Senator the Hon Mathias Cormann

The 2019-20 Budget is the next stage of the Government’s plan to build a stronger economy and secure a better future for all Australians.

The Budget delivers the first surplus in more than a decade, creates more jobs, lowers taxes and guarantees essential services like schools, hospitals and roads.

After more than a decade of deficits, this budget forecasts a surplus of $7.1 billion in 2019-20 – a $55.5 billion turnaround from the deficit we inherited seven years ago.

The Government’s strong budget management allows us to invest in lower taxes and essential services for Western Australians, including:

• Delivering an additional $158 billion in income tax relief for hard-working Australians, on top of the $144 billion in tax cuts locked into legislation last year. This includes immediate tax relief of up to $1,080 for low and middle income earners and up to $2,160 for a dual income couple to ease cost of living pressures, benefiting 1.06 million people in Western Australia.
• Backing small business by increasing the Instant Asset Write Off to $30,000 and expanding its access, benefitting 357,000 businesses in Western Australia.
• Guaranteeing the essential services people in Western Australia rely on.
  • To assist with their next power bill and the cost of living, the Morrison Government will provide a one off, income tax exempt payment of $75 for singles and $125 for couples to more than 3.9 million eligible social security payment recipients across Australia.
  • The Budget provides record levels of funding for public hospitals in every state. Payments to Western Australia for public hospitals have increased by 69 per cent, from $1.4 billion in 2012-13 to $2.4 billion in 2019-20. Health funding for Western Australia increases by $458 million from 2019-20 to 2022-23.
  • For schools, record funding for Western Australia will increase from $2.0 billion in 2019 to $3.2 billion in 2029, ensuring teachers have the support they need to prepare students for the future. The Budget also includes $30 million for the Local School Community Fund that will allow communities to fund projects such as upgrades to libraries, classrooms and play equipment.
• Delivering a record infrastructure investment of $100 billion over the next decade, getting families home sooner and safer and unlocking the potential of our regions. This includes an additional $1.6 billion over the next decade for new land transport infrastructure projects in Western Australia, bringing total infrastructure investment in the state to more than $13.1 billion from 2013-14.

This Budget is about easing cost of living pressures, guaranteeing essential services and building new congestion busting infrastructure to ensure families in Western Australia can get home easier and safer.

This is all possible because of the Government’s strong economic and budget management.