WA economy 'moving away from rest of Australia'

Monday, 21 May 2012

The economy in Western Australia is gradually moving away from the rest of the country as it becomes more independent, state premier Colin Barnett has said.

If the share of goods and services tax revenue continues to decline, the politician believes that WA will become yet more removed.

He told the Sky News Australian Agenda program that at present, the strength of WA's economy is masking the true weakness of Australia as a whole.

Mr Barnett continued: "Unless Canberra gets up to pace with the WA economy will simply move away from the rest of Australia and closer to Asia in every respect.

"That's not a threat, that's a reality and I don't think that is understood on the east coast."

Official figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics recently showed that the unemployment rate stands at 3.8 per cent in WA - the lowest in the entire country.

This is also the lowest level it has reached in three years, leading treasurer Christian Porter to ask for further investment in the state to help its economy avoid any future problems.