It’s music to Western Australian Premier Mark McGowan’s ears as the state is praised for having the best economy in the entire world.
Global credit rating agency S&P deemed WA’s economy the best in the world over the past 12 months, outsmarting North Rhine Westphalia in Germany which came second place and Queensland which was the next-best state in Australia.
This comes just days before locals in WA head to the polls on Saturday to cast their vote in the state election, which Mr McGowan’s Labor Party is deemed to win with almost certainty.
Opposition leader Zak Kirkup, a first-term Liberal MP who’s been in the reins only since November, is already conceding defeat.
Mr McGowan has praised his government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic including his strong stance on the hard border closure.
On the back of a mining boom and soaring iron ore price, WA has performed better than any other state or region in Australia or the world over the past 12 months since the pandemic hit.
This comes as consumer confidence in WA is also at an 11-year high.
WA is expected to run a 2020-21 cash deficit equivalent to 0.6 per cent of state revenue by the end of the financial year.
The S&P report also found that WA’s debt as a percentage of operating revenue was the lowest in the world at 91.8 per cent.
Mr McGowan told reporters on Monday that “the fact of the matter is that our economy is going very well”.
“We’ve turned around the finances, turned $3 billion deficits into $3 billion surpluses, kept the mining industry – and the royalties that come from it – open at the height of the pandemic,” Mr McGowan said.
“If we’re lucky enough to be re-elected, that will continue,” he added, referring to the state’s upcoming election.
The WA Premier added the post-JobKeeper economic climate could be a challenge for many WA locals if support wasn’t extended beyond the March 28 cut-off.
“The international borders will stay in place, I would expect, for the rest of this year, and therefore some tourism businesses will find it difficult,” he said.
“If (the Federal Government) wants to keep a form of JobKeeper in place beyond the end of March for those sorts of industries, I’d support it.”
In the lead up to the state election, McGowan’s government made a pledge of $6.7 million to improve disability access and employment across the state and promised to add more funding to the state’s TAFE system.
Mr McGowan also revealed on Monday his parents, who’ve been based in New South Wales, had driven across the country last week to be by his side for the tail-end of the election. This is the first time he has seen his parents since the pandemic began.
So far, WA has vaccinated more than 7000 people against the coronavirus, and recorded no new local COVID-19 cases and two in hotel quarantine on Monday.
Source: news.com.au