Uncovering WA is a public research project by the Libertarian Party WA. Every week the WA Government puts out dozens of media statements. We read 6,706 of them, from January 2023 to October 2026, and checked the big claims against the Government's own budget papers, the Auditor General, the Public Sector Commission, the Electoral Commission, Hansard and the ABS.
We are not neutral about what government should do. We believe it should do less, and do it honestly. But we are strict about the facts. Every number on this site links to its source, and you can check it yourself.
Methodology
- Primary sources first. We use budget papers, Annual Reports on State Finances, Auditor General (OAG) reports, PSC workforce reports, WAEC disclosures, ACNC charity data, Hansard and questions on notice, and ABS data. We cite media reports (ABC, WAtoday, The West) where they report documents or official figures, and we name the outlet.
- Fact versus our read. Every finding is labelled. "Fact" is what the source says. "Our read" is our interpretation. "Correlation" means two things happened together. It is not evidence that one caused the other.
- No allegations beyond the record. We do not allege corruption or wrongdoing unless a court, the CCC or the Auditor General has made a finding. Where the Auditor General uses strong language, we quote it and attribute it.
- Media statement analysis. We collected every statement on wa.gov.au from 1 Jan 2023 to 13 Oct 2026 (6,706 statements; 4,011 contain a dollar figure). Dollar amounts and themes were extracted automatically, and every example we publish has been checked by hand against the original statement. Headline dollar figures in media statements are not additive: adding them up double-counts re-announcements and multi-year programs, so we never publish a "total announced".
- Like-for-like comparisons. Where project scope has changed (Metronet, for example), we lead with the like-for-like figure, not the most dramatic one.
- Held back until checked. Anything we could not verify to a high standard stays off the site until it can be checked against a primary source.
Corrections
We will get things wrong occasionally. When we do, we will fix the page, date the change and log it on the corrections page. Send us corrections, with a source, to [email protected]. If a government agency or anyone named here believes we have misstated something, we will review it promptly and publish their response if they wish.
Authorised by the State Executive, Libertarian Party WA, PO Box 319, West Perth WA 6872.