WA business groups are continually calling for Government measures to boost the State’s competitiveness. The Government claims its measures have maintained the State’s competitiveness. WA Business News staff reporters investigate just how competitive this State is.
DESPITE a booming economy, on most measures, be it tax, investment or productivity WA appears to be sitting in the middle of the road.
The only trouble is by sitting in the middle of the road it risks getting trampled by businesses leaving less competitive States for the more competitive ones.
On State taxes WA ranks about fourth in the competitiveness rankings.
The Government claims the tax increases it introduced in its latest Budget will not harm the State’s competitiveness. Unfortunately, those tax increases come at a time when many States are decreasing their taxes.
That lack of tax competitiveness is feeding through into other sectors of the economy.
Property players are hurting because the tax differential with other States is starting to hit home.
Other factors, such as the volatile nature of WA’s mining industry has also contributed towards reducing the attractiveness of the State’s property market.
In the wages stakes WA also misses out, largely due to its branch economy nature. However, the people running those branches over here generally develop large skill sets because they are so isolated from their company’s Sydney or Melbourne bases.
The isolation factor has helped WA develop a world-class transport industry. It manages to outstrip the transport sectors in most other Australian States.
