Strange bedfellows: Greens, conservatives team up in hopes of WA Labor's first upper house defeat in five years
Western Australia's Labor government could lose its first vote in the upper house in more than five years this afternoon, with the Greens and conservative opposition teaming up to force a response to a two-year-old homelessness report.
Greens homelessness spokesman Tim Clifford will move a motion in parliament this afternoon calling on the Cook government to report back on the recommendations of the Funding of Homelessness Services in Western Australia report handed down by an upper house committee in June 2023.
Clifford will also call on the Cook government to recommit to ending homelessness with corresponding funding.
Leader of the Opposition in the Upper House, Liberal MLC Nick Gorian, confirmed his team would support the Greens' motion, which would give it the numbers to pass after Labor lost its majority in the house at the March 8 poll.
If Labor doesn't support the motion, it will be the first time the party has lost a vote in either house since before the 2021 election. Labor's leader of the Upper House Stephen Dawson would not be drawn on the party's position.
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The report made 57 recommendations aimed at improving the state's response to homelessness, including better funding and better-tailored services.
Only three of those were not supported, with most recommendations supported or supported in-principle.
The government has not yet reported back on the implementation of the recommendations it supported.
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The Age
43 minutes ago
- The Age
Does federal Labor have the courage for change?
To submit a letter to The Age, email letters@ Please include your home address and telephone number. No attachments, please include your letter in the body of the email. See here for our rules and tips on getting your letter published. Refreshing to read Ken Henry's assessment (' Nature is critical to productivity ', 25/6) that productivity is enhanced by good environmental laws. For too long has the reverse been considered by some leaders, saying environmentally harmful investment projects will create jobs in order to justify such projects. Uncertainty about environmental laws has deterred domestic and overseas investors. As Henry says, processing of raw materials that Australia has in abundance, would create many jobs. Value added manufacturing would add to this. Instead we are destroying our environment. Enacting these reforms would take bold leadership, yet this is what voters are wanting. Writers to this paper have been bemoaning the small, albeit necessary, changes to policy by the federal Labor government. Environmental law reform is best tackled in the first year of this second term, so the resultant improvements in productivity can flow through. Will the federal government have the courage? Jan Marshall, Brighton Nature is fundamental to progress Well said that man. Actually, Ken Henry could have gone further; nature is fundamental to productivity. Cleaning up the wreckage of a fire or flood, or burying livestock in a drought may count as economic activities in assessing the GDP, but they're a negative on the productivity scale. That's without counting the human cost. The unproductive anxiety levels generated by a deteriorating environment and the accompanying social disruption are beyond measure. Labor have the parliamentary mandate, now let's see if they have the vision and the courage to do what has to be done. Driving the lobbyists from the steps of Parliament would be a good first step. John Mosig, Kew Myopic thinking puts business first Ken Henry highlights the urgent need for environmental law reform, as proposed by Professor Graeme Samuel. Strict, enforceable regulation of environmental protection could, as he suggests, provide an investment climate within clear limits which enable business development to proceed efficiently, when and where it can, without damaging the environment. Introducing this legislation inspires determined resistance from businesses large and small, who put their immediate interests ahead of the environment that underpins their businesses longer term. This myopia leaves us sliding towards environmental, and economic, collapse. Chris Young, Surrey Hills Watt should take note of 'briefing note' Environment Minister Murray Watt could hardly get a more incisive briefing note for his task of reforming the Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act than Ken Henry's succinct account. Two of Henry's observations were particularly telling. One was that only 5 per cent of the nation's workforce is employed by the industries responsible for ″the extinction of more than 100 species and the loss of more than half the continent's forests″. The megaphones used by mining, forestry, fishing and agriculture sectors give a completely disproportionate view of this fact. His second remark was that the future viability of these industries depends on care of nature, an irony that seems lost on their protagonists. Watt's swift approval of the extension of Woodside's carbon-polluting North West Shelf project, admittedly conditional, does not instil confidence in his commitment to robust legislative reform. I and many others would be happy to be proved wrong on this score. Tom Knowles, Parkville THE FORUM Your taxes at work Your correspondent (Letters, 25/6) offers a good solution to the abuse of superannuation tax concessions. The idea that those receiving four times as much or more than the median wage in passive income should pay minimal tax is indefensible, not least because it means those on low incomes and paying full tax are subsidising those with plenty of money in the kitty. No wonder many young hard-working people are angered and feel enslaved. At present, superannuation returns are strong – a 10 per cent return on $3 million yields $300,000 – while the median wage is about $70,000. Some years may have lower returns, but even one as low as 2.5 per cent (a rare event) earns a healthy $75,000. 