Leader of The Nationals WA Shane Love has accused Premier Roger Cook of copying The Nationals’ Patient Assisted Travel Scheme (PATS) policy in a desperate attempt to win favour with regional voters ahead of the State Election.
“Labor’s announcement on PATS is nothing more than a carbon copy of a policy The Nationals WA unveiled back in August last year,” Mr Love said.
“It’s clear Copycat Cook is out of ideas, resorting to stealing good policies from other Parties just to have something to talk about when he visits regional WA.”
In August 2024, The Nationals WA pledged a historic $100 million investment into PATS, including an expansion to cover allied and dental health services, making it the largest ever investment into PATS since the scheme was introduced in 1978.
“This is the most significant upgrade to PATS in its history and will benefit more than 50,000 regional families,” Mr Love said.
“For years, regional families who had to travel to access allied and dental health services have faced poorer health outcomes or crippling out-of-pocket costs because WA Labor has ignored their needs.”
The Nationals WA also committed to increasing the fuel subsidy from 26 cents to 40 cents per kilometre, making it the equal highest in Australia, and raising the accommodation subsidy from $110 to $150 per night to better reflect current costs.
Mr Love criticised WA Labor for underfunding its announcement, pointing out the Premier’s costings don’t align with recommendations from a landmark 2015 PATS review co-authored by his own Health Minister.
“This review found expanding PATS to include allied and dental health would cost at least $80 million over four years – yet Labor claims they can deliver it for just $34 million over the same period,” Mr Love said.
“Copycat Cook has not even bothered to cost his policy properly, and when the money runs out, it will be regional patients who feel the pinch.”
Mr Love also took aim at WA Labor’s track record on PATS, accusing the Government of neglecting regional health needs for nearly a decade.
“Labor has had eight years in Government to act on the findings of their own PATS review, and have done nothing until now. They even ignored a petition from The Nationals WA with more than 1,000 signatures in 2023 calling for urgent improvements to the scheme.
“If Labor truly cared about PATS, they wouldn’t have ignored regional families for the past eight years. Only The Nationals WA can be trusted to deliver the funding, improvement, and respect regional patients deserve.”
