Wellington makes case to cabinet

Albany is in the midst of a once-in-a-generation opportunity to twist the arms of political parties and their chequebook holders, according to Albany Mayor Dennis Wellington. Mr Wellington and City chief executive Andrew Sharpe yesterday presented Premier Mark McGowan and his Cabinet minsters with a wish-list of more than 30 projects leading into the 2021 State election. Labor, the Liberals and Nationals WA will all be circling the seat of Albany, believing they have what it takes to entice local voters come March 2021. Albany is tipped to be one of the most fiercely contest Legislative Assembly seats after the departure of “Mr Albany”, Peter Watson, who has held the seat for Labor since 2001. Mr McGowan was also presented with a document titled “You need to have Albany on your team: Why Albany”. “We’re saying to them, ‘do you want to carry WA, in terms of winning government? You need to win Albany’,” Mr Wellington said. “That’s just the political reality.” Mr Wellington said the projects were not ranked in terms of importance. “Basically, what it amounts to is they will pick out the ones which works best for them in terms of getting votes,” he said. “We see elections as just a wonderful time to twist some arms and say ‘listen, buy us’.” Mr Wellington wants to see the completion of already-committed projects such as Albany Ring Road, South Coast Highway upgrades and Middleton Beach surf reef. Futureproofing Albany is also high on the City’s agenda. With Mr Watson stepping down at the end of this term, he said the State election would provide Albany with a unique opportunity. “It becomes a situation where nobody knows who’s going to win,” Mr Wellington said. “Political parties are going to try and put their best foot forward to make sure that their candidate wins ... if we can benefit from that, then so be it.”