State Budget wrap: What do WA’s regions get in 2024-25?

WA’s regional areas will see wins in the safety, housing, health and transport sectors after the State Budget was presented on Thursday. Speaking at the Budget breakfast hosted at Albany Golf Club on Friday, Minister for Health Amber-Jade Sanderson hoped the Budget would also address the financial pinch felt by many West Australians. “We know that we’ve seen executive rate rises, a great rise of inflationary pressures in households, supermarkets putting up their prices,” she said. There was a $169 million boost to regional roads, adding to the $6.4 billion dedicated to country transport infrastructure. The sum of $2.6b was allocated to regional health care, with service delivery bolstered by $405m, including an $11.9m incentive boost for nurses and midwives to assist in rural areas. To combat the housing crisis in the wider regions, $1.1b is being injected into boosting the stock and affordability of houses, with $400m dedicated to creating social and affordable housing projects, $43.8m to develop housing for public sector workers, $60m for regional housing grants and $8.9m to strengthen the protection of renters’ rights. The regions will also get millions to diversify their economies with $36.4m designated to job-creating projects in the regions and $1.1b for regional training programs. The Regional Airfare Zone Cap will limit the cost of tickets for flights of less than 1000km (like Albany to Perth) to $199, with the addition of $64.5m. For those needing to travel to Perth for health treatments, $32.5m was put into the Patient Assisted Travel Scheme, with $7.7m to refresh outdated health staff accommodation and $2.5m for an extension plan to Ronald McDonald House where regional families receiving treatment in Perth often stay. Regional safety initiatives include a $23.4m extension of Operation Regional Shield, allowing police to rapidly deploy officers to the regions they are needed most and $26.4m for regional domestic violence programs. Regional bushfire mitigation initiatives will receive $30.2m. Regional fire and rescue stations to receive a portion of $7.7m, with listed projects including providing firefighters with gender-separate facilities and installing post-incident hygiene showers. Babies under eight months old will now be eligible to receive a free respiratory syncytial vaccine through a $10.9m investment. The reach of the Brief Crisis Intervention Service that provides post-ED follow-up for youths who have presented with mental health issues has been extended with a $4.7m investment. The cost of living relief package includes a $400 electricity credit for every WA household and eligible small businesses, $150 or $250 for every WA school student via the WA Student Assistance Payment initiative, and pensioners rebates of 50 per cent on local government rates and water service charges. Seniors will benefit from an increase of their Regional Pensioner Travel Card to $675 annually.