Figures show income boom in last decade

Hedland has enjoyed a 90 per cent increase in average taxable income over the past 11 years, buoyed by the mining boom.

As the boom subsided, Port dwellers lost one per cent of average taxable income between 2013-14, but it’s not all bad news; they still sit at $15,456 a year above South Hedland, which during the period of 2014-15, had an average of $84,258, and $10,655 above Newman, which in 2014-15 sat at $89,071.

The figures, released by The Australian Taxation Office earlier this month, show Port and South Hedland only varied by one per cent between 2013-14 and 2014-15 with South Hedland increasing by one per cent and Port decreasing by one per cent.

Newman followed the same pattern as Port Hedland with another one per cent decrease over the same time period.

The data shows the income details of more than 2570 postcodes nationwide in an effort to breakdown the tax figures covering the mining boom from 2003-04 until 2014-15.

Our west Pilbara cousins have mostly fared a little better than us, with Karratha holding steady with an average taxable income in 2014-15 of $91,938, but Dampier and Onslow had a bonanza year, with a 7 per cent increase in Dampier from $107,451 in 2013-14 to $114,920 in 2014-15.

Onslow, home to the Wheatstone LNG project, was not far behind with an average growth between the two-years of 4 per cent, bringing their average taxable income in 2014-15 to $122,384.

The figures revealed a record number of communities across WA had their average incomes at least doubled; 12 postcodes in 2014-15 enjoyed a six-figure average taxable income.

In 2003-04 not one postcode area had a six-figure average taxable income.

Port Hedland had the 13th highest average taxable income Statewide in 2003-04, while Newman was 16th and South Hedland 22nd.

By 2014-15, Hedland had slipped to the 14th highest, while Newman slipped to 24th and South Hedland 26th.

The income in the WA’s richest areas, Peppermint Grove and Cottesloe, soared from $70,500 at the start of the boom to $144,273 in 2014-15 and remain the highest in the State, despite a 6 per cent decrease in the past year, a $8,519 loss.

In 2013-14 the average taxable income for Port Hedland doubled, with an average of $100,909, ahead of South Hedland, which also enjoyed a significant increase, sitting at $83,318.