Western Australia's premier appears to have got it right when he predicted the federal budget would offer little in the way of new funding for the state but he is impressed with it anyway.
The budget clearly addressed the structural change that was taking place in the Australian economy and the commitment to infrastructure and tax concessions for small and medium businesses was good, Mr Barnett said.
The nation's largest state was the most affected by what Treasurer Scott Morrison said in his budget speech was a transition from an unprecedented mining investment boom to a stronger, more diverse, new economy.
"The forecast for the Australian economy, with steady growth and unemployment remaining at current levels, if achieved is a good outcome," Mr Barnett said.
"I was pleased to see Perth's defence manufacturing industry was explicitly referred to and acknowledged in the treasurer's budget speech."
The bulk of a recent contract to build 12 new submarines will be done in South Australia, but Mr Barnett says WA companies will do most of the maintenance work.
State opposition treasury spokesman Ben Wyatt said it was outrageous that WA had received no money for public transport while $2.9 billion was going to infrastructure in western Sydney, considered a key election battleground.
"The budget has forgotten Western Australia is a third of the land mass ... that is just an outrageous raid on WA's GST to return nothing by way of significant rail infrastructure spend," he told AAP.
Many of the projects outlined in budget had already been flagged.
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull's promised one-off $490 million payment to make up for WA having the lowest per capita GST share in the country will go toward a train line connecting Perth's CBD to its airport in the eastern suburbs.
The long-planned Airport Link will meet up with the Midland rail line near Bayswater Station and run to Forrestfield through underground tunnels.
Another sweetener for WA, a $260 million commitment to the contentious Perth Freight Link project, was also previously announced.
The federal budget confirmed WA would receive $118 million in the new financial year for the Swan Valley Bypass road project.
It will also get $67.6 million in extra funding to extend its National Disability Insurance Scheme trials.
WA is trialling the NDIS alongside its pre-existing disability insurance scheme.
The federal government said the additional funding would provide support to about 11,300 eligible NDIS participants.
Share
