Leader's Address - Royalties for Regions Dinner
Author: Brendon Grylls
Published on: 08-November-2008
Location: Rendezvous Observation City Hotel, Scarborough
On August 22nd 2008 I stood before you and said:
“The National Party of 2008 is confident and strong.
We are an independent third political force that may well be on the verge of commanding the balance of power in the Western Australian Parliament.
With the poll just 15 days away, we believe the Nationals will not only retain party status but in a tight election may also help determine who governs in Western Australia.
The Nationals enter this election as an independent regional party free of the influences and constraints of a formal coalition.
We are not prepared to walk into a party room dominated by Perth politicians where there can be only one metro-centric outcome.
Our aim is to attain the balance of power – in either house – which will guarantee country people a seat at the decision making table.”
Who would have thought?
Ten weeks later a lot has changed in WA politics and a lot has changed in world politics.
Change we can believe in has washed over not only Western Australia – but the world.
Can we guarantee country people a seat at the decision making table? Yes we can.
Can we guarantee The Nationals holding the balance of power in both houses of Parliament? Yes we can.
Can we guarantee twenty five percent of all mining royalties will be invested in regional Western Australia? Yes we can.
Can we guarantee that these projects will be above and beyond the global spending promised in the budget out years? Yes we can.
Can we aspire to change the lives of our friends and family that live, visit or invest in regional WA?
Yes we can.
This great victory is your victory, not mine, not The Nationals, a victory of country determination and country spirit.
History will show that the National Party of 2008 is a revitalised party, finding its strength in the grassroots of regional Western Australia.
The new Nationals represent the interests of a broad spectrum of people from Kununurra in the north to Esperance in the south.
The new Nationals remember where we came from but know that adapting to change is crucial.
We are an independent third political force that commands the balance of power in both House of the Western Australian Parliament.
Prior to the state election the pundits were saying I would be leading a Party of one.
During the course of our intense two year campaign I told many people about the wooden plaque fastened to the wall in the Nationals Meeting Room in Parliament House.
It says ‘Country Party, 1913’.
I didn’t relish the thought of taking the plaque off the wall and handing it to the Batteye Library, relegating this grand old Party to political history.
There were any number of quotes I could draw from to highlight our journey, and tonight the words from Reverend Jesse Jackson fit well - “In politics, an organised minority is a political majority.”
We have more than met the challenge to retain party status to continue to serve our constituents.
I’m standing here today, the leader of a Party with nine Members of Parliament and a renewed following of grassroots members and supporters that span the breadth of regional Western Australia.
Clearly, our vision struck a chord with people across the State. We achieved this success by remaining true to our traditional heartland while working vigorously in regions that had either never voted for us, or hadn’t seen us for many years.
We knew then, and maintain now, that the issues of the Kimberley, Pilbara and Goldfields are no different to the problems we faced in our heartland electorates. During the campaign, the promise of Royalties for Regions delivered real hope and a genuine sense of excitement to people living, working and investing in regional WA.
To borrow a phrase from the man of the moment, Barak Obama, President-elect of the United States of America: “Do we participate in a politics of cynicism or a politics of hope?”.
Under my leadership The Nationals have dealt in the politics of hope.
Whatever empty promises have been made to regional WA by politicians of all persuasions Royalties for Regions is not one of them.
Today, courtesy of the support from the people of regional WA, we find ourselves in Government and in a position to deliver on our promises.
True to our word, we have not entered into a Coalition with any other political party. Instead, we have formed a power-sharing agreement with the Liberal Party that enables us to maintain our independence at all times.
This independence allows us to put regional WA at the forefront of each and every decision we make.
The path we travelled was a challenge.
But I can state with absolute certainty that I and my colleagues undertook negotiations with both the Liberal and Labor Party with the highest level of integrity and vigour.
Our negotiations were conducted with the aim of securing the best deal for and on behalf of all regional Western Australians.
At our State campaign launch in August 2008 I said that ours was a calling to serve country people who are linked by the common thread of political neglect.
Ladies and gentleman, we have arrived at a time in history where this great Party is in a position to deliver a rightful share of the economic windfall to your community.
I can pledge to you and to all the people who make up this great State, from Kununurra in the north to Esperance in the south, that this Government will be prioritising regional development.
We are establishing three funds to implement our Royalties for Regions program.
They are:
• The Regional Infrastructure and Headworks Fund
• The Country Local Government Fund, and
• The Regional Community Services Fund.
The funds will be accompanied by a revitalised network of Regional Development Commissions, telecentres and local decision making bodies.
Projects of significance to the growth of the State, such as the development of the Ord and the extension of the Dampier to Bunbury Natural Gas Pipeline are other priorities under an overarching Royalties for Regions fund.
So what will Royalties for Regions be?
Our priorities before Christmas this year are to invest in Local Government and roll out the Country Aged Pensioner Fuel Card.
Early in the New Year we will be ready to make announcements about the expansion of the Ord. This project is not just about agriculture, it’s about land, a hospital, schools, childcare, and land and air transport infrastructure appropriate for the expansion.
What next?
We’ll move on rolling out Housing our Workforce - creating incentives and rewards for essential workers who chose to live and work outside the metropolitan boundary.
What next?
We’re going to quadruple the Regional Infrastructure Fund to enable local government and the community to access significant amounts of funding to support local infrastructure and service initiatives.
What next?
We’ll be building our Telecentre network into a shopfront for regional development. Royalties for Regions is your program.
We will plan it with you, we will deliver it with you, and we will celebrate it with you. Beyond Royalties for Regions, we will look into the possibility of creating a North West Future Fund.
The merger of BHP and Rio Tinto Iron Ore, should it proceed, could yield a multibillion windfall for our State.
What better way to appropriate this windfall than to establish a future fund in perpetuity to grow the North West.
That is what the New Nationals stand for.
I invite you to work with me to remove the disincentives to moving to regional WA so that a job in Kununurra is as viable an option as one in West Perth.
Let’s create a system that will encourage our best and brightest to see regional Western Australia as an opportunity better than or equal to those offered in our cities.
Let’s aspire to create an enduring legacy for our children and their children.
Let’s work together to inspire optimism where before only pessimism prevailed.
Join with me in congratulating our wonderful team.
Plenty thought we had no chance, no money and no hope.
But John McCourt in the Kimberley had hope.
Alan Cochrane in the Pilbara had hope.
Tom Day in the North West had hope.
Andrew Short in Geraldton had hope.
Tony Crook in Kalgoorlie had hope.
Suzie Williams in Eyre had hope.
Michael Rose in Murray-Wellington had hope.
Sam Harma in Albany had hope.
Terry Redman in Blackwood-Stirling had hope.
Tuck Waldron in Wagin had hope.
Grant Woodhams in Moore – the first Nationals Speaker of the Legislative Assembly – had hope.
Our Legislative Council candidates had hope.
And your President Wendy Duncan and myself.
We had hope.
We thought we had a chance. We found the money. We cultivated hope.
We relied on the support of our people to deliver.
Our State Councillors, Executive members, party officials, Life Members and members.
I extend my gratitude and admiration to our team of candidates and their campaign teams. Quite simply, it would be a different story today if you had all decided to accept the status quo.
I thank our membership. At times there are easier things than being a Nat and I hope that you are enjoying the success that you have in intrinsic in delivering.
I would also like to thank my staff in the Leader’s Office and my Electorate Office who have shared the journey.
Lastly I would like to thank Cathy Wood, our State Director, and her willing helper Jemma Crook, for her work in putting together this spectacular event.
Thank you for joining with us tonight to reflect on the journey and celebrate our success.
