Hansard: Country Local Government Fund Debate
Author: Mia Davies
Published on: 23-September-2010
Hon MIA DAVIES: Thank you, Mr President and Hon Ljiljanna Ravlich! The country local government fund is a significant part of the royalties for regions program and it was the first plank of the royalties for regions fund to be rolled out. The country local government fund was a key commitment of the National Party during the 2008 state election campaign, which recognised the burden that had been placed on country local governments over many years to provide infrastructure and services, often on a shoestring budget.
Unlike Hon Helen Bullock, I do not think that because there are only 500, 400, 300 or 200 people living in a town, they deserve any less infrastructure or fewer services than anyone else. I am actually from one of those towns; I am from the town of Wyalkatchem. I do not think that I deserve infrastructure or services that are substandard compared with those where all the people live, as Robert Taylor said in an article last year. I do not share the member’s concerns because this fund was put together to recognise that local government had for many years been doing it tough. Country local government had been neglected in favour of high-profile projects in the Perth metropolitan area. We have spoken about this many times in this house. I can only presume that country local government was neglected so that the state government could pour money into the Perth–Mandurah railway line and continue to remind voters that it was actually doing something while it was in government. The railway goes straight down the freeway to Mandurah, so everyone can see that the government did something. It is out of sight, out of mind in the country, so the previous government did not worry about it. Country MPs in this chamber will tell members that precious little was being done in regional Western Australia; we did not get a guernsey.
Post-2010 we have a government that has placed regional Western Australia firmly in the centre of everyone’s mind. Quite rightly, too, because regional Western Australia is the engine room of the economy, and the government should give back to where it has taken from for so long. Members, I said before that I do not share the concerns expressed in the motion before the house. I am far more concerned to explore the intent of Hon Helen Bullock and her colleagues, particularly the shadow Treasurer, to scrap the local country local government fund. The Shadow Treasurer, Ben Wyatt, was quoted in an article in The Sunday Times on 7 June 2009, which stated — Shadow treasurer Ben Wyatt said the Barnett Government was misrepresenting Labor’s Budget position.He said there had been no extra commitments by Labor, but the Liberal Government was funding many items Labor would not have. He said $166 million allocated for a Roe Highway extension would not be in the Budget under Labor and a $400 million allocation to the Country Local Government Fund would also not be there. Therefore, this is all academic because under a Labor government there would not be any money for country local governments. It would be scrapped; it would be no more, and it is there in black and white that the Labor Party does not support the country local government fund. I wonder how Hon Helen Bullock’s constituents, along with those of her country colleagues, feel about this.
Have members opposite spoken to their local councillors and their regional shire councils about this? I share Hon Wendy Duncan’s viewpoint in that I have been across this state—my travels are not just confined to the Agricultural Region—and I am yet to find a local government that does not say in the very first moments of our meeting, “Thank you very much for the country local government fund.” Therefore, I am sure that they will all be absolutely thrilled to hear that under a Labor government there will be no more country local government fund—not a dollar! I look forward to sharing that information with my local councils.
The opposition made much of the uproar in the community when the country local government fund was deferred for a year as part of broad government measures across all government departments to manage the state’s finances through a difficult period. It was a responsible measure and we make no apology for it or resile from that position. I mention this because it did cause us a lot of grief because people were so attached to it. They needed the money and they had the projects planned to fill the gaps that had been left for years and years, so they were very disappointed that they were not going to get the country local government fund money for a year. Imagine what it will be like when the Labor Party says, “Well, that’s it. This is not a deferral; it’s actually just no more.” The country local government fund will simply be no more. That is a real concern. In this motion I think the Labor Party has simply mashed together a set of figures to suit its purposes. It is a poorly researched motion and the member who presented the motion picked her way through the facts to suit her argument. I do not suggest that she is the first member to do that in this house. Far be it from me to pass judgement, but it is telling that the Labor Party chose to analyse the country local government fund on an electorate-by-electorate basis. This is clearly how the Labor Party has determined expenditure in the past, porkbarrelling targeted seats to suit its own purposes.
The National Party has not done that; the funding is distributed on a formulaic basis and it goes to every local government. I will go through a few projects and initiatives that would not have the support of a future Labor government. I have selected a small number of projects to demonstrate the value of this important funding stream to the Agricultural Region, which I represent and which encompasses three of the nine regional development commissions or part thereof. These are projects that I have been to and seen the fruition of the funding, whether as a top-up or in getting the projects kick-started. The first project was a new medical centre, which is actually a very timely example, given the difficulties we are facing, particularly in the Wheatbelt, with rural doctors and attracting and retaining staff.
Hon Wendy Duncan: A federal government responsibility!
Hon MIA DAVIES: That is exactly right, Hon Wendy Duncan; it is the federal government’s responsibility. However, many of my shires are putting their hands in their pockets and those of their ratepayers to build medical centres and to pay doctors to keep them in their towns. The country local government fund, along with a number of other funding sources, contributed to the new medical centre in Wongan Hills. I will read from an article in The Central Midlands and Coastal Advocate of Thursday, 15 July, which states — Wongan Hills residents will have better access to medical services thanks to a new medical centre which was officially opened last week by Regional Development Minister Brendon Grylls. The $1.6 million medical centre which adjoins the existing Wongan Hills District Hospital will provide general practice, specialist and allied health services. Mr Grylls said the innovative design allowed room for additional doctors to join the practice and would see ancillary health services centralised to make easier access for residents from Wongan Hills and surrounding areas. “Providing access to quality health services is a key factor particularly when prospective employees are making the decision to relocate their families,” he said. The minister said the project’s funding of $709,000 was provided from the Country Local Government Fund. Shire chief executive Stuart Taylor said the medical centre would be a one-stop shop for all health services. “The shire had been planning changes to health service delivery for many years and in 2008 decided to build the medical centre,” he said. “There are now plans to increase the number of doctors from one to two and to seek specialist services to the new facilities,” Mr Taylor said.
The outcome of this is more than simply a new medical centre. The group in Wongan Hills that won the bid to build the centre is made up of local residents who have come together to put back into their community. The vast majority of the tradies who were involved in the project were locals. The project created jobs and reinvested some of that funding back into the community, and it provides the community with an absolutely fantastic facility. It is worth visiting that medical centre.
There are a number of other projects. Dalwallinu launched its discovery centre a couple of weeks ago, and country local government fund money was invested in that. It is an outstanding facility, members, it is absolutely outstanding! In an article in The Midwest Times Councillor Nixon from the Shire of Dalwallinu said —
… the project would provide economic, environmental and social benefits for local and adjoining communities, particularly as Great Northern Hwy traffic was predicted to double in the next decade.
There are many other examples in the Agricultural Region of the country local government fund being used to not only fill the gaps in funding for the footpaths, the toilet blocks and all the rest of it, but also for strategic investment projects that will generate jobs and create better amenity for these communities.
Books are available that detail the projects that local governments have chosen to invest their money in. I emphasise that it is local governments that choose where they spend their money. It has absolutely nothing to do with me, Hon Wendy Duncan, Hon Col Holt or Hon Brendon Grylls; it comes down to how the local community wants to spend its money. That is the key to this fund; it is about local ownership. It is not subject to rorting, and every time members opposite criticise a local government for spending its money on a footpath, toilet block or a talking toilet, they criticise one of their local shire councillors who do a hard job with not much money. The country local government fund was designed to give back to those councils. I was going to speak about how the country local government fund brings shires together to work on regional projects, but I do not have much time, so I might do that in an adjournment debate.
