Opposition Leader Shane Love has accused the Cook Labor Government of continuing to have their priorities wrong as Parliament returns from the winter recess.
“With just 27 sitting days left of this Labor Government, WA families, businesses and communities are chomping at the bit to get rid of this arrogant and ignorant Cook Labor Government,” Mr Love said.
Mr Love said the Opposition would be reading in a Motion to debate this week, asserting the Cook Labor Government had put vanity projects and political point scoring ahead of the needs of WA families.
“Every West Australian knows that housing and health are the two biggest issues impacting our daily, but instead of addressing these issues, the Government is wasting taxpayer dollars and resources on yet another media stunt to promote laws which have already passed Parliament.”
Mr Love said the stunt from the Premier and Police Minister this week was “reckless, irresponsible, and totally unnecessary.”
“Dumping 10,000 firearms for a photo-opportunity to promote a failed buyback scheme shows Labor is only interested in stoking fear in the community, not working with law-abiding firearms owners to inform them around the new laws.
“A process which has already been botched after WA Police spent nearly $30,000 sending misleading text messages to thousands of firearms owners.”
Mr Love also blasted the Government of blowing the budget of the new cycling bridge by over $100 million while almost 1,000 WA residents were sleeping rough as Homelessness Week begins.
“When your budget skyrockets from $50 million to $180 million on a single project you shouldn’t be patting yourself on the back, you should be asking serious questions about your project management abilities.
“And to do so at a time when the number of people sleeping rough on our streets has increased from 345 to over 900 shows and WA is failing to meet its own homelessness targets shows just how out of touch this Cook Labor Government is.”
Deputy Leader Peter Rundle said demand on services like FoodBank and other charitable organisations was also skyrocketing, and WA’s health system remained in disarray.
“July saw ambulances ramped outside of WA hospitals for over 6,500 hours – the highest figure in 12 months, which the Premier must admit is a massive failure and a crisis,” Mr Rundle said.
“And despite recently posting another multi-billion-dollar Budget surplus, our most vulnerable patients are being abandoned in hospital corridors, and our elective surgery waitlist continues to grow, with 30,867 patients now waiting longer than ever for treatment.
“WA families, businesses and communities deserve better than the neglect and disdain they receive from this Cook Labor Government.”
