The WA Budget is a true comedy act. Today is the release of the 2016-17 Pre-election Financial Projections Statement and the news is that after just 48 days the downgrades are flowing with no surplus in sight in the forward estimates any longer:
Despite a robust upgrade to iron ore LNG prices, growth has been halved and state final demand has fallen another -0.75% in 48 days:
Even more amusing, is growth for next financial has even been rounded up. There are more costs too:
From the ABC:
Treasurer Mike Nahan deflected questions about when the public could expect a return to surplus if the Liberals are re-elected, and whether it further damaged the Government’s economic credentials.
But Dr Nahan said the result showed the need for a proper plan to tackling debt, which he claimed Labor did not have.
“They are in cloud cuckoo land, promising huge increases in expenditure with fake offsets and buckets of money in the budget that do not exist,” he said.
If I were Dr Nahan’s media advisor, I would strongly suggest that he steer clear of phrases like “cloud cookoo land”.
