Latest news with #CookGovernment
West Australian
17 hours ago
- Business
- West Australian
WA Budget 2025: Opposition calls for rethink on payroll tax as companies feel the pressure
Shadow treasurer Sandra Brewer has called on the Cook Government to reform payroll tax after it was left untouched in this week's State budget. Ms Brewer said the Government should look at either increasing the threshold to have to pay the tax or to lower the rate of the tax itself. Despite the call, she did not have a suggestion on how much to change either number by. Ms Brewer said the pleas from businesses had been falling on deaf ears. 'Industry associations and employer groups have been asking for a higher threshold and a lower rate to be more competitive with other Australian states for years now, but the government doesn't listen,' she said. 'The opposition is open to listening to all views on payroll tax but we encourage the government to use their parliamentary power and their record receipts of royalties and taxes to look at reforming this tax.' Currently, business with wages of more than $1 million pay payroll tax, with the rate increasing progressively through to business with wages of more than $7.5 million where the full rate of 5.5 per cent is applied. According to the Budget, the payroll tax raised $5.88 billion in the 2024-25 financial year and is tipped to rise to $6.15 billion in 2025-26. By 2028-29, the revenue raised by the tax is expected to surpass $7 billion. Surveying business Vision Surveys Consulting owner Jay Sidhu said he was feeling the pinch from payroll tax. 'Payroll tax is just an unnecessary burden to businesses, especially businesses like us in an economy like this where we're trying to hire more staff,' he said. 'It's being that hindrance for us to even look at potentially hiring more people, it's something that we have to consider very strongly before we actually think of growing sustainably.' Ms Brewer also linked the tax to the current housing shortfall, saying the tax disincentivized construction businesses from growing, limiting its capacity. 'I'm constantly approached by businesses who are finding the rising costs of doing business extremely difficult, and payroll tax is just another cost,' she said. 'It has to be passed on to clients or consumers and that contributes to everything going up. 'We see it particularly in small businesses that are working in the housing sector they have enormous costs and payroll tax is another burden that needs to be passed on to, ultimately, the home buyer.' A State Government spokesperson said taxes were being constantly monitored. 'Our Government continually monitors its tax settings, including payroll tax, to ensure our tax system is fair and competitive with other jurisdictions,' they said. 'It's important to note more than 90 per cent of WA's 235,000 businesses don't pay payroll tax — only larger businesses, and in recent years we've seen incredibly strong growth in business investment. 'Our government has delivered a range of tax reforms to support businesses and reduce red tape, including the biggest increase in the payroll tax threshold in more than two decades in 2020 when we increased the payroll tax exemption by $150,000. 'This provided a payroll tax cut to about 70 per cent of payroll tax paying businesses, including around 1000 that were no longer required to pay payroll tax.'
West Australian
a day ago
- Health
- West Australian
WA Budget 2025: Pharmacists $1.3m shot in the arm
Plans to alleviate WA's healthcare crunch by giving pharmacists more power to prescribe more kinds of medication are moving forward, with a $1.3 million shot in the arm for training. The money will be used to train community pharmacists, who are ultimately likely to be allowed to prescribe as many as 20 different types of medication — although the State Government has yet to confirm that final number. The intention behind the plan is to reduce pressure on GPs and make it easier for people who cannot access a doctor, either because of their location or the cost, to be prescribed medication for some acute and chronic conditions. The so-called enhanced access community pharmacy pilot was announced last year and is expected to be up and running in 2027. Pharmacy Guild of Australia WA president Andrew Ngeow welcomed the funding in Thursday's State Budget. 'We're happy to see the Cook Government put some money into training for community pharmacists for this program,' he said. 'It's an important first step, that will ultimately mean better access to healthcare across WA. 'More funding will be required over time to bring this program to scale, and we'll continue to work with the Cook Government to that end. . . For the price of a one bedroom house in Sydney, we can train over 100 community pharmacists to better help Western Australians. This is a great start.'
Perth Now
a day ago
- Health
- Perth Now
WA Budget 2025: Pharmacists $1.3m shot in the arm
Plans to alleviate WA's healthcare crunch by giving pharmacists more power to prescribe more kinds of medication are moving forward, with a $1.3 million shot in the arm for training. The money will be used to train community pharmacists, who are ultimately likely to be allowed to prescribe as many as 20 different types of medication — although the State Government has yet to confirm that final number. The intention behind the plan is to reduce pressure on GPs and make it easier for people who cannot access a doctor, either because of their location or the cost, to be prescribed medication for some acute and chronic conditions. The so-called enhanced access community pharmacy pilot was announced last year and is expected to be up and running in 2027. Pharmacy Guild of Australia WA president Andrew Ngeow welcomed the funding in Thursday's State Budget. 'We're happy to see the Cook Government put some money into training for community pharmacists for this program,' he said. 'It's an important first step, that will ultimately mean better access to healthcare across WA. 'More funding will be required over time to bring this program to scale, and we'll continue to work with the Cook Government to that end. . . For the price of a one bedroom house in Sydney, we can train over 100 community pharmacists to better help Western Australians. This is a great start.'
