On Thursday, Treasurer Rita Saffioti announced WA's eighth-straight surplus, this time reaching $2.4 billion, and a suite of new spending.
Along with a bumper infrastructure pipeline, there was more than $1 billion in cost-of-living relief, with cash handouts to motorists and families with school students.
Every licence-holder will get $100 - whether they drive a gas-guzzler, an EV or a bike - while families will be handed $250 for every high school student, and $150 for each in primary school or kindergarten.
The cash splash came two days after inflation concerns pushed the Reserve Bank of Australia to raise interest rates for the third time in 2026, with governor Michele Bullock urging all governments to constrain demand.
AMP chief economist Shane Oliver labelled the handouts "unnecessarily inflationary" and "a classic example of why we cannot rely on politicians to keep inflation in check".
"They are in complete defiance of RBA governor Bullock's comments on Tuesday," he said.
"They just make it harder to get inflation back down and will put more pressure on the RBA and, hence, mortgage holders."
The $1 billion package also funds a new carers' gold card, expanded free public transport, capped regional flight costs for locals, and energy rebates.
BankWest Curtin Economics Centre director Alan Duncan said it would be wrong to characterise the budget as un-strategic.
"It was a budget that was looking to try and address bottlenecks in the system, address shortages of housing, shortages of skills, address infrastructure struggling to keep pace with population growth," he said.
"It was a really welcome scale of commitment to those issues."
The spending invites the age-old debate on how much state wealth it should keep or share with less well-off states.
The past eight years of surpluses - tallying over $23 billion - correlate to a 2018 policy by Scott Morrison's government to increase its GST distribution.
That move is cheered in WA but has been labelled the "worst public policy decision of the 21st century" by economist Saul Eslake.
Mr Eslake noted that WA is spending more, at $16,044 per head, than Victoria, on $15,290, on general government expenses.
The budget forecasts that revenue and spending would fall by roughly four per cent next year and stay below current levels in 2030 were a nonsense akin to "looking out for thylacines", he said.
The Tasmanian economist says that's part of a ruse to keep its GST take high, and that should iron ore prices stay around US$100/tonne, they'd have enough to cover additional spending needs.
Still, Prof Duncan does not believe there's a compelling case for changing the GST formula.
"I would not take this budget as a signal that says WA is swimming in it," he said.
"The use of the additional revenues have been very smart, exactly what you should be doing, not locked into recurrent spending, and looking to the longer term."
Ms Saffioti said jurisdictions hoping to claw back GST from WA should be grateful for its mining output driving the national economy.
"Instead of criticism from the other states, a simple thank you would be nice," she said.
9°C