2024-07-11
Querying further expanding the urban fringe and why the budget surplus could not be better used
By Hon Brad Pettitt, MLC, Member for South Metropolitan
It’s the end of the Financial Year, Parliament is on Winter break until the second half of August and this WA Labor government still does not have a meaningful plan to build more social and affordable housing or to help the 700,000 Western Australians who are paying – on average – 73% more rent than they were four years ago or to cut rising gas-fired emissions.
Meanwhile, we’ve seen one of the driest summers on record impacting not only our unique South West forests, but also the trees lining our own streets and parks here in Perth. The last time this happened, back in 2011, it was declared the first such climate catastrophe of its kind in the world; an ecological collapse. This summer’s event is much, much worse.
Meanwhile, we’ve seen our Premier publicly call on property developers to come up with a plan to build more housing on government-owned land that should be reserved for social and affordable housing, not for profits. A plan that will ultimately lead to more greenfield developments on Perth’s urban fringe that will be dependent on cars to access basic services like schools and shops and require clearing of even more native habitat in (what used to be, at least) a global biodiversity hotspot to Perth’s North, South and East.
I’m not normally one to be so cynical, but when I saw the Premier and the Treasurer gloating as they announced a multi-billion-dollar surplus for the sixth consecutive year on Budget Day last month it really got me thinking about how we urgently need more Greens in State Parliament to shake up the status quo.
Did you know that this year’s budget surplus alone could have purchased every single property that used to be subsidised under the Federal government’s National Rental Affordability Scheme – a scheme killed off by Tony Abbott and ending this year – and still left us with almost a billion dollars to spare? Instead, more than 3,000 low-income households will be left to fend for themselves on the private rental market by this time next year...
Or it could have paid for the completion of the WA Bike Network; instead, that funding is being funneled into MetroNet. Or it could have bought enough replacement EV buses to replace the entire Transperth fleet; instead, we’re going to keep buying diesel buses into the late 2030s!
These are just some of the things we found out in Budget Estimates hearings over the last couple of weeks that has left me wondering if this Labor government is capable of coming up with sensible, evidence-based policy in any portfolio area.
The final thing we found out in Estimates that I will mention is that the government is accepting millions of dollars' worth of sponsorship from mining companies and gas corporations for public education. You heard that right; Finance Minister Sue Ellery acknowledged Woodside was subsidising high school subjects that would otherwise be unavailable to students in the Pilbara region without corporate sponsorship. The same thing is happening under sponsorship from Rio Tinto, BHP Billiton, Alcoa and ATCO who run a branded “Blue Flame Kitchen” that is used by schools across Perth to teach home economics. We have asked for a full break down of these arrangements and I’ll bring you an update when we have it. It is shameful that our public education system is being propped up by corporations with a vested interest in improving their social license.
On the legislative front we are STILL waiting for the climate change bill to come on for debate and the bill to abolish the gender reassignment board, which was promised by June 30, has now been pushed back to August as well.
I hope to see you all out on the campaign trail as we ramp up over the Winter Break!
Header Photo: Brad Pettitt and Sophie McNeill at WA Parliament, meeting with APAN's Nasser Mashni and members of the Palestinian Community. Left to right: Nasser Mashni, Hala Shanableh, Bee Hawker, Hiba Farah, Brad Pettitt, Ayman Qwaider, Sophie McNeill, Jason Damouni