Roger Cook's Western Australian government will hand down the 2026/27 budget on Thursday, the 10th straight since Labor returned to office and an eighth straight operating surplus by all expectations.
In recent weeks, Treasurer Rita Saffioti has revealed a suite of big-spending announcements ahead of time.
They include infrastructure spend-ups for schools, hospitals and clean energy projects, housing builds and stamp duty concessions.
Mr Cook has also indicated there will be "targeted cost of living relief" in Ms Saffioti's third budget, underpinned by the surging iron ore price.
A multi-billion dollar upward revision to expected $47.4 billion revenue is likely, given the red dirt has averaged over $US100 per tonne in 2026, a price well above Treasury projections.
That has been slightly offset by the strong Australian dollar, which is at four-year highs against the greenback.
Whatever the outcome, it's clear that WA's financials are the rosiest in the nation.
In the previous financial year, net debt was measured at $34 billion, or 7.5 per cent of gross state product.
When Victoria Treasurer Jaclyn Symes released her state's budget on Tuesday, she revealed net debt of $176 billion, forecast to reach just shy of $200 billion by decade's end.
On the same day, the Northern Territory budget showed net debt at $12.6 billion: a staggering $61,800 for each territorian.
With few revenue concerns out west, Opposition Leader Basil Zempilas has urged the government to relax its tax take to improve housing affordability.
The state Liberals want a 20 per cent cut to stamp duty, a call supported by some economists.
The WA Chamber of Commerce and Industry wants faster processing of environmental regulations and the modernisation of retail trading laws "stuck in the 90s".
It has also stuck a flag in the ground for a controversial 2018 deal that ensures WA gets back at least 75 cents in the dollar of any GST revenue generated in the state.
A decade ago, the share was as low as 30 per cent due to complex federal carve-up rules that prop up poorer states and territories.
"WA must keep its current GST deal," chamber chief economist Daniel Kiely said.
"The GST floor provides budget certainty which is more important now than ever before as stabled GST revenue underpins credible long-term investment pipelines."
The introduction of the floor has allowed the state government to fix its finances, even if other economists decry the deal as unfair.
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