Question Time

WORKCOVER CORPORATION

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY (Leader of the Opposition) (14:22): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Leader of the Government a question about WorkCover.

Leave granted.

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY: The opposition has been reliably informed that yesterday's Labor caucus meeting was addressed by the Treasurer, in relation to the proposed changes to the WorkCover legislation and the very precarious position with respect to the unfunded liability. He stated to the meeting—which was a very heated meeting—that, unless the unfunded liability was reined in, the state's AAA credit rating would be at serious risk. My question to the minister is: just how secure is the state's AAA credit rating?

The Hon. P. HOLLOWAY (Minister for Police, Minister for Mineral Resources Development, Minister for Urban Development and Planning) (14:24): As long as this government is in office—and, after all, it was this government that was in office when we restored the AAA credit rating, unlike the previous government. During eight years of Liberal government, from 1994 to 2002, $2 billion of own source debt was added to our state debt. The only reason why the previous Liberal government was able to reduce debt was through massive asset sales, but the accumulated debt on its budgets was something like $2 billion over the course of that eight years. Since this government has been in office it has returned a surplus every year. It was during the period of this government that the AAA credit rating was restored. This government will take action to ensure that that AAA credit rating remains.