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Chalmers' three goals of productivity, resilience and sustainability are not just wishful thinking: they should be explicit components of all decision-making, with measurable results. The recent election gave Labor a mandate it must not squander. Jenifer Nicholls, Windsor Delivering fairness Surely if Jim Chalmers is serious about tax reform then he must take account of our current pensions and benefit arrangements. Single people under 55 who receive JobSeeker receive $781 a fortnight while a single age pensioner receives $1149 a fortnight. Everyone accepts that single people on JobSeeker live in poverty. We should have a tax and social security system built primarily on need. It must provide for a living income. The current tax threshold of $18,200 is a joke. Ken Henry in his review recommended then that it should be a minimum of $25,000 annually. Every adult should receive this as a minimum payment. John Rome, Mt Lawley, WA
Perth Now
3 hours ago
- Perth Now
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The Advertiser
3 hours ago
- The Advertiser
Liberal leader open to quotas after election drubbing
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But Ms Ley acknowledged the Liberal Party's issues ran deeper than one election result. "What we have now is completely unacceptable. What we have done has not worked," she said. "I'm open to any approach that will. "I know we can do well and I'm optimistic about what we can do." Under her watch, the coalition will become more constructive when Labor has good ideas, but remain critical of its bad policies. She also offered to collaborate with the government on issues such as domestic violence. A "root and branch" review of the election defeat will also look at the party's broader performance and engagement with voters. Ms Ley acknowledged her appointment to the coalition's top job represented a fresh approach, but there was still some way to go. "Let's be honest and up front about last month's election. We didn't just lose - we got smashed," she said. "The scale of that defeat - its size and significance - is not lost on me, nor any one of my parliamentary team sitting here today. "We respect the election outcome with humility, we accept it with contrition and we must learn from it with conviction." Ms Ley became the first Liberal leader to address the National Press Club since 2022 after her predecessor Peter Dutton snubbed the Canberra institution throughout his tenure. While she has tried to push the party back towards the political centre, many of her moderate colleagues lost their seats at the election, leaving her leadership vulnerable for the next three years. She also has to navigate the relationship with the Nationals after the long-term coalition partners split briefly during the fallout from the election defeat. Liberal leader Sussan Ley is open to introducing quotas for female candidates as young people and women abandon the party in droves. The Liberals are searching for answers after being handed their worst-ever loss at the May election. "Our party must pre-select more women in winnable seats so that we see more women in federal parliament," Ms Ley told the National Press Club on Wednesday. "I'm agnostic on specific methods to make it happen but I am a zealot that it actually does happen." Pre-election polling suggested the opposition would not form government but the scale of the defeat was a shock, leaving the Liberals without a leader and the coalition with less than half as many seats as Labor. Policies such as an end to working-from-home arrangements for public servants and threats to cut jobs in government departments were blamed for the party's unpopularity with voters, alongside a perceived tendency to wade into culture wars. But Ms Ley acknowledged the Liberal Party's issues ran deeper than one election result. "What we have now is completely unacceptable. What we have done has not worked," she said. "I'm open to any approach that will. "I know we can do well and I'm optimistic about what we can do." Under her watch, the coalition will become more constructive when Labor has good ideas, but remain critical of its bad policies. She also offered to collaborate with the government on issues such as domestic violence. A "root and branch" review of the election defeat will also look at the party's broader performance and engagement with voters. Ms Ley acknowledged her appointment to the coalition's top job represented a fresh approach, but there was still some way to go. "Let's be honest and up front about last month's election. We didn't just lose - we got smashed," she said. "The scale of that defeat - its size and significance - is not lost on me, nor any one of my parliamentary team sitting here today. "We respect the election outcome with humility, we accept it with contrition and we must learn from it with conviction." Ms Ley became the first Liberal leader to address the National Press Club since 2022 after her predecessor Peter Dutton