April 29, 2018 Households facing $300 a year hit from McGowan budget Western Australian households will have to find, on average, more than $300 a year to pay for increases in State Government fees and charges after the McGowan Government hands down its second budget on May 10. Shadow Treasurer Dean Nalder said analysis of the McGowan Government’s forward estimates showed average power bills would rise by $120, water bills by $102, and the new metropolitan Emergency Services Levy would add $28, taking the total to $300, a 5 per cent increase. The current rate of inflation in WA is 0.8 per cent. Mr Nalder said the increases came on top of the $440 average increase in last year’s budget, meaning the average WA households would be $730 a year worse off since the McGowan Government was elected. “The McGowan Government were very vocal about the cost of living when they were in Opposition, however now they are in Government they are comfortable to increase the cost of essential services to pay for their election promises,” Mr Nalder said. “These increases will be especially hard for pensioners, whose income is linked to inflation, and for many WA workers whose wages haven’t increased for a number of years. “The evidence is there, WA households are struggling, Hardship Utility Grant Scheme applications are at record levels, mortgage stress is the highest in Australia and this magnitude of increase will just add to the burden. “Under the McGowan Government, the average household will be paying $6400 a year for their basic amenities. “Treasurer Ben Wyatt has said he won’t allow competition in the electricity market to allow the price reductions consumers have seen in the gas market but also says he has to increase power prices to reach cost reflectivity. Mr Nalder said the Treasurer also needed to explain why he was forecasting continuing increases in water charges while the Economic Regulation Authority had recommended cutting charges to the typical household by $400 a year. “When a Government charges more for a service than it costs to provide, the charge becomes a tax and that is exactly what the McGowan Government is doing; taxing water,” Mr Nalder said. “The McGowan Government is ignoring the advice of its own experts who say WA households should be getting a reduction in their water charges, not an increase.” Mr Nalder said Premier Mark McGowan’s promise to pay down debt “slowly like a mortgage” was farcical when his Government had grown debt by $5.5 billion in just one year. Media Contact |
