The cost of living is out of control — and Labor has stood by while big corporations exploit this crisis, pocketing billions in profits.

Instead of funding the essential goods and services our state relies on, Labor has chosen to side with the corporations, showering them with tax breaks and handouts while everyday people struggle.

The Greens have a plan to actually do something about the rising cost of living. We’ll take on the big corporations, stop them ripping you off and tax them to fund the things that everyone needs.  

In balance of power, the Greens will make public education genuinely free. We'll also ensure public transport is accessible, frequent, and free across our state—because no one should be left behind while big corporations profit.

The Greens will:

Cheaper groceries for all Western Australians

Grocery prices are out of control. But while West Australians struggle to fill up the trolley each week, Coles and Woolworths enjoy some of the highest profit margins in the developed world. 

They’re getting away with ripping us off because the major parties take millions of dollars in donations from them.

The Greens have a plan to tackle the spiralling cost of groceries in WA from the top down. We’ll cap prices on 30 essential grocery items including milk, bread and nappies, and we’ll protect WA shoppers from corporate price gouging.

The Greens will:

• Cap prices on 30 essential grocery items including milk, bread and nappies
• Empower WA’s Economic Regulation Authority to protect Western Australian consumers from corporate price gouging
• Introduce a transport subsidy scheme to reduce the cost of essential goods in remote areas, passing on discounts at the checkout to ensure local residents directly benefit

Free public education 

Every child in WA has the right to free, high-quality public education. But successive governments have chronically underfunded our public schools, which increasingly turn to parents to stump up for the resources necessary to educate their kids – a figure that in 2022-23 exceeded $125 million.

Placing this burden on families significantly impacts educational outcomes and drives further inequality, with a school’s socioeconomic and demographic profile influencing how much it receives. In a state as wealthy as WA, it is unacceptable that the quality of a child’s education depends on their postcode or income.

Families shouldn’t be footing the bill for the government – especially in the middle of a cost of living crisis. 

The Greens will take the pressure off families and ensure every child in WA receives the high-quality education they deserve.

We will:

• Make public school in WA genuinely free by abolishing voluntary fees and parent contributions
• Fund free kids’ sport and creative vouchers
• Establish a universal free school lunch program in every public primary and high school in WA

Free, frequent and accessible public transport across WA

Too often, catching the bus, train or ferry costs more than it does to drive – even when fuel prices are up. It’s little wonder Perth is one of the most car-dependent cities in the world, with congestion and emissions both increasing year on year.

Fully subsidising public transport would address these problems, and it isn’t as expensive as it might sound. 

In WA, the state government already heavily subsidises public transport to cover the gap between operating costs and fare revenue. In 2023-24, ticket costs contributed just $170 million to the state's coffers – a figure that would be offset by the millions of dollars we would no longer need to spend on an expensive, privatised ticketing system, administration and fine enforcement.

The increased usage associated with free public transport is also shown to provide significant economic and social gains, putting more money in people’s pockets to spend elsewhere. Permanently scrapping public transport fares benefits everyone, and the Greens have a plan to make it happen.

The Greens will:

• Make travel on TransPerth services permanently free, frequent and accessible, all year round 
• Make local bus routes across TransRegional services permanently free in 15 major regional towns

Renewable energy subsidies for WA households

Our reliance on fossil fuels is unethical, unsustainable and increasingly expensive. At the same time, renewable energy solutions like rooftop solar and home batteries have become significantly more reliable, more efficient, and cheaper. 

While the electricity credits provided to WA households over the past couple of years have provided some relief from the cost of living crisis, the benefit is meagre compared to the long-term savings an efficient energy system could deliver. For the $762 million the WA Labor government spent on power credits in 2023-24, we could provide energy efficient subsidies that lock in an ongoing saving of up to $3,000 per household each year. 

The Greens will introduce a suite of measures to make renewable energy cheaper and more accessible to all WA households, regardless of whether you’re a homeowner or renter. This includes:

• A Zero Interest Loan Scheme to improve home energy efficiency
• A Home Energy Rebate Program aimed at lower income households
• Incentivising eligible rental providers to install solar panel systems through our Renewables for Renters initiative, helping renters save on their energy bills
• Helping apartment owners overcome common barriers to solar uptake through a new Solar for Apartments initiative