Iron ore royalties will be harnessed to help reduce Western Australia’s $3 billion budget debt if Labor is elected.
Shadow Treasurer Ben Wyatt announced the debt reduction strategy on Saturday, with 50 per cent of iron ore royalties going to pay off the budget deficit.
But the measure will only come into effect if the iron ore price is more than $85 a tonne and when state’s GST relativity returns to above 0.65.
“In the event we have another surge in iron ore royalties after GST is returned to above 0.65, we want to ensure we don’t just spend that money, we capture it,” Mr Wyatt told reporters.
Mr Wyatt hopes if the legislation is passed, it will be a long-term surety for Western Australians that future governments don’t overspend when …
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