Moore MP Shane Love MLA says a decision by the Labor Government to slash Community Resource Centre funding will destroy many regional communities. Mr Love said the reduction of $10 million would have a dramatic impact on the service delivery capacity of the State’s CRC Network.
“Our CRCs are the shopfront for government services, assist with funding and projects for community groups, provide banking, link people to technology and are our community hubs,” he said.
“The Labor Government continues to claim it is reducing funding to CRCs in the name of budget repair. This is untrue. Labor is taking money from the bush to fund extravagant election promises in Perth.”
Mr Love’s comments come after CRCs across Moore this week received letters from the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development proposing how it plans to implement a new funding model.
The proposed model, which separates centres into two tiers of funding, will result in operating budgets of individual centres cut by up to 50 per cent. It will also impact the ability of the CRC Network to deliver its traineeship program, which has helped upskill 500 participants since 2014.
The Nationals WA Leader Mia Davies said it was hypocritical for a Government promising to create 50,000 jobs to reduce funding to a network providing training, employment and professional development opportunities to thousands of West Australians.
“This decision is a blow to those communities, volunteers, organisations and individuals they support,” she said.
“In a year the Labor Government has forcefully defunded regional education, CRCs, health and aged care services in the bush. What will they cut next?
“This is a Government disinterested in making choices that support regional communities.
“Their first choice is to drain funding from regional WA – in three years what will remain?”
