The 2015-16 WA State Budget is the first in 15 years to show a deficit.
Create a free account to read this article
or signup to continue reading
Read on to find out who the key winners and losers will be from this year's budget (or maybe don't if you are a senior who works for the government, likes wine and owns an investment property).
Education: The budget spending on education has increased by 6.5 per cent on last year or $294 million.
This equates to an increase of about $600 per student with key construction pledged to a number of high schools.
Health: Budget increases of 4.6 per cent on last year see an extra $243 million to be spent on health.
This includes an additional $11.5 million to meet key infrastructure needs and support the operation of Royal Perth Hospital and up to $10.7 million from 2015-16 to 2017-18 for construction of two community sub-acute mental health facilities in Bunbury and Karratha.
Police: An increase to the police budget of $53 million will be used to continue the program of critical refurbishments and upgrades to existing metropolitan and regional facilities.
There will also be $3 million invested in 2016-17 to progress the development of the closed circuit television network infrastructure across the state.
Social housing: To help reduce the waiting lists for public housing, $560 million will be used to build 1000 new homes.
Disability services: A generous 11.3 per cent increase in funding for disability services which equates to $98 million which includes an extra $24.6 million to address unmet demand.
Tourism: Additional support has been pledged to the state's tourism industry including an extra $20 million for events and $11 million for marketing.
Households: The average family household budget will increase by $198 which is less than last year but still substantial.
Government workers: This new budget sees lower wages for new employees, a cap on wages and a number of job freezes or cuts.
Land owners: Homeowners with an investment property worth $500,000 to $1 million will see their land tax increase from $220 a year to $500, bringing in an extra $826 million for the government.
First home buyers: Those looking to buy their first home will no longer be able to claim the $3000 grant for purchasing an established home, saving the government $109 million, but they can still receive a grant of $10,000 for building their first home. This will align WA with all other states.
Seniors: A number of changes have been announced for seniors with the WA's seniors population expected to double in the next two decades.
Among the changes, living assistance payments will be means tested, there will be a cap on council rate rebates and the eligibility age for a seniors card will rise from 60 to 65 by 2023-24.
Wine drinkers: The abolishment of the cellar door subsidy from July 1 will generate an estimated saving of $11 million for the government.
The cellar door subsidy is a state government rebate of federal taxes on cellar door wine sales.
Producers were previously able to claim the subsidy once they had exhausted the federal government's wine equalisation tax rebate.
