WA’S HARD BORDER HAS KEPT THE NATION GOING

WA was the only economy to see any growth for the last financial year with a 1.1% rise meaning that the economy was strong heading into the coronavirus pandemic. This fresh data abolishes the idea “WA is dragging the nation’s economy down” and that idea needs to be “put to bed” according to Treasurer Ben Wyatt.

Mr Wyatt had recently noticed a reoccurring narrative coming from the east coast, “that Western Australia is somehow a drag on the national economy,” despite New South Wales and Victoria recording an over 8% decline in the June quarter.

“Western Australia, indeed those States with a hard border like South Australia or Queensland, are certainly no drag on the national economy because we all had the strongest economic results from the June quarter, compared to those states that have been more liberal with their borders,” said Mr Wyatt.

This is a brief summary of the article ‘Economic benefits of hard border’ by Danielle Le Messurier & Josh Zimmerman | The West Australian | Thursday 3^rd September 2020.