Iron ore royalties will be harnessed to help reduce Western Australia's $3 billion budget debt if Labor is elected.
Shadow Treasurer Ben Wyatt announced the debt reduction strategy on Saturday, with 50 per cent of iron ore royalties going to pay off the budget deficit.
![WA Labor says mining royalties will pay down the state's debt if it's elected.](/web/20170213151750im_/http://www.watoday.com.au/content/dam/images/g/u/4/1/a/u/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.guat4d.png/1486796980731.jpg)
But the measure will only come into effect if the iron ore price is more than $85 a tonne and when state's GST relativity returns to above 0.65.
"In the event we have another surge in iron ore royalties after GST is returned to above 0.65, we want to ensure we don't just spend that money, we capture it," Mr Wyatt told reporters.
Mr Wyatt hopes if the legislation is passed, it will be a long-term surety for Western Australians that future governments don't overspend when times are good.
"We want to ensure that in Western Australia we don't make the mistake that the Liberal Party made ... of assuming that windfall revenue is here to stay and then spend it permanently," he said.
Premier Colin Barnett has faced criticism over the record debt and deficit, but says it wasn't the fault of his government but instead because WA was being ripped off its share of national GST.
He says a re-elected Liberal government will be able to restore the budget to surplus during the next four-year-term.
Labor says the debt reduction strategy will also include cutting government advertising spending by $20 million a year and expensive external consultants.
More will be announced on the strategy in the coming weeks, Mr Wyatt said.
- AAPÂ