ANZAC DAY 2025: Premier Cook blasts heckler who disrupted Welcome to Country at Kings Park dawn service
ANZAC DAY 2025: Premier Cook blasts heckler who disrupted Welcome to Country at Kings Park dawn service
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West Australian
4 hours ago
- West Australian
Roger Cook sets sights on more $10k tradies from across Australia and overseas
The Cook Government has extended its $10,000 offer for tradies to move west, allocating $12.3 million in the State Budget to extend the scheme as well as incentives for employers to sponsor overseas workers. The scheme, which pays tradies from the east coast and New Zealand the money to head to WA and work in the building industry has so far attracted 361 people, with another 658 applying to be part of it. But the Government is determined to get more tradies, as pressure mounts to build more homes in WA. 'My Government will never stop working toward making sure every Western Australian has a home — and that there's no better place in the world to get a quality job,' Premier Roger Cook said. 'While training local people for local jobs will always be our priority, we need skilled workers right now — and if you're an eligible building and construction worker — there's even more cash up for grabs.' The Premier said the program had enticed a variety of people with different skills to the State. 'It's great to see so many building and construction workers snapping up the job opportunities on offer in WA — including electricians, carpenters, and bricklayers — but we want even more. 'Sandgropers know the West Coast is the best coast — and while these tradies might come for the job, I'd be willing to be most of them would stay for the lifestyle. 'Beware to our east coast and Kiwi cousins — we want your tradies — and we're pulling out all the stops to bring them here.' The Government will also extend its Construction and Visa Subsidy Program, which pays businesses $10,000 to offset the costs of bringing overseas skilled migrants to WA. So far, it has attracted 849 skilled migrants to the west. 'Western Australia's economy is booming, and we need a skilled workforce to meet demand across a range of sectors including building and construction,' Skills and TAFE Minister Amber-Jade Sanderson said. 'To build this workforce, we're investing in training to deliver the workforce of tomorrow while also attracting job-ready tradies for the workforce of today. 'The Construction Visa Subsidy Program and the Build a Life in WA Incentive are leveraging our State's reputation as a great place to live, helping to quickly bolster the building and construction industry's workforce to meet immediate demands.'
West Australian
4 hours ago
- West Australian
Important first State Budget following landslide election for ambitious Rita Saffioti
It's a no-brainer to suggest Thursday's State Budget is important for the re-elected Cook Labor Government. Every Budget is important. But this is the first Budget after Labor's smashing of the Liberals at the March State election. So: people who voted for Labor — and that's the majority of West Aussies — will be eagerly awaiting their 'post-election dividend' on Thursday. But equally, this is an important Budget for the hard-nosed and driven Rita Saffioti, who will deliver her second Budget and, as Treasurer, has been a driving force behind how the Government's billions in royalties and GST payments are divvied up for next financial year. So, these days, where's Saffioti at in terms of future ambitions? I'm reliably told Saffioti still harbours a burning desire to be Labor's next premier. The size of Roger Cook's win in March — for mine, Labor's greatest victory since it won power in 2017 — has made the likelihood of the Kwinana MP retiring before the next election less than it would otherwise have been. Nevertheless, despite Cook's line that he is 'only just getting started' in terms of his premiership, I am unconvinced he will recontest the 2029 poll. I'm told Saffioti is still hoping to lead Labor to the next election. Her main rival is Energy Minister Amber-Jade Sanderson. I can confidently predict that should Sanderson get the nod to be Premier — if Cook resigns before the next poll — Saffioti will retire from politics quicker than an Italian Nonna can knock up a plate of spaghetti bolognaise. If Saffioti is to become Labor's next leader, she needs to be an outstanding Treasurer. Thursday is a big day for her. There's a few things for her to achieve this Budget. Saffioti needs to make sure WA's AAA credit rating remains intact; she needs to appease the business community; she needs to appease the general community; and she needs to appease Caucus. It's Caucus — under instructions from unions — that will vote for Labor's next leader. And my mail (from senior Labor sources) is that a number of backbenchers are getting a bit testy about where the Government's billions are being spent. Hands up who remembers Colin Barnett's Emperor's Palace? Barnett's $26 million decision to relocate his office and the Cabinet room from rented accommodation in Governor Stirling Tower to the heritage-listed Hale House — instead of joining his ministers at Dumas House — was lambasted by Labor in opposition, in which Saffioti was finance spokesperson. Barnett moved into Hale House in 2012, at a time state debt had climbed from $3.6 billion to $19b under his rein. Labor pointed to the Hale House project as further proof of Barnett's and the Liberals' arrogance. Saffioti is the driving force behind a $217 million 'world-class motorsport street circuit.' That's what Labor called the project when it first publicly floated it in The Sunday Times in June last year. 