The state government has lodged a $1.1 billion interim operating surplus, buoyed by a $964 million rise in mining royalties.
The state government has lodged a $1.1 billion interim operating surplus, buoyed by a $964 million rise in mining royalties.
The surplus is a significant increase from the $259 million operating deficit in the same period last year.
Treasurer Christian Porter said the state's revenue was nearly $12.3 billion for the first six months of the financial year, up $2.1 billion on the prior corresponding period.
"The main driver of this increase was a rise of $964 million in mining royalties, partly due to the state government's successful negotiations to remove the royalty concession on iron ore production," Mr Porter said.
"The government also successfully resolved a long-standing issue relating to the applicable royalty rate for the Robe River Mesa J mine, resulting in a one-off back payment of $55 million."
The strong revenue result was also boosted by a $509 million increase in taxation revenue, which included a one-off contribution of $350 million by BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto in relation to changes to State Agreement Acts.
Spending on public infrastructure was up $338 million on the prior corresponding half-year, mainly due to spending on the Fiona Stanley Hospital project and the Southern Seawater Desalination Plant.
"The December 2010 financial results represent good news for all West Australians who benefit from the high quality service delivery and infrastructure investment that is made possible by the Government's strong oversight of the State's finances," Mr Porter said.
"Moody's recently recognised the strength of our finances, confirming the stable outlook for the State's triple A credit rating, an assessment which follows a similar triple A credit rating assessment by Standard and Poor's in December 2010.
"Nevertheless, the Government will continue to be disciplined in its spending management going into the 2011 12 State Budget.
"This is especially important given the expected decline in WA's share of national GST collections in the medium term.
"Latest projections indicate WA's population share of the GST will fall from 72 per cent in 2011 12 to just 41 per cent by 2014 15."
