News Articles for Ben Wyatt

The incoming Labor government is already warning Western Australians the state's record debt pile could take decades to overcome.

Premier-elect Mark McGowan says his ministry will be a mix of experience and youth, and has again indicated he'll have the final say in its makeup.

ANALYSIS: Labor's shadow treasurer, Ben Wyatt, says the Federal Government wouldn't dare deprive WA of the $1.2 billion which will be freed up if his party wins Saturday's election and abandons the Roe 8 highway project.

The Labor Party is budgeting on $750 million of spending cuts and $400 million of metropolitan land sales to help pay for its election promises, and claims it will achieve a budget surplus of $205 million in 2019-20.

Premier Colin Barnett has taken aim at Labor leader Mark McGowan, accusing him of being cheap and tacky over a proposal to sell stadium naming rights.

WA Labor has demanded the Liberals guarantee a privatisation of Western Power won't lead to electricity price rises and release legislation on the deal, while the Liberals say prices will not be impacted because they are independently regulated.

ANALYSIS: Full marks to the Labor Party for coming up with its debt reduction strategy early in the election campaign. It indicates both the party and shadow treasurer Ben Wyatt are serious about getting the state's finances into a much healthier position.

Shadow treasurer Ben Wyatt said he had no intention of raising taxes after the state election, while leaving wriggle room to do so, and declined to provide further details about how Labor's value capture proposal to partially pay for the Metronet rail package might affect residents living in proximity to stations.

State Treasurer Mike Nahan has put his neck on the line to stop the Nationals WA's proposed mining tax, saying he will resign from the portfolio if a post-election Liberal government does a deal to lift royalties.

A marina in Perth's north is a sure thing after the WA Liberals pledged $105 million to its development, weeks after Labor committed $40 million to a similar project.

A long-awaited state government report on the future of remote indigenous communities doesn't overtly refer to closures controversially flagged in late 2014, but promises to direct funding towards 10 of the biggest.

The High Court has dealt a major blow to the state government after ruling invalid legislation that would have propelled it to the top of the creditors' list for the $1.75 billion carve-up of the failed Bell Group.

Western Australia's Liberal Premier Colin Barnett has welcomed the budget's tax reductions for small to medium sized businesses as a highlight that was particularly important for the state.

SPECIAL REPORT: There has been a major shift in business influence in WA amid waning international investment and, with two elections on the way, there is a prospect of even bigger changes in political influence. Click through to see our listing of WA's most infliential leaders in politics and business.

The state government has flagged more asset sales after its mid-year budget update confirmed deepening financial problems, with the annual deficit worse than expected and state debt tipped to reach an unprecedented $39 billion.

Simmering issues within WA Labor are set to come to a head.

The long-running saga of a $70 million DoubleTree by Hilton hotel in Karratha appears to have come to a close, with LandCorp terminating an exclusive working period with the developer behind the pr

Politics is a ruthless business, where poor performers are quickly found out and (more often than not) moved on.

Despite the deteriorating budget position, WA's Nationals won't hear of a review of their signature policy.

A group of local business owners is lobbying the state government to support changes to the GST import threshold, making Western Australia a key front in national retail reform.

Borrowing off the books may minimise the damage to official state debt but the money has to come from somewhere – taxpayers.

The government has thrown out an early marker for the 2017 state election.

With just over a week to go until the state election, the business community was eager to interrogate the treasurer and his key rival.

The effects of a BHP Billiton-Rio Tinto JV would be felt all around the world.

Money and power go hand in hand, especially in a global financial crisis.