CME recently lodged pre-budget submissions (PBS) with the Western Australian and Federal governments.
Our submission to the State Government calls for:
- Ongoing policy and funding support to increase the quantity, quality, and transferability of skilled labour – focusing locally via training and development and also through increased migration
- No new or increased costs (e.g. royalties, taxes, levies and other fees) on business and industry, as well as the inclusion in the budget papers of a ‘basket of fees and charges’ equivalent to the cost of doing business in WA
- Continued focus on delivering tangible streamlined regulatory reforms, prioritised by assessing timeliness and highest benefit while ensuring government fee-for-services models are tied directly to performance metrics.
- Government support for initiatives that grow WA’s participation in the value-adding supply chains, including downstream processing of commodities (with consideration of targeted lower royalty rates where relevant), and leverage our comparative advantages to exploit new strategic industry opportunities such as hydrogen.
Supporting submissions made by the Minerals Council of Australia and the Australian Petroleum Production and Exploration Association, CME’s Federal PBS covers similar themes to the above and highlights the need to:
- Secure Australia’s global competitiveness through provision of a stable, competitive fiscal regime which encourages whole-of-government focus on business-led growth
- Deliver on the national deregulation agenda amid continued calls for removal of duplication between state and Commonwealth approvals processes.
- Address acute skills shortage and constrained access to workers.
The Federal Budget will be handed down on March 29. CME will review the budget papers and circulate a summary and accompanying commentary to members.
