending increases at the rate of 10 per cent a year. That increase is why we have not received tax cuts, why this government cannot build anything and why the New South Wales experience might be replicated in Western Australia. Today I will outline some of the Liberal Party’s plans for the future of Western Australia. The continued prosperity of our state is not guaranteed under Labor. The Carpenter government has been handed a once-in-a- generation opportunity to secure the state’s future. However, it wrongly assumes that that will happen without careful planning. The key to securing the state’s future is to make Western Australia the best place in the world to do business and to raise a family and for lifestyle. We want to make Perth an international destination of choice for tourists, workers and their families. We want Western Australia to become the most business-friendly state in the nation and play a major role in the ongoing development of the Asian and Indian Ocean rim economies.