00:02The cost of living is front of mind for people in WA.
00:07Fuel costs are heading up and restricts travel and groceries are getting to the point where we have to cut
00:14back on what we're eating and living on.
00:17Prices at the supermarket are quite high, even going out.
00:22Having a night out or even just catching up with mates for a lunch or something.
00:26But just the cost of even having a meal is ridiculous now.
00:30A new survey of 1,000 Western Australians by the state's Chamber of Commerce and Industry looked at household spending
00:36last quarter.
00:3740% of households have said that their expenses exceed their income level.
00:42And almost one in five households are struggling to pay their bills on time.
00:46More than half of those surveyed said they would be cutting spending on cafes and restaurants over the next six
00:51months.
00:52With a lot of cost pressures coming on businesses, any additional pullback from consumers and their expenditure is really going
00:58to hurt small businesses.
01:00WA businesses are doing it particularly hard because they also bear the costs of high inflation.
01:06All of their inputs to whatever product or service they sell keep rising and rising and rising.
01:12With interest rates at a 15 year high, the Premier acknowledges Western Australians are feeling the pinch.
01:19A billion dollars in this year's budget alone is dedicated to cost of living measures because we know that West
01:25Aussies are doing it tough at the moment.
01:27But the opposition says government spending has contributed to the problem.
01:31The fact of the matter is state government spending is out of control and they have to take their share
01:38of the responsibility and accept their share of the blame.
01:41Asking the government to consider whether projects like a racetrack and rugby team are necessary.
01:47One, two, three.
01:48One, two, three.
01:49One, three.
01:49One, three.
01:51One, three.
01:52One, three.
01:54One, three.
01:54One, three.
