From the AFR:
The West Australian government will freeze public sector staff levels, cap leave liabilities and cut procurement costs as it tries to ward off a multimillion-dollar budget deficit due to falling commodity prices.
Treasurer Troy Buswell said without the measures, which will save $328 million from the 2012-13 budget, WA’s planned $196 million surplus for the year would become a deficit.
“If we did nothing [by] the time of the mid-year review we’d report a big deficit,” he said.
Royalties now make up around 20 per cent of the state’s revenue, and every dollar shed from the price per tonne slashes $33 million from the state’s royalty incomes.
Assuming that is referring to iron ore, that means roughly a billion dollars up in smoke in the past three months.
