From the AFR’s Jonathon Barrett:
Because of the deficits and debt, the government has no room to move.
As unemployment levels rise, and business investment falls, it can’t now commission major new works to spur economic activity unless, like the Perth Freight Link (not a symbol of successful planning by any stretch of the imagination), the federal government pays the lion’s share.
So the downturn will be longer and deeper than it should be.
…So, was this set of dour financial books avoidable? Given the sharp fall in iron ore prices, a budget may well have had to go temporarily in deficit.
But with suitable “budget cushions” vital for a volatile resources state – such as big surpluses, a large future fund and conservative commodity forecasts – the downside would have been limited, and, crucially, the government would have had room to come up with some creative, economic spurring options.
It’s not rocket surgery is it? The Barnett Government has effectively condemned WA to its largest recession since the Depression if not worse. It should be a sizzling pariah across the nation yet this buried article and MB are the only pointed criticism I can find.
It boggles the mind how trivial and biased the national discussion has become.
