Budget letdown for regional WA

May 13, 2008, 6:54pm, 340 views,  1 Comment

Federal budgetDespite being the biggest state in Australia, WA has the highest concentration of people in a small area. I guess about 80 percent of the people live in a narrow coastal strip from Margaret River to Perth.

And that’s where most of the Federal Budget infrastructure funds appear to be going, according to this media statement.

The biggest single allocation is $160 million for the new Bunbury to Perth highway so city folks can get to the wineries faster on long weekends.

There’s no mention of the Esperance port or the Kalgoorlie-Esperance transport corridor.

In fairness, I’ll study the detail tomorrow and update this post if I find a bucket of money stashed away secretly to honor Labor’s election promise regarding the Esperance port.

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This weekend’s promises

November 4, 2007, 1:52pm, 220 views,  Leave a Comment

The parties have had a break from cloning each other to make some feel-good announcements this week. There was nothing stunning about them and they are unlikely to sway many votes.

Labor revealed a plan to create tax breaks for first home buyers. The $500 million pledge is designed to address the problem of housing affordability.

It’s little more than a symbolic gesture really, and will only help at the margins of what is a growing malaise. As I mentioned previously, major surgery is needed if the government is to intervene constructively.

The Coalition’s announcement was a $10 billion “transport plan”. This is focused on road and rail improvements in Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland.

Although welcome “news” it isn’t really news in the sense that $23 billion for the Auslink program was announced in the May budget. Both parties are just in the process of saying how they will spend that money.

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Road safety

October 21, 2007, 4:04pm, 203 views,  Leave a Comment

What is a safe speed limit for Australian conditions and what is the appropriate speed limit? Are these two attributes complementary or competitive.

The Office of Road Safety in Western Australia has released a discussion paper suggesting the speed limit on country roads be reduced from 110kmh to 100kmh. The suggestion is in response to the state’s escalating rural road toll. Read more

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Road funding

October 19, 2007, 7:49pm, 189 views,  Leave a Comment

As someone who has lived in both Traralgon and Sale (32 miles apart or 50km), I was pleased to read this announcement today:

A re-elected Coalition Government will provide $250 million, with more to follow, for the duplication of Traralgon to Sale section of the Princes Highway, the Deputy Prime Minister and Leader of The Nationals, Mark Vaile, announced today. This announcement is part of the Coalition’s 2020 plan for Australia’s Transport Future, an integrated vision tackling local roads and national highways. “The Liberal/Nationals $250 million commitment, with more to follow, will deliver real benefits to the people of Gippsland as a result of the completion of the duplication from Melbourne to Sale,” Mr Vaile said.

Full credit to Peter McGauran for winning that commitment.

Now that I live in Kalgoorlie, WA, I’m wondering why Wilson Tuckey and Barry Haase can’t get some significant money spent on the highway between Kalgoorlie and Perth.

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