THE LIBERALS LISTENING TOUR IN FULL SWING

Last week I headed to the Pilbara as part of the WA Liberals’ listening tour.

On the trip I was joined by my parliamentary colleague Hon Neil Thomson MLC and Senator Dean Smith.

Our first stop was Port Hedland, where I toured the port on a BHP tugboat. The port is the world’s largest bulk export port by tonnage and a vital piece of infrastructure for WA and Australia.

FMG provided me with a tour of their Port Hedland operations, including going on a ship loader and witnessing the State’s iron ore being loaded on an ore carrier ship.

Day two we headed to Karratha, via Roebourne, where we met with the City of Karratha, visited Murujuga National Park and the petroglyphs, and toured Woodside’s Karratha operations.

The images shown in the rock art capture at least 47,000 years of human existence and should continue be protected through industry monitoring and regulation.

The last day we were in Exmouth where we met with the Shire and the local Chamber of Commerce and similar issues to the rest of the Pilbara were raised, lack of housing availability and a lack of government investment in essential infrastructure.

I also had the chance to meet with small business owners, residents and Party members across all three towns and it’s clear that they feel let down by the Cook Labor Government and their local Labor MLA. Clearly, the State Government is more interested in metro Perth and their pet projects like the racetrack. The State Liberals will hold the Government to account over these regional failures.

THE RIGHT PRIORITIES FOR ALL WESTERN AUSTRALIANS

In just 12 sitting days and less than three months in Opposition, it’s clear the Labor Government has felt the arrival of a reinvigorated Liberal Party. Our Parliamentary team is focused, determined and relentless in holding the Government to account for putting its own priorities ahead of the community’s.

We’ve demanded honesty on the Women and Babies Hospital contract, fought to ensure cancer patients can access vital treatment no matter where they live, stood with residents calling for action on disruptive and violent behaviour in social housing in suburban Inglewood, won a vote in the Upper House to force the flawed firearms legislation to be reviewed and challenged the Government on its plans for using Public Education Endowment Trust funds, which are specifically intended to support public schools. We’ve also backed Western Australians who’ve said loud and clear - no to a new racetrack and no to bare-knuckle fighting in our State.

These are just some of the issues that show a Government increasingly out of touch and with the wrong priorities. The Liberal team will continue to pursue the priorities that matter to Western Australians and demand honesty, integrity and transparency every step of the way.

With the post-election State Budget just days away, and in a State as prosperous as ours, we’ll be watching closely to ensure taxpayer money is being spent wisely and for the benefit of all.