the west and in turn liberals are going hard with the anti-nrl campaign. lol 2 or 3 articles a day now.
is this the only thing they have to argue against in this election? also thought it was not suppose to be an election issue, didn't some posters without a clue here state this? seems to be an issue if in media multiple times a day every day lol
It’s being cast by the ballooning list of un-costed and un-funded promises by Premier Roger Cook and WA Labor who are making last minute deals on the run - from rugby to rail.
thewest.com.au
Steve Martin: There’s a dark and growing debt shadow looming over the coming State election
There’s a dark and growing debt shadow looming over the coming State election.
It’s being cast by the ballooning list of un-costed and un-funded promises by Premier Roger Cook and WA Labor who are making last minute deals on the run — from rugby to rail.
As is usual in election campaigns, both major parties are out to woo voters with policies and promises, and the normal practice is to put a price on those promises.
Labor have resorted to flashing a WA taxpayer credit card around in recent weeks but refusing to tell the public what they are racking up on it.
The news that Premier Roger Cook has been on the phone with National Rugby League supremo Peter V’Landys about bringing a team to Perth for what could be a $320 million charge on the credit card is just the latest example.
Just a few weeks ago Treasurer Rita Saffioti decided she was in the market for a rail freight network and was willing to pay whatever it took to buy back the lease for WA’s regional network from Arc Infrastructure.
So she dashed off a letter to Arc looking for a deal, right before caretaker government kicked in.
When fronting the media to explain her plan, the Treasurer offered no figures and no mention of how the purchase would be funded. Where will the money come from? There are only two options — debt or taxes collected from WA taxpayers.
Even assuming Arc is looking to sell, does the Treasurer have a figure in mind that the WA taxpayers should be willing to fork out? Apparently not. Industry insiders suggest it would be billions. Possibly as high as $5 billion.
Steve Martin is the Deputy WA Liberal Leader. Yes
Ms Saffioti’s dual-track responsibilities as both the Treasurer and Minister for Transport is a serious baked-in problem for the Cook Government.
Ms Saffioti’s failure to control transport spending is well known and combined with the unfettered access to state coffers as Treasurer, she’s overseen the fastest spending growth of any state treasurer in 15 years.
So, how much money is in Labor’s budget or election costings for the buyback? Not a cent.
And given Labor’s $10 billion blowout track record on Metronet, we know Ms Saffioti can comfortably turn that $5b into a much more substantial number.
Next, we move on from the un-costed rail buyback to the Cook Government’s Westport promise. Another neat — and financially risky — dovetailing of Saffioti’s dual responsibilities.
In 2020, we were told the port would cost $4.7b. Late last year WA Labor admitted the cost was now more like $7.2b.
Of that $7.2b, how much is actually allocated to the project in the budget? Less than $500m.
And if Westport were to blow out by anywhere near same magnitude as Metronet, it will end up costing closer to $30b — a huge figure to add to WA’s already-rising debt under Labor.
So, back to Roger Cook’s rugby league deal.
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In September last year, it was reported that Cook was “the driving force” behind the league expansion into WA and that “it’s effectively a done deal”.
Cook, a die-hard league fan, has been pushing for a Perth team to join the national competition but as the deal gets closer, we have no idea of the cost to taxpayers.
V’Landys’ track record indicates he drives a hard bargain. He convinced the Federal Labor Government to give the sport $600m of taxpayers’ money to establish a team in Papua New Guinea.
So far, Roger Cook has refused to say how much the State Government — really the taxpayers of WA — will be up for.
Media reports have suggested a $300m figure. I can hear the Premier now: “Just put it on the card.”
The dozens of small football, netball and hockey clubs in regional WA will look on with interest if Labor throws hundreds of millions of dollars at a relocated Sydney team. Not much rugby league is played in Kellerberrin, Mullewa or Lake Grace.
To avoid scrutiny of its Budget black holes, Labor has been thrashing around the campaign trail splashing cash and accusing the WA Liberals of all sorts of random misdemeanours.
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It’s the oldest trick in the magician’s book. Distraction and misdirection. If they are clever, you won’t even notice their hand in your wallet while they are pulling a rabbit out of your hat.
The WA Liberals have very clear policy priorities. We have put forward sensible, practical and long-term proposals to fix cost of living, repair our broken health system, get more homes built and deal with the significant law and order challenges gripping the state.
The Treasurer/Transport Minister continues to bask in the state of the Government’s books, but only because the WA Labor Government is the highest taxing Government in WA history. Payroll tax, transfer duty, fees and charges have all skyrocketed.
Sadly, for WA families, so too have rents, the price of home ownership, the cost of groceries and other necessities of daily life.
World events are moving at a Trumpian pace. With uncertainty over interest rates, tariff wars and the resilience of the Chinese economy.
And with the election just around the corner, Labor needs to come clean and reveal exactly how much in un-costed commitments they are putting on the WA taxpayer credit card.
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Steve Martin is the shadow treasurer