'Imagine the noise, atmosphere and crowds as V8s fly around a new and specially designed racetrack in Burswood Park, just a stone's throw from the city. It'll be incredible,' Saffioti said at the time. These days, Saffioti calls it an entertainment precinct, because it includes a 20,000-seat amphitheatre for concerts and the like. Regardless of what you call it, backbenchers — and I'm sure members of the public who aren't revheads, are questioning whether that $217m could be better spent elsewhere. Will people think spending $65m on basing a new NRL side to Perth is a justifiable expense? Roger Cook might, but what about if you are one of 22,000 West Australians currently waiting, on average, 154 weeks for social housing? Labor's Budget will be inked in black — not red, like the Budgets of governments across the Nullarbor. The quarterly financial results released just a few weeks ago already show an operating surplus of $2.8b for the first nine months of this financial year. Saffioti will, on Budget day, detail spending on hundreds of millions of dollars in health, education and social housing. Great. But sometimes it takes just one project, one example of wasteful spending, to smear an administration. And mud sticks. Just ask The Emperor.
West Australian
4 hours ago
- West Australian
Editorial: Cook and Saffioti ‘under pressure' as they prepare to deliver Labor's first post-election Budget
There's no way of knowing what might be running through the minds of Premier Roger Cook and Treasurer Rita Saffioti as they walk into Parliament House to deliver Labor's first post-election Budget on Thursday. If the people of Western Australia had any say in the matter, they might suggest the pair be humming the impossibly catchy melody to David Bowie and Queen's 1981 hit, Under Pressure. Because the pressure is certainly on for the re-elected Cook Government to deliver on a number of fronts — cost of living, health and housing, chief among them. Having been handed a landslide victory by WA voters, the Government must now offer real world solutions to the State's many problems. They've certainly got the means with an iron ore royalty windfall jacking the State's surplus to around $3.5 billion, $300 million higher than expected. Soaring gold prices have also helped boost the balance. But now is not the time to be frivolous, with many critics already pointing to Saffioti's $217 million Burswood Park racetrack as evidence Labor has its priorities wrong. Because while the Government may be cashed up, voters are not. And things are set to get worst with many WA households factoring in a 50 per cent hike in their annual electricity spend following speculation that Labor will dump its $400 power bill credits, which have been handed out for the past three years. It is expected to result in a $600 increase in annual electricity bills for the average household from next month. It would be very bad optics indeed if the Government opted to ditch the credits at a time when voters are still struggling with high cost of living, astronomical rent and mortgage pressures. Cook and Saffioti are no doubt well aware that there will be intense blowback if they do not offer some kind of fiscal solution to help fix WA's broken health system. Health Minister Meredith Hammat, in particular, will be hoping Saffioti has an ace up her sleeve when it comes to doing something about WA's seemingly ever-increasing hospital ramping figures. Housing is another major thorn in the Cook Government's side. WA currently holds the title of Australia's rough sleeping capital — a badge of shame given our State is the economic powerhouse of the nation. Experts also warn that without a major injection of funds, WA's housing crisis will likely hinder opportunities for economic growth and diversification into the future. The lack of adequate inner-city housing options could mean the skilled migrants that are expected to flood our shores as part of the predicted IT boom will simply bypass Perth in favour of other more affordable and better-equipped capitals. The Government holds all the cards, and the strings to a burgeoning purse. It's time to reward the confidence WA voters have placed in them by prioritising the needs of the community. To quote that earlier 80s hit, this may not be Labor's 'last dance' but it is certainly a government under pressure.
