2018 has been a fantastic growing season across the entire electorate of Moore and I very much hope that that this will be a season with bumper yields. It is great to see so many tourists out and about exploring our region and contributing to local economies. I commend those involved with organizing events such as the Midwest Show & Shine and Denison Foreshore Sprint, Taste of Chittering, the Wildflower Festival of Running at Cervantes and Jurien Bay and Blues for the Bush east of Perenjori – all a fantastic means of showcasing our region to others.
Congratulations are due to the following finalists in the 2018 Regional Achievement & Community Awards – Joseph Ling, Agrifresh, a finalist in the Agricultural Innovation Award and the Economic Development Award and to Justin and Rachel Withnell from Bindoon Mowers and Machinery, finalists in the Business Achievement Award. These awards encourage, acknowledge and reward the valuable contributions individuals, communities and businesses are making throughout regional WA. Winners will be announced in Perth on Friday October 19.
Thanks to a very dedicated and passionate campaign, most of the education cuts worth $64 million announced by Labor on December 13 have now been reversed. It took intervention from the Federal National-Liberal Government to save Moora College with funding of $8.7 million announced on September 4. As the Federal term of government draws to a close, the Moora community needs reassurance that funding will be secured in a signed funding agreement. I have written to Leader of the Nationals and Deputy Prime Minister, Michael McCormack stressing the importance of securing the funding for Moora College as announced by the National – Liberal government last month. I have asked that the Federal Government guarantee the $8.7 million Community Development Grant funding and distribute the funds to the State as soon as possible.
With Fairbridge WA set to take on the six camp schools across the state including the Geraldton site, the Nationals have called on Labor to disclose the contractual arrangements around the privatization of the camp schools. Labor need to reveal the key performance indicators and the pricing structure built into the Fairbridge contract. We have no guarantee that camp school fees will not increase or that services will not decline.
Perenjori townsite will now have the benefit of a battery backup which is expected to eliminate 80 percent of power outages to the town. Lobbying by the local community and myself saw the Liberal-National Government of the last term commit to providing a power backup for Perenjori. The recently commissioned Battery Energy Storage System (BESS) in Perenjori has already improved the quality of power to the town. A two year trial of the BESS is underway and results may be beneficial to other regional communities where a backup microgrid may be considered.
