The economic contribution of the Western Australia resources sector has never been more vital to the state’s economy with the State Government’s 2013-14 Budget revealing total mining revenue will reach $6.9 billion, including royalty payments of $5.8 billion.
“Royalty income from the sector now accounts for 21 per cent of government revenue up from only 5 per cent in 2003-04,” said Chamber of Minerals and Energy of Western Australia (CME) Chief Executive, Reg Howard-Smith.
The government has highlighted how exports are expected to become the key driver of economic growth over the forward estimates as major resource projects transition from construction to production.
Despite this significant and growing contribution to the state’s economy, CME is disappointed that two key election commitments made during the state election earlier this year have not been funded in the 2013-14 State Budget.
“During the election campaign industry welcomed the announcement of the expansion of the approvals tracking system into other agencies and the development of a publically available online biodiversity library,” said Mr Howard-Smith.
“While disappointed to not see funding today, CME understand that the Government remains committed to the introduction of these initiatives and looks forward to full implementation,” said Mr Howard-Smith.
CME also expressed concern that state net debt levels continued to spiral putting additional pressure on Western Australia’s AAA credit rating.
“Maintaining our triple AAA credit rating is important to ensure Western Australia continues to attract foreign investment,” said Mr Howard-Smith.
“In an increasingly internationally competitive environment, governments need to have policies in place to attract investment and promote economic development and loss of this rating would add another unnecessary burden to the resources sector.
CME welcomed the continuation of funding for the Exploration Incentive Scheme for the next 12 months but was concerned with the reduction in funding for subsequent years.
