WA govt accused of rushing loan bill

The Barnett government is introducing its third loan bill to parliament, alarming the opposition, which says control of the state's finances has been lost.

A bill to authorise the West Australian government borrowing $8 billion has left the state opposition "thoroughly depressed".

It's expected the bill, the Barnett government's third, will be introduced to parliament on Wednesday.

"It's clearly rushed ... which does alarm me that they've lost control of the finances to such an extent," Opposition treasury spokesman Ben Wyatt told AAP.

The bill comes just days after the state budget was finalised in Cabinet, and after Premier Colin Barnett said "large" deficits over the next two years could not be avoided.

Mr Wyatt said the loan bill came on the back of 45 per cent rise in the state's revenue base.

"Every year that Mr Barnett has been premier he has had the highest revenue per capita of all the Australian states, and yet he has managed to take the best set of books and turn it onto the worst," he said.

When the WA government released its mid-year budget update in December it forecast a deficit of $1.3 billion for 2014/15, against an earlier projected surplus of $175 million.

WA has been pushing for changes to the GST, with Treasurer Mike Nahan this week flagging a $600 million deal with the federal government to offset a drop in the state's share of the tax.

Ratings agency Standard & Poor's has said without significant corrective measures in the May 14 state budget, WA would record three straight years of deficits, increasing its debt burden and making it no longer consistent with a AA+ rating.

Despite the threat of a second credit rating downgrade, Mr Wyatt said the premier was not taking "a shred" of responsibility for a spending spree that included a luxurious new $1 billion-plus stadium.

"He's never said no to the shiny baubles," he said.


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Source: AAP


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