Paying down debt

THE PROMISE: Mark McGowan pledged that his Government would “repay debt slowly and carefully, like paying off a house”.

STATUS: At the election, the McGowan Government promised by 2019-20, debt would be $40.0 billion. Six months later, the McGowan Government’s first State Budget revealed debt had blown out to $43.8 billion for the same year.

Evidence of the Promise

Mark McGowan’s ‘Fresh Ideas’, page 11:

WA Labor ‘Financial Management Plan’, slide 2:

Evidence of the Status

Further in the first Budget debt has increased
The 2017 Budget revealed that WA’s net debt will peak in 2019-20 at $43.8 billion. This is $3.809 billion more than Mark McGowan’s election costings document which claimed the net debt position for WA would be $40.0 billion in 2019-20.

Budget Paper Volume 3, page 9: