Reverse the rip-off: The Nationals WA gear up for Federal Election, Craigie
Author: Lynne Craigie
Published on: 31-May-2010
The Nationals will today commence a new television advertising campaign calling on Western Australian’s to demand their fair share at the upcoming Federal Election.
State President of The Nationals WA Colin Holt said regional areas in WA have been underrepresented in Federal Parliament for too long.
“Regional WA is sick of being used as a money-pit to fund projects in the Eastern States,” Mr Holt said.
“Recent debates around the allocation of GST revenue and funding for infrastructure projects highlight the fact that WA, in particular regional WA as the engine room of our economy, is being ripped-off.
“The Nationals have given regional WA a voice in State Parliament and Royalties for Regions has allowed regional communities to share in the wealth they produce.
“We are now looking to send a team to Canberra to reverse the rip-off and get WA’s fair share.”
The Nationals have preselected strong candidates for the Federal seats of O’Connor, Durack and the Senate.
Lynne Craigie (Newman), candidate for Durack, is a long term Pilbara resident and she has started campaigning around the huge electorate.
“Although Durack takes in a major part of the state, it is my intention to visit as many communities as possible and to talk to voters about the issues they feel are most relevant to their towns. Having lived in the northwest for many years, I know that it is often difficult to be heard by those who may represent us in Canberra”, Lynne said,” It is time we had our say!”
Lynne is keen to see projects like The Pilbara Cities be taken seriously by the Federal Government. “ The Pilbara is the powerhouse of Australia and yet it is treated like the poor relation when it comes to services and facilities. Royalties for Regions is working to rectify that from a state perspective and now we need to make Canberra play their part.”
The Nationals WA Senate team will be lead by John McCourt (Broome), with the strong message that we need a Senator like Barnaby Joyce to represent our state.
John is supported on the ticket by Veronica Fleay (Exmouth) and Michael Rose (Corrigin).
“Our team has the advantage of being able to deliver real results because they won’t be rolled in the party room by city-centric politicians from Sydney and Melbourne,” Mr Holt said.
“Despite the best intentions of current local members, the truth is they will always lose out to party politics which will preference cities and high population centres.”
The Nationals WA advertisements will go to air in regional areas today.
