Labor’s cost-of-living tax cuts have passed the parliament, ensuring every West Australian taxpayer will get a tax cut.
When I became Prime Minister, I promised to visit Western Australia 10 times a year. Last week I made my 18th visit to your state.
I also promised to bring Federal Cabinet to WA twice. As of last week, Cabinet has been three times – twice to Perth and once to Port Hedland.
From my first day as Labor leader in 2019, WA was at the heart of our vision for the future.
And from my first day as Prime Minister, backing WA to win in the world has been central to our agenda in Government.
This is a huge state – and it makes a huge contribution.
Right across the West, hard-working people are helping drive the prosperity of our nation – and in the process, they are shaping the transformation of our region. Indeed, WA’s influence spreads far.
Last May, Australia and the United States made history when we signed the Compact on Critical Minerals and Clean Energy. Then in October in Washington, we worked to turn words on a page into commercial realities with the inaugural Australia-United States Taskforce on Critical Minerals.
The vital ingredient in all of this is WA. As I wrote at the time, what makes it possible to reach so high is what lies beneath our feet – and nowhere in our continent is that truer than in WA.
As a government, it’s vital that we do all that we can to make it possible. And as a cabinet, it’s essential that we all get out of Canberra and into the community to see firsthand the difference our policies are making.
Last week, I had the great pleasure of visiting the TAFE in Thornlie, where I met students being retrained through Fee-Free TAFE – a program that firmly belongs to the Labor tradition of pushing open the doors of opportunity.
They told me it was the availability of Fee-Free TAFE that persuaded them to have a crack at electrical work in the mining sector. One of those students was Chad, who is new to the mining sector said he made the jump when he learned about the course and heard it was fee-free.
“I thought it was a great way to get my foot in the door,” he told me.
Many of these students are already starting part-time work as part of their entry into their new careers. Good for the students, and good for the economy.
It’s also an indicator of the success of our program. In the first six months of Fee-Free TAFE, we smashed our target of 180,000 enrolments by almost 35,000 places. By the end of the year, 350,000 people had enrolled.
Last month we released an additional 300,000 Fee-Free TAFE and VET places, providing cost-of-living support for Australians choosing to study in priority skills need areas.
Fee-Free TAFE is helping Australians with cost of living pressures and removing barriers to education and training.
And like those students at Thornlie and elsewhere in WA, the students who have enrolled in Fee-Free TAFE courses that our Government has delivered are using their new skills to help with a future made in Australia
What’s more, they will join every other taxpayer in Australia in getting a tax cut.
Our government is giving all 13.6 million Australians a tax cut because we support the aspirations of every Australian. We’re helping people earn more and keep more of what they earn – and that will make a real difference in households right across the country, starting 1 July.
Getting tax right will always be a priority for my Government. That is why we are completely committed to the GST deal for WA. And that is why I signed The West Australian’s front-page pledge (and your reporter’s forearm!).
Right now we are at a crucial point and so much riding on the choices we make.
There is a better future within reach for us all if we get it right. This is the biggest and best chance our country will get.
That’s why we’re working on getting tax right, opening those doors of opportunity and taking the handbrake off the economy by filling skills gaps. That’s why we’re harnessing the power of global economic change and putting it to work for our people. That’s why we’re creating jobs, lifting living standards, and converting our natural resources into national strengths.
Just as this is the decisive decade for Australia, WA is central to how Australia fares as a whole. That is why WA will always be at the heart of my Government’s thinking.
This opinion piece was first published in The West Australian on Thursday, 29 February 2024.
