Record cost-of-living relief for those 'doing it tough'

Premier Roger Cook says the budget delivers for every West Australian.

Western Australian families struggling with the soaring cost of living have been thrown a lifeline as the state government stumps up an extra $762 million in assistance funding.

Handing down its eighth budget, the Labor government said it was delivering a record assistance package to reduce the cost of electricity, education and transport.

Premier Roger Cook said the budget looked after Western Australians doing it tough.

“As we continue to adjust to higher costs, my government is providing support for families, seniors, tradies and renters,” he said on Thursday.

“This budget delivers for every Western Australian”.

The new measures include $492 million in energy bill relief for households and small businesses, with a $400 electricity credit.

More than $100 million has been allocated to provide support to families for school payments, with a $150 payment for kindergarten and primary school students and $250 for high school students.

Government tariffs, fees and charges have been reduced by 2 per cent for the financial year ahead and an extra $65 million will help cap airfare costs for regional residents.

The package is expected to deliver $1460 in cost-of-living assistance for an average family with two high school-age children.

This includes support for public transport costs, with $21 million budgeted to provide free bus and train rides for children travelling to and from school.

The government is also funding fee-free TAFE for more than 130 qualifications at a cost of $8 million.

The financial blueprint also included  $1.1 billion to boost the housing supply and support homeless services, with stamp duty exemptions increased to help first home buyers purchasing a home for less than $600,000.

The measure includes $400 million to supply more social housing, $144 million for new housing, $92 million to support homeless services across the state and a $5 million incentive program to encourage owners of vacant homes to make them available on the rental market.

WA Council of Social Service said the budgetary measures were some of the most promising it had seen in years.

“It is clear that the state government has made addressing rental affordability, homelessness, domestic violence support and persistently high cost of living key priorities,” chief executive Louise Giolitto said.

WA Greens MP Brad Pettitt was not as complimentary.

“This is a Band-Aid, business-as-usual budget that invests more in feel-good talking points than in addressing the housing and cost of living crisis,” he said.

Shelter WA said the “much-needed” investment in the housing sector was good but targeted cost-of-living relief packages, a rent affordability scheme and energy efficiency policies for social homes were also needed.

“The social and affordable housing investment is very welcome but we estimate it will only provide about an additional 1000 social homes,” chief executive Kath Snell said.

‘We would also like to see rapid accommodation measures to tackle the street homelessness seen across WA.”

The Real Estate Institute of WA welcomed measures to boost housing supply, saying they were preferred over the punitive measures, such as new taxes, seen in other states.

“The fundamentals of the WA economy remain strong with the treasurer today forecasting the state is on track to reach 3 million people next financial year,” chief executive Cath hart said.

“This will drive ongoing demand for housing and see house prices continue to climb.”