• Summary
• Downloads
• Explanatory Notes
• Related Information
• Past Releases

PRIVATE NEW CAPITAL EXPENDITURE

• Western Australia's private new capital expenditure, in trend chain volume terms, was just over $7 billion in the March quarter 2009. However, increases in expenditure in the last three quarters have slowed from a peak of 8.9% in June 2008 to 1.3% for March 2009. Nationally, private new capital expenditure fell by 0.7% in the March quarter 2009.
• The easing of private capital expenditure growth in trend terms resulted from significant falls in original and seasonally adjusted data series. A 23% contraction in original terms for the March quarter 2009, following a rise of 24% in the previous quarter, translates to a seasonally adjusted decrease of 8% from its peak in December.
• In trend terms, there was an increase in investments in buildings and structures, which accounted for just over $5 billion of the $7 billion in new private capital expenditure. In contrast, expenditure on equipment, plant and machinery decreased to just under $2 billion.

Private New Capital Expenditure, Chain volume measures

1 Private New Capital Expenditure, by type of asset - Chain volume measures(a): Trend
		Trend
		Buildings and structures	Equipment, plant and machinery	Total
Reference period		$m	$m	$m
2006-2007		(b)13 384	(b)6 486	(b)19 859
2007-2008		14 788	8 025	22 816
2007
	December	3 568	1 898	5 466
2008
	March	3 666	2 072	5 737
	June	4 007	2 241	6 248
	September	4 472	2 238	6 707
	December	4 870	2 118	6 986
2009
	March	5 080	1 966	7 074
(a) Reference year for chain volume measures is 2006-07.
(b) Break in series between December 2006 and March 2007.
Source: Private New Capital Expenditure and Expected Expenditure, Australia, cat. no. 5625.0.

• In the March quarter, the mining industry continued to account for a significant proportion (77%) of all private capital investment in Western Australia (original data).
• New capital expenditure on mining was, however, significantly lower than in the previous quarter (down 22%) in original terms and therefore reduced total private new capital expenditure. By contrast, private new capital expenditure for the December quarter 2008 ($8.6 billion in original terms) was the highest recorded since the series began in June 1989, with the industries of mining and manufacturing, particularly, at their highest levels.

2 Private New Capital Expenditure, by industry - Current prices: Original
		Mining	Manufacturing	Other selected industries	Total
Reference period		$m	$m	$m	$m
2006-2007		13 542	1 492	4 683	19 717
2007-2008		17 111	1 653	4 428	23 191
2007
	December	4 250	^481	^1 280	6 011
2008
	March	4 264	^409	904	5 577
	June	4 995	^445	1 141	6 580
	September	5 383	^409	1 107	6 899
	December	6 611	532	^1 504	8 647
2009
	March	5 132	435	^1 057	6 623
^ estimate has a relative standard error of 10% to less than 25% and should be used with caution
Source: Private New Capital Expenditure and Expected Expenditure, Australia, cat. no. 5625.0.