ABC News
2 days ago
- Business
- ABC News
WA Budget 2025: Rita Saffioti's second budget delivers $2.4 billion surplus as power credits axed
Western Australia's resources-rich economy is continuing to shower the state with cash, with today's state budget revealing a healthy $2.4 billion surplus for the next financial year. It's the state's seventh consecutive surplus, fuelled by strong iron ore prices and a GST bonanza, and cements WA's position as the nation's top economic performer. But the actual surplus in the year just gone ($2.5 billion) is less than the $3.1 billion forecast in December's mid-year review — and net debt is continuing to climb. This year the state's debt sits at $33.6 billion, and with iron ore prices tipped to fall further on the back of weakening demand from China, growing pressure on the state's bottom line in coming years looks almost certain. And despite a crippling housing crisis, the government is winding back some of its cost-of-living relief, electing to scrap its $400 electricity bill rebates for households. Delivering the re-elected Cook government's first budget, and her second as treasurer, Rita Saffioti remained upbeat, focusing on the relative strength of the economy compared to that in other states, while warning of an uncertain global outlook. WA's robust surplus is likely to be seized on by other states as a reason to review GST distribution arrangements, with the books revealing WA will get $7.4 billion in GST grants this financial year, rising to $7.8 billion next year. Most of the budget was focused on delivering election commitments and already announced measures, including: Ms Saffioti was defensive when asked about its $963 million cost of living relief package after including the Commonwealth's $150 per household subsidy in the figure. Also included in that figure was the state government's solar home battery subsidy scheme, which it substantially reduced after the federal government also offered subsidies. Household costs and charges will rise 2.5 per cent this year, lower than inflation, and the treasurer said cost of living relief would mainly come in the form of trying to reduce rental prices. "We have to increase housing supply to take the pressure off rent prices," she told reporters. Ms Saffioti said housing approvals had risen 45 per cent in the year to April and the rental vacancy rate had risen from 0.5 per cent to 2.8 per cent. Both the treasurer and Premier Roger Cook warned of economic headwinds ahead thanks to global geopolitical instability and China's weakened economic outlook. "Clearly these are not the global conditions anyone would have hoped for," Mr Cook said. However, he said the budget would "set WA up for the future" by diversifying the economy and making the state a "renewables powerhouse and successfully navigate the global uncertainty we now face". A total of $2.7 billion has been set aside to "support future growth" and make WA less reliant on other economies such as China. That figure includes $1.4 billion for its 'Made in WA' program, which aims to boost the local manufacturing industry and create thousands of jobs. Under the plan, electric buses and ferries will be built in WA, as will solar batteries.
ABC News
5 days ago
- Business
- ABC News
WA government rolls out suite of housing assistance ahead of state budget
Affordable housing is shaping up as a major focus for the Cook government in the lead-up to Thursday's budget — it's first review of the books since being re-elected for a third term. For the second straight day, the government is spruiking a housing focused initiative, offering low deposit loans for modular homes in an attempt to encourage more West Australians into home ownership. The support is available from today, with buildings constructed off-site in a shorter time-frame, then later assembled on-site. The pre-budget announcement also included a $210 million shared equity scheme, and a build-to-rent fund, with both due to start later this year. Up to 1,000 of those loans will be available with the state purchasing an equity share of up to 35 per cent of the home's value, or a maximum of $250,000. The government said that would make it easier for lower and middle income households to enter home ownership by lowering both the up-front purchase cost and ongoing mortgage repayments. It follows another announcement on Sunday of $12.3 million being set aside in the upcoming budget to entice interstate and international tradespeople to come and work in WA, in a bid to increase the capacity to build more homes and address the affordable housing crisis. The focus on housing comes after a report released last week highlighted the extent of the crisis, with more than half of West Australian households considering their housing unaffordable, an increase of 91 per cent in just two years. The Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre [BCEC] report concluded a shortage of homes was the main problem, with an increasing number of West Australians at risk of being unable to afford their rent or mortgage payments, and a lack of housing forcing people out of central areas towards the outskirts in an attempt to find affordable properties. Master Builders Western Australia, which represents the wider construction industry in the state, has welcomed the announcements. "The new low deposit modular loan product is a fantastic initiative, as modular construction continues to become a more popular choice for many, especially in regional WA," MBAWA Chief Executive Matthew Pollock said. Mr Pollock said the changes were welcomed and would help more people achieve their dream of home ownership, as well as boosting local economies and creating jobs. Despite the announcements, questions continue to be raised as to whether the construction industry has enough capacity to meet the skyrocketing demand for more housing amid the crisis. While welcoming the announcement, Property Council of WA Executive Director Nicola Brischetto said the workforce continues to be a major challenge. "Workforce in the construction sector is definitely the biggest barrier in terms of getting homes delivered," Ms Brischetto said. "We know that we need more people on the ground and we also need to be able to do more with the people that we have. "Definitely workforce is the biggest challenge, and will continue to be the biggest challenge, so it's encouraging to see more being done in that space." Upon making various housing-related announcements, the government has been constantly emphasising its point that it is throwing everything at the housing crisis. But the number of new homes completed in the last year fell 4,000 short of WA's target set under the National Housing Accord, and the authors of the BCEC report say much more needs to be done. "The government is largely powerless to affect what happens in the market, but it can help accelerate housing supply, it can produce more social housing," report co-author Professor Steven Rowley said last week. The 2025-26 state budget will be handed down on Thursday afternoon, with 20 announcements across various portfolio's already made. A total of $3 billion has already been pledged for projects including:
