WA on top and SA up, while Victoria slips

The State of the States 2005, focusing on the State of Industrial Relations, now published.

Western Australia has been assessed as Australia's best performing state in the 12th annual issue of the Evatt Foundation's State Government League Table, released today in The State of the States 2005.

Western Australia won the top position for the second year in a row. South Australia came second, rising from fourth position to edge in front of New South Wales, which ranked third.

'The superior performance of Western Australia was primarily due to its outstanding economic performance and its environmental policies', said Christopher Sheil, editor of The State of the States 2005.

'Western Australia out-performed all the other states in job creation, capital investment and economic growth', said Dr Sheil.

'It was also the best performer on water sanitation and environmental protection, had the most widespread water conservation practices and scored the highest on health services'.

Runner-up South Australia was the best performer in education. Third-placed New South Wales performed best in the social policy areas, winning second position for welfare services.

Slipping from second last year, fourth-ranked Victoria excelled in social policy, but was dragged down by a poor environmental result and its low levels of industry assistance.

Meanwhile, in a replication of last year's tail-end results, Queensland ranked fifth, and Tasmania won the 2005 wooden spoon.

In spite of its low overall score, Queensland equalled Western Australia in the provision of full-time jobs, and ranked third overall in its economic performance.

'Tasmania's last position was due to poor results in social and economic policy', said Dr Sheil.

The research is based upon data from the Commonwealth Grants Commission and the Australian Bureau of Statistics and covers the 12 months to June 2004.

In addition to the League Table, The State of the States contains substantive analyses of the Howard government's proposal to take over state functions in labour law.

The book will be launched at NSW Parliament House at 12 noon on Monday 14 November.

Speakers will include former NSW Attorney General, Jeff Shaw QC, and the NSW Commissioner for Children & Young People, Gillian Calvert.

Buy The State of the States 2005 online now

The State of the States 2005 costs $24.95 plus postage. You can purchase your copy of The State of the States 2005 securely online using your credit card via the Paypal service by going to this page on the Evatt Website.

Also on the Evatt site

• The Results: State of the States 2005
• Background Information
• About the book
• Read about the method used to assess the comparative performance of the states in detail

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