Mining investment helps defy pandemic

Business investment was up 10.8 per cent in Western Australia in the June quarter compared to the same time last year, as investment dropped nationally.

Around $6.8 billion was spent by WA businesses on buildings and equipment in the quarter, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

That number is seasonally adjusted, and the growth figure is unadjusted for inflation.

WA was the only state to report an increase in business investment between the two periods.

It was driven by a 20 per cent rise in mining investment, to $5.2 billion.

Investment in manufacturing and other industries fell. 

Australia-wide, business investment dropped 9.7 per cent to be $27.6 billion in the quarter.

NSW posted a 19 per cent fall, from nearly $9.1 billion in June 2019, to be less than $7.4 billion.

South Australia and the Northern Territory both showed an improvement between March and June, but were down on June last year.

In a release yesterday, Business Council of Australia chief executive Jennifer Westacott said investment had fallen off a cliff nationally.

“Investment in Australia was already weak before this crisis, and now non-mining investment has fallen faster than any time since the last recession,” she said.

“We’ll need to create millions of new jobs to recover from the economic impact of the pandemic but we cannot do that without urgent action to arrest this decline.

“One practical solution is to introduce a 20 per cent investment allowance for businesses of all sizes to give them the confidence and certainty to start projects, invest and create the jobs we need across the economy.

“Business investment as a share of the economy is now on track to reach levels not seen since the early 1990s recession, a time many will remember as one of hopelessness and despair for hundreds of thousands of Australians.”