Country WA overlooked in Ripper rip-off says Redman

Author: Terry Redman
Published on: 12-May-2008

Member for Stirling Terry Redman has described last week’s State Budget as a
Mindarie- to-Margaret River Budget , which he says will do very little to address the
fundamental service needs of Western Australians living outside that coastal strip.
 

Mr Redman said passing a truck carting water to Denmark as he travelled to last week’s Budget breakfast in Albany, simply highlighted the impact of the Government’s skewed funding focus.
 

“It’s a sad irony that on my way into Albany I passed a water truck carting water
supplies into Denmark, only to spend the next hour hearing from the Government
about the extensive infrastructure they will be funding in Perth,” Mr Redman said.
 

“The people of this region are entitled to ask how the boom has benefitted them
when they see key services either closing, deteriorating or being impacted by
significant price imposts that would not be countenanced in Perth."
 

“Of the 24 major projects highlighted in the Government Budget papers only four
have any sort of regional benefit."
 

“The Treasurer had a responsibility to use this Budget to address the immense
pressures on regional service delivery and infrastructure but he has failed to deliver.”
 

Mr Redman said last week’s Budget should have incorporated a number of specific
interventions to bolster regional services, including:

-  significant rental incentives for public servants as an encouragement to live
      and work in the regions

-  allowance for a flatter Statewide pricing policy for utilities, to encourage
      business investment in the regions

-  public service policy adjustments to allow preferential treatment for public
      servants who choose to work in hard to staff areas
 

“This Government acknowledges the pivotal importance of regional WA as the
State’s powerhouse, but it cannot continue to suck resources from it without
returning a fair share back,” Mr Redman said.