In truth, he should have said how proud he was to see these payments reaching families that don’t need them at all.

In announcing “free” taxpayer-funded Perth Zoo tickets for families, the government also took its spin cycle up a level.

The premier used his “Dad from Kwinana” credentials to talk about how a trip to the zoo was “an important part of growing up”.

So is having a roof over your head.

Mr Cook even declared the zoo passes were part of his commitment to “bursting the cost of living bubble”.

What does that even mean?

The cash hand-outs – and remember all that surplus money belongs to you – continued on Monday with a decision to pay $5.5 million to cover every student’s swimming lessons across summer.

That too was labelled a cost-of-living initiative, but once again it’s a scattergun approach and there is no guarantee the savings will help those who need it most.

What the government should be doing is some detective work and creating a socially effective strategy instead of a campaign slogan.

Find those people and families living in cars, vans and tents with no idea when they’ll find an affordable home to buy or rent.

It wouldn’t be difficult. Those people are dotted across the metropolitan area.

Talk to those people. Determine whether some financial support and guidance would end their misery and then actually use the power and money of government to make a direct difference.

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In a similar vein, call a meeting of crisis care agencies and discuss ways to target specific families living in poverty.

It was only Friday that the Western Australian Council of Social Service released its blueprint as to how the state could do exactly that, outlining targeted cost-of-living relief, rent reform and sustainable community services funding measures and asking for these to be committed to in the lead-up to the 2025 state election.