2026-07-01
Budget scrutiny, the prison system, a slowing energy transition, and more, but still able to participate in community events
By Hon Brad Pettitt, MLC
Budget season, community wins, and keeping up the pressure
May and June were full months. Budget season, Parliamentary debate, community events, and no shortage of things to push back on.
The Cook Government's 2026-27 Budget did not disappoint in being disappointing. My budget reply was frank: expensive announcements dressed up as reform won't fix what's broken in WA. Record investment in housing has coincided with rents rising faster than anywhere else in Australia and a social housing waitlist that keeps growing. The $100 universal fuel payment — handed to every licence holder regardless of need — was a good example of the same instinct. People want governments that solve problems, not manage headlines.
In Parliament, I read into Hansard a letter from 34 Aboriginal community leaders following two Aboriginal women dying in custody at Bandyup. Eight deaths in WA custody so far this year. The Royal Commission said imprisonment should be a measure of last resort. That has not happened. I also made a Member's Statement on the Oombulgurri massacre centenary, as Balanggarra families returned to Country to mark 100 years since the killings at Forrest River. Truth-telling is a task for all of us.
On Unit 18: WA Labor is spending $1,644 a day to keep it running while it sits completely empty. Three staff, no detainees, 43 days straight. Meanwhile the Inspector of Custodial Services says our prison system is "almost functionally broken," with around 120 people sleeping on mattresses on the floor. Unit 18 must close as a youth prison. The investment belongs in diversion and rehabilitation.
I opposed the Local Government (Rating of Certain Mining Licences) Bill — legislation that overturned a Supreme Court ruling to force regional councils to repay seven years of lawfully charged mining rates in 28 days. It passed anyway. On the last sitting day, legislation was introduced to help a property developer circumvent a likely Supreme Court ruling on a Western suburbs high-rise. The Climate Bill and the Equal Opportunity Act remain undelivered. It increasingly feels like Parliament is being used to solve problems for corporate interests rather than the challenges facing our community.
WA Police have begun Australia's first real-time facial recognition surveillance trial in public spaces — no notice, no parliamentary process, no independent oversight. This is the sixth expansion of police powers in two years. We make laws for future governments, not just this one. I wish WA Labor had the same energy for fixing the housing crisis.
On energy and climate, the gas expansion is a planning failure dressed up as transition policy. The more renewables and batteries you build, the less gas you need — but WA Labor has spent most of this decade slowing the rollout. New "community batteries" are welcome, but they're not community-owned — they're owned by Western Power and Synergy. Real community ownership, where renters and homeowners alike share in the benefit, is entirely possible. We should be doing it.
WA is still cutting more trees than it plants and remains the only state without protection for mature trees on private land. Ten local governments now have tree protection policies and the first State Administrative Tribunal (SAT) decision has upheld a council's right to refuse removal of a significant tree. The state needs to set a minimum standard. WA Labor's Treebate has planted 7,000 trees this year. We need millions.
In the community, I joined the Boorloo Walk for Truth for Reconciliation Week, tabled a 2,011-signature petition for Wilbinga National Park and attended the sold-out documentary premiere. I helped de-pave a street in Fremantle alongside 500 enthusiastic locals, joined the Reimagine William Street planting day, attended the Unruly WA exhibition at Kidogo Art House, and visited Collie with the Parliamentary Friends of Clean Energy to see the energy transition up close. The proposed GreenSquareDC data centre in Hazelmere was withdrawn after 1,800 public objections — a genuine community win.
Finally, Fremantle lost one of its own. Horatio T Birdbath. Horatio was an artist and an eccentric, beloved community figure. I knew him for more than 30 years. His line art is woven into the fabric of this city, from the Cappuccino Strip planter boxes to the bollards at Walyalup Koort. He called himself Fremantle's alternative mayor. He lived by one motto: do justice to your talent. He did. We will miss him enormously.
Estimates week has kept the whole team flat out — more on that to come. Our office continues to operate as a DV Safe Phone drop-off point, a Breastfeeding is Welcome Everywhere space, and a recycling collection point through TerraCycle, Close the Loop and ReSmart.
Header photo: Brad at ReWild Fest (Reimagine William Street, Fremantle) with constituent, Doffie