snubbed the Canberra institution throughout his tenure. While she has tried to push the party back towards the political centre, many of her moderate colleagues lost their seats at the election, leaving her leadership vulnerable for the next three years. She also has to navigate the relationship with the Nationals after the long-term coalition partners split briefly during the fallout from the election defeat. Liberal leader Sussan Ley is open to introducing quotas for female candidates as young people and women abandon the party in droves. The Liberals are searching for answers after being handed their worst-ever loss at the May election. "Our party must pre-select more women in winnable seats so that we see more women in federal parliament," Ms Ley told the National Press Club on Wednesday. "I'm agnostic on specific methods to make it happen but I am a zealot that it actually does happen." Pre-election polling suggested the opposition would not form government but the scale of the defeat was a shock, leaving the Liberals without a leader and the coalition with less than half as many seats as Labor. Policies such as an end to working-from-home arrangements for public servants and threats to cut jobs in government departments were blamed for the party's unpopularity with voters, alongside a perceived tendency to wade into culture wars. But Ms Ley acknowledged the Liberal Party's issues ran deeper than one election result. "What we have now is completely unacceptable. What we have done has not worked," she said. "I'm open to any approach that will. "I know we can do well and I'm optimistic about what we can do." Under her watch, the coalition will become more constructive when Labor has good ideas, but remain critical of its bad policies. She also offered to collaborate with the government on issues such as domestic violence. A "root and branch" review of the election defeat will also look at the party's broader performance and engagement with voters. Ms Ley acknowledged her appointment to the coalition's top job represented a fresh approach, but there was still some way to go. "Let's be honest and up front about last month's election. We didn't just lose - we got smashed," she said. "The scale of that defeat - its size and significance - is not lost on me, nor any one of my parliamentary team sitting here today. "We respect the election outcome with humility, we accept it with contrition and we must learn from it with conviction." Ms Ley became the first Liberal leader to address the National Press Club since 2022 after her predecessor Peter Dutton snubbed the Canberra institution throughout his tenure. While she has tried to push the party back towards the political centre, many of her moderate colleagues lost their seats at the election, leaving her leadership vulnerable for the next three years. She also has to navigate the relationship with the Nationals after the long-term coalition partners split briefly during the fallout from the election defeat. Liberal leader Sussan Ley is open to introducing quotas for female candidates as young people and women abandon the party in droves. The Liberals are searching for answers after being handed their worst-ever loss at the May election. "Our party must pre-select more women in winnable seats so that we see more women in federal parliament," Ms Ley told the National Press Club on Wednesday. "I'm agnostic on specific methods to make it happen but I am a zealot that it actually does happen." Pre-election polling suggested the opposition would not form government but the scale of the defeat was a shock, leaving the Liberals without a leader and the coalition with less than half as many seats as Labor. Policies such as an end to working-from-home arrangements for public servants and threats to cut jobs in government departments were blamed for the party's unpopularity with voters, alongside a perceived tendency to wade into culture wars. But Ms Ley acknowledged the Liberal Party's issues ran deeper than one election result. "What we have now is completely unacceptable. What we have done has not worked," she said. "I'm open to any approach that will. "I know we can do well and I'm optimistic about what we can do." Under her watch, the coalition will become more constructive when Labor has good ideas, but remain critical of its bad policies. She also offered to collaborate with the government on issues such as domestic violence. A "root and branch" review of the election defeat will also look at the party's broader performance and engagement with voters. Ms Ley acknowledged her appointment to the coalition's top job represented a fresh approach, but there was still some way to go. "Let's be honest and up front about last month's election. We didn't just lose - we got smashed," she said. "The scale of that defeat - its size and significance - is not lost on me, nor any one of my parliamentary team sitting here today. "We respect the election outcome with humility, we accept it with contrition and we must learn from it with conviction." Ms Ley became the first Liberal leader to address the National Press Club since 2022 after her predecessor Peter Dutton snubbed the Canberra institution throughout his tenure. While she has tried to push the party back towards the political centre, many of her moderate colleagues lost their seats at the election, leaving her leadership vulnerable for the next three years. She also has to navigate the relationship with the Nationals after the long-term coalition partners split briefly during the fallout from the election defeat.
