The Cook Government’s 2026-27 State Budget lays the building blocks for a strong Western Australian economy but fails to deliver on meaningful reform to help business, says CCIWA.
CCIWA Chief Economist Dr Daniel Kiely
The $3.5 billion surplus for the current financial year, built on the back of WA industry and strong iron ore prices, shows the State’s economy is well-placed to weather global shocks from the Middle East conflict.
The surplus is forecast to drop but remains at $2.4b for the 2026-27 financial year.
CCIWA Chief Economist Dr Daniel Kiely said the Budget would only deliver growth if businesses were supported to grow.
“This is a building block Budget that sets a strong foundation for future growth,” he said.
“On behalf of our Members across every sector of the WA economy, we welcome the investment in housing and planning reform. However, we can’t build houses without apprentices and reliable fuel and energy sources.
“We’re also disappointed in the lack of action on payroll tax reform. Payroll tax is a handbrake on growth and urgently needs reform to ease pressure on small and medium-sized businesses.
Key takeaways for business:
- $3.5b surplus for the current financial year, forecast to drop to a healthy $2.4b for the 2026-27 financial year.
- $19.6m for wage subsidies for 300 more apprentices.
- $1.4b for the clean energy fund and $153m to help industry decarbonise through low-interest loans
- Over $90m to fast-track key industrial precincts and projects
- Over $45m to support the critical minerals sector
- Cost-of-living relief for households but nothing to support businesses through the fuel crisis.
Cost-of-living measures
The Budget featured some modest cost-of-living measures, including $100 fuel vouchers for every driver, and an extension of the WA Student Assistance program.
But it stopped short of offering any relief for businesses being crunched by fuel costs and supply chain challenges.
“The cost-of-living measures for households will help boost consumer spending without being inflationary, but sadly businesses won’t receive any direct support through this crisis,” Kiely said.
“In March, a CCIWA survey found 82% of WA businesses had seen their supplier costs increase as a result of the conflict in the Middle East, at a time when businesses were already being squeezed by high costs.”
GST deal should be front of mind
Kiely said the strong surplus underlines the importance of maintaining the current GST arrangements.
“If the current GST deal was scrapped, that would leave a $6b black hole in the State’s finances,” he said.
“This would directly impact the Government’s ability to fund services like hospitals and schools, and to build the infrastructure needed to support WA’s growing population.
“It’s vital that the GST deal is maintained to ensure that WA can cope with the growth needed to prop up the national economy.”
Kiely said that while the increase in threshold for the stamp duty exemption for first home buyers was welcome, its impact would be limited.
“A more ambitious approach to stamp duty reform would go a long way to tackling housing affordability,” he said.
“Stamp duty impacts labour mobility because the cost discourages people from moving closer to where jobs are.”
Training incentives fall short
CCIWA welcomed the $19.6m dollar investment in apprentice wage subsidy, but businesses would be disappointed there was no increase to employer incentives.
“We know that apprenticeship numbers have fallen dramatically and more substantial employer incentives would help address that,” Kiely said.
“Employers take on the risk and expense of training the next generation of workers and at a time when costs and productivity are a challenge, more support is needed to ensure WA has the skilled workers it needs into the future.”
Investment in the energy transition was also welcome, with $1.4b for the Clean Energy Fund and $153m to help businesses to decarbonise.
Kiely said while State debt was forecast to increase, WA still had the lowest debt in the nation, and the Budget showed the economy remained strong despite global uncertainty.
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