Mark McGowan uses Deloitte report that shows Perth is Australia’s cheapest capital city to recruit workers

Premier Mark McGowan has sharpened his pitch to international and interstate workers, pointing to a new report that found Perth is by far the cheapest of the nation’s major capital cities while offering the second highest average income.

Perth had Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane beat in both housing and grocery costs — while families in WA’s biggest city trailed only NSW when it came to salaries.

The findings are contained in a Deloitte Access Economics report commissioned by WA Treasury that compared Perth to the eastern seaboard capitals.

It found the average Perth household spent around $1630 a week on the consumption of goods and services — including housing costs.

WA’s affordability is one of our key strengths

That was around 10 per cent lower than the average household in Melbourne ($1805), 19 per cent lower than Brisbane ($2002), and 24 per cent lower than Sydney ($2143).

Perth families spent around $271 per week on food and non-alcoholic beverages, compared to $332 in Sydney, $302 in Melbourne and $286 in Brisbane.

When it came to housing, rent or mortgages cost $480 per week on average in Perth. That was nearly half the $778 spent in Brisbane, $735 in Sydney and $527 in Melbourne.

Meanwhile, the median weekly household income in Perth was $2027, second only to Sydney ($2146) and ahead of both Melbourne ($1958) and Brisbane ($1962).

The report’s release comes in the wake of Mr McGowan’s visit to Europe, which included a stop in Dublin where the Premier attempted to convince Irish tradies and medical workers to relocate to WA.

The State’s recruitment drive is being hampered by severe labour shortages in advanced economies across the globe. But Mr McGowan said the independent Deloitte report “proves that west is best”.

“WA’s affordability is one of our key strengths,” he said.

“With high wages and low living costs, it is the perfect combination.

“Whether it’s housing costs, general living expenses or transport charges, WA is significantly more affordable. With the local WA economy powering along, there are more and more opportunities for people to move to WA for a new job.”

Housing affordability in Perth emerged as a big selling point in the report, with the median house price pegged at $585,000 in the west — less than half of Sydney ($1.4 million), and well behind Melbourne ($976,000) and Brisbane ($892,000).

The mortgage repayment on the median house, as a share of median income, was 24. 6 per cent in Perth — compared to Sydney’s 55 per cent, Melbourne’s 42.5 per cent and Brisbane’s 38.8 per cent.

The Deloitte study also compared Bunbury to regional centres Newcastle (NSW), Geelong (Victoria) and the Sunshine Coast (Queensland). Bunbury enjoyed the lowest cost of living of each of the country towns.

“Our great lifestyle, our affordability and our success makes Western Australia the most attractive place in the country to live, work or study,” Mr McGowan said.

“My message to any worker around the country is to look west — make your move now and you won’t be disappointed. I can personally vouch for it. Back in the early 90s I made the move west, and I’ve never looked back.”