Housing, health care and cost-of-living relief are likely to feature prominently in Western Australia’s budget as more people struggle.<\/p>\n
Cost of living measures in today’s budget include:<\/p>\n
- \n
- $100 payments for WA’s 2.1 million driver’s licence holders to help ease the cost of fuel, available from July 1.<\/li>\n
- A continuation of student assistance payments for every primary and high school student, which pays up to $250 per child.<\/li>\n
- Free student fares on public transport will be ongoing, as will free fares for everyone on Sundays.<\/li>\n
- A new gold card for foster parents and grandparents will provide support including $377 in energy bill rebates.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Household fees and charges, including power bills, have gone up 2.7 per cent or $160 per year.<\/p>\n
But those households who both use public transport and are eligible for the fuel support payment will be better off to the tune of $222 per year.<\/p>\n
The government has chosen not to revive its popular power bill rebate, which it axed last year.<\/p>\n
The numbers in a nutshell<\/p>\n
WA is still the engine room of the nation’s economy, and today’s $3.5 billion surplus for the current financial year is the eighth in a row.<\/p>\n
And next year is also looking rosy, although the surplus is projected to drop to $2.4 billion.<\/p>\n
To put that in perspective, only two other states are in the black: Victoria’s surplus is $700 million and South Australia is forecasting $179 million.<\/p>\n
![\"Rita](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/ad8c40092610f95b944cf0a16dcbfb0b.jpeg\")
<\/p>\nWA Premier Roger Cook and Treasurer Rita Saffioti have unveiled the 2026-27 state budget.\u00a0 (ABC News: Cason Ho)<\/p>\n
Net debt is slightly down, and is forecast to reach $34.5 billion this financial year, down from $39 billion last year.<\/p>\n
It’s an eye-watering figure but Treasurer Rita Saffioti insists it’s all relative, and compared to the size of the economy and other states, everything is under control.<\/p>\n
Nonetheless, the proportion of debt to income has risen from 6.7 per cent to 7.1 per cent, and there are storm clouds on the horizon, with creeping inflation and the effects of the Middle East war causing ongoing global uncertainty.<\/p>\n
Housing is a worry<\/p>\n
Housing is perhaps Ms Saffioti’s biggest headache, with the median house price in Perth now exceeding $1 million, prompting a suite of measures to boost supply help first homebuyers into the market.<\/p>\n
They include:<\/p>\n
- \n
- Stamp duty exemptions for houses worth $600,000 or less, and a concessional rate for houses up to $800,000.<\/li>\n
- Stamp duty is also being waived for first homebuyers buying blocks of land up to the value of $450,000 (up from $350,000).<\/li>\n
- A $1 billion infrastructure fund, partly funded by Canberra, to connect power and water for new land developments.<\/li>\n
- Houses up to $800,000 will be eligible for $10,000 first home owner grants (up from $750,000).<\/li>\n
- An ambitious target of 34,000 homes to be built across the state in eight years \u2014 11,000 for new home buyers.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Ms Saffioti said the creation of more housing was a major focus of the budget, with $4.7b earmarked over the next four years.<\/p>\n
![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/0c44f58d7489b12c223557b47b0238ef.jpeg\")
<\/p>\nThe budget includes $50 million to establish prefabrication facilities to boost housing supply.\u00a0 (ABC News: Keane Bourke)<\/p>\n
Rents across the state have climbed 74 per cent in five years to a whopping $747 (median) a week, according to Anglicare WA, prompting the government to offer relief.<\/p>\n
In addition to the already announced rental reforms, which will see the end of no-grounds evictions, there is an extra $1.5 billion over the next four years to build 1,591 new social and affordable homes.<\/p>\n
There’s also one-off rent relief payments for people at risk of eviction.<\/p>\n
Job losses<\/p>\n
The budget contains bad news if you’re a public servant \u2014 the government is planning to axe 1,500 jobs, saving taxpayers $445 million over four years.<\/p>\n
![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/07cdd34a14487abd4e5d5cc15b96d42d.jpeg\")
<\/p>\nThe WA Budget 2026-27 budget forecasts a $2.4 billion surplus.\u00a0 (ABC News: Cason Ho)<\/p>\n
There will also be a five per cent cut in the government’s budget for consultants, advertising and travel which is expected to save $50 million.<\/p>\n
Ms Saffioti wouldn’t be drawn on exactly who would lose their jobs, telling journalists only that it would be “back room staff” and not “nurses, teachers and doctors”.<\/p>\n
Health a big winner<\/p>\n
With Premier Roger Cook touting a cash splash of $9.1 billion over four years as “the biggest funding boost for health in WA’s history”, nurses and doctors can rest assured their skills are badly needed.<\/p>\n
![\"Roger](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/586e42268a784f4571b255d126d8b72b.jpeg\")
<\/p>\nWA Premier Roger Cook says the 2026 budget has been delivered during a period of global uncertainty.\u00a0 (ABC News: Cason Ho)<\/p>\n
The government had already announced an additional $1.5 billion for health infrastructure, some of which will go towards building new hospitals and maintaining old ones.<\/p>\n
But there is no money allocated for a hospital at Yanchep, where population pressures are growing and locals are crying out for a tertiary health campus.<\/p>\n
And the cost of the Bunbury Hospital redevelopment has blown out by $100 million.<\/p>\n
The future<\/p>\n
Amid rising geopolitical tensions globally, the government has acknowledged there could be tough times ahead for West Australians.<\/p>\n
Ms Saffioti said the Middle East conflict was “a definite risk in our budget” that had not been fully accounted for, since the final budget figures had been set in stone some weeks ago.<\/p>\n
However, she hinted that the state had “further capacity” to deal with any future economic shocks and remained upbeat about the future, as did the premier.<\/p>\n
The state is still hugely reliant on the resources sector, with royalty income estimated to rise to $10.8 billion in 2025-26.<\/p>\n
![\"Mining](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/2407b91f85e15549ba472e62d9bbe4bf.jpeg\")
<\/p>\nRoyalties from the resources industry will bankroll cost-of-living assistance unveiled in the WA budget. (ABC News: Mietta Adams)<\/p>\n
Mr Cook said the state continued to focus on diversifying the economy, including “becoming a renewable energy powerhouse” and “making more things here.”<\/p>\n
He said the state was in an enviable position and he aimed to keep it that way “to keep WA the strongest economy in the nation and the best place to live, work and raise a family.”<\/p>\n
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