00:02Treasurer Rita Safiotti has said WA Labor's 10th budget and her third as Treasurer will
00:08deliver on several key areas, including keeping WA's economy strong, delivering more homes,
00:14supporting households and injecting as much money as possible into WA's strained health system.
00:20The government of course is on track to deliver another good set of books,
00:24an eighth consecutive budget surplus, which of course puts the pressure on to deliver
00:28significant cost of living relief. The government has flagged relief will be targeted and not broad,
00:34but many are concerned about whether this will be enough, given water and power bills will likely
00:39be up, and many households are facing additional pressures with rising expenses being compounded
00:45by impacts from the Middle East war. Last year the government scrapped its electricity credit for
00:50households and businesses, many wondering whether this year it will be back. Of course housing will
00:56be a key main focus of this budget. There's been a huge cash splash over the past week with
01:02announcement after announcement, some co-funded by the federal government. Some of these include
01:07relief and support for first home buyers and the delivery of more than 500 homes in the regions
01:13for government workers. Health will also be front and centre. Many are wondering though what a $749 million
01:21bill that's unaccounted for currently out of the government's $1.5 billion health infrastructure
01:27spend will be spent on cost blowouts or new projects. The opposition has said the government
01:33is playing catch up with health and housing and said it's had the money but hasn't been putting it
01:39in the right places. Of course West Australians will be the judge of that.
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