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WA Budget: State Government to stand firm on public sector pay freeze

Daniel Mercer and Nick ButterlyThe West Australian
WA Treasurer Ben Wyatt ahead of today’s State Budget.
Camera IconWA Treasurer Ben Wyatt ahead of today’s State Budget. Credit: Nic Ellis

Ben Wyatt has vowed to stare down public sector unions pushing for an immediate relaxation of the State Government’s tough wages policy but hinted workers from police to teachers could get bigger pay rises from 2021.

The Treasurer spoke to The West Australian on the eve of handing down his third Budget today, when he is expected to confirm the State’s finances are back in the black thanks to surging iron ore and GST revenue and tight spending.

Mr Wyatt acknowledged the improving situation, saying it had been a “tougher” Budget to frame given rising expectations that the Government would loosen the purse strings.

And he said regaining the State’s prized AAA credit rating was still a “longer-term prospect” that would require sustained success in managing the finances.

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While the Treasurer declined to be drawn on whether he would deliver a surplus, earlier yesterday Premier Mark McGowan alluded to the likely achievement by saying “good financial management has its benefits”.

A Budget surplus would be WA’s first in five years and would come two years ahead of schedule after Labor took power in 2017 with the deficit sitting above $3 billion.

Decisions already announced include an expansion of lower-income home lender Keystart’s loan book to stimulate the housing market, $230 million for a new Fremantle traffic bridge and $415 million to remove level crossings on the Armadale rail line.

It is also understood the Government will overhaul the justice system by reforming remand laws, as well as providing more money for prisons upgrades and more judges.

There will be $30 million set aside to redevelop the East Perth power station, a boost to overseas tourism marketing and Rottnest Island, and extra cash to deal with health problems such as meth addiction.

The Government has booked no revenue from a dispute over allegedly unpaid royalties owed by BHP.

In the face of calls from the Opposition for the Government to soften its wages policy, Mr Wyatt stressed he had “no intention” of changing his position and panned what he said was the Liberal Party’s impulse to “spend its way out of trouble”.

Despite this, the Treasurer indicated he might be more amenable to providing relief to the State’s 150,000 public servants once the policy’s four-year timeframe ended.

Under the policy, wage rises are limited to $1000 per worker, while higher-paid public servants, including MPs, judges and agency heads, have had their salaries frozen.

“The Premier and I have made clear time and time again that our policy around wages was always a four-year policy,” he said.

“I think we have a good relationship with the public sector unions and I want to ensure that we’re able to ... negotiate well, to get the outcomes that we need to achieve.”

Shadow treasurer Dean Nalder said the Government had made the financial pain being felt by many people worse through cost-of-living hikes and poorly timed tax increases and should provide relief to businesses and households.

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