WA drives Australian growth

The booming WA economy has smashed through national growth records, with even analysts wide-eyed at the latest figures. Economic activity, excluding imports and exports grew by 8.4 percent, in the September quarter and a stunning 16.4 per cent in the year to September, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics. Not even China boasts such growth.

WA accounted for more than 50 per cent of national economic growth, which was also a relatively high 1.2 per cent. By contrast, the largest state by population, NSW, grew only 0.5 per cent, and Victoria declined by 0.1 per cent. Chamber of Commerce and Industry WA chief economist John Nicolaou said the WA result was “extraordinary”.

“I can’t remember seeing such a large contribution in the WA economy [to national economic growth] in recent memory,” he said.

“For a state that represents 10 per cent of the population to account for 52 per cent of growth in the national economy in the quarter and 54 per cent over the year, that is quite powerful and just shows … that WA is doing the heavy lifting [nationally].

“It’s a message that shouldn’t be forgotten when policy decisions are made in Canberra. You do not want to kill the goose that lays the golden egg because otherwise the national economy will suffer.” Mr Nicolaou said most of WA’s economic growth was driven by business investment, particularly in the mining and related sectors.

“In the September quarter alone, business investment in this state increased by nearly 28 per cent and over 51 per cent over the year to September,” he said. Overall, WA GDP grew by 3.3 per cent during the September quarter.