Shadow Treasurer Dr Steve Thomas says that the State Government should be doing more to help families, including reviewing its recent increases to fees and charges, as the community grapples with the rapidly rising cost of living.
“Today’s 0.5% rise in the official interest rate has again highlighted the cost of living here in Western Australia, where the Government has a greater capacity than anywhere else in the country, perhaps the world, to minimise the impact,” Dr Thomas said.
“We have now seen five consecutive monthly interest rate rises, and the cash rate has risen from 0.1% at the start of May to 2.35%.
“Simple maths says that it is 23.5 times higher than it was in May.
“This is now the highest rate since December 2014.
“The State Government has a role to play in helping people cope with the massive increase in their daily costs, and it should immediately focus on how much it charges people for normal living services.
“Given the massive budget surpluses the Government is getting, thanks mainly to iron ore royalties, they should be looking to minimise the imposts they themselves put on people in terms of fees and charges.”
“It is not sufficient to simply give a $2,500 cost of living bonus to public servants, because this group represents only 10% of the entire workforce” Dr Thomas said.
“What is the McGowan Government doing to mitigate the impact for the other 1,350,000 Western
Australian workers and their families?
“It is sitting on more than $20 billion in surpluses over five years, so it can well and truly afford to give some back to struggling households.”
