So far, so good, in Treasurer’s bland plan to reduce WA’s debt

Treasurer Ben Wyatt’s annual report on the state of WA’s finances proves what goes up must come down — with emphasis on the word “must”.

Mr Wyatt inherited a sorry set of books in March last year and needed to reverse the trajectory of debt, deficits and spending.

No one can deny he has tried and succeeded where his counterparts in the previous Barnett government failed. Or rather, failed to try.

By slashing the public service workforce by more than 2000, culling the number of fat cats in government and forcing savings across departments, the Treasurer has undoubtedly made life uncomfortable for some of his ministerial colleagues. Just ask the Education Minister.

While some targeting missed its mark, yesterday’s update on on the bottom line vindicates the all-out assault on expenditure.

Being able to boast an underlying expenses growth of 0.2 per cent backs up the McGowan Government’s mandate to rein in spending in a State where debt was heading north of $37 billion.

The Opposition argues it was good debt because of all the infrastructure as a result.

But when international ratings agencies stripped the State’s AAA credit rating in 2013 because there was no plan to bring down the debt and “limited political will”, Mr Wyatt had few options available to him.

Some promises on new taxes were broken, but major assets such as Western Power could not be sold to reduce debt because doing so would have been too great a betrayal of the electorate.

So, it was fingers crossed that the economy would turn around, put a lid on spending and stick to the slowly but surely mantra around the debt crisis.

“People are often sick of hearing me say it, but the reality is you’re paying off the debt over time like a mortgage,” he repeated yesterday.

The bland plan has worked so far and if all the belt-tightening doesn’t have a big impact on front-line services, then the Treasurer will have a good story to tell ahead of the 2021 election.