Nationals leader Mia Davies in $250 million Royalties for Regions pledge

National Party leader Mia Davies says the Royalties for Regions program will be returned to its former glory if Labor is defeated at the next election. Speaking at the National’s annual state conference in Albany, Ms Davies committed spending $250 million over five years to 11 regional cities and towns across the state to allow them to grow into “modern, sustainable, dynamic places to live and work”. They were Kununurra, Broome, Port Hedland, Karratha, Geraldton, Kalgoorlie-Boulder, Northam, Bunbury, Busselton, Albany and Esperance. “From Kununurra to Albany, we want to entice workers and their families to live in the regions,” Ms Davies said. “With these 11 local government’s we’ll create an investment framework to fund urban renewal projects to revitalise residential and commercial areas in need of transformation, invest in tourism and visitor infrastructure (and) support infrastructure and planning to create waster sensitive cities. “Our candidates can go back to these communities and say that no other party will make this investment. “They may tinker around the edges. “But we’re promising $250 million over five years.” The Royalties for Regions programme was the brainchild of former National Party leader, Brendon Grylls. Mr Grylls famously brokered a deal with Colin Barnett to designate $1 billion worth of royalties a year for the bush in return for forming an alliance government in 2008. The Nationals were largely in control of how, and where that money was spent. Upon winning government, Labor decided that the way Royalties for Regions was spent would be changed, so that projects that might otherwise been funded out of consolidated revenue were now funded out of the bush fund. “What they (Labor) has done in siphoning funding and underspending Royalties for Regions is unforgivable,” Ms Davies said. Ms Davies also announced a $35 million Community Energy Fund to encourage regional households and communities to install “behind the meter” batteries for electricity storage. Among the motions to be debated at the conference are that the intentional release of helium balloons be banned and that the State Government be called upon to make high vis reflective vests for cyclists compulsory. The Young Nationals called for a four day working week “as the default mode of work in applicable industries”.