Tony Crook (O'Connor, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise tonight extremely proud of, and excited to report to the House, the outstanding success of the Nationals WA in last weekend's state election in Western Australia. The weekend saw the Nationals' presence in the lower house of the state parliament rise from five to seven members with two seats, Kimberley and Eyre, still too close to call.

In 2008, the Nationals campaigned on the Royalties for Regions policy, pointing out that the two major parties had neglected regional WA for years on end. Now that this election is over, it is no surprise to see the Nationals increasing the number of regional seats they hold, on the back of the successful Royalties for Regions policy which has delivered billions of dollars back into the regions.

Firstly, I note the political nous and courage of the Leader of the National Party of Western Australia, Brendon Grylls. Brendon took a risk like never before, leaving his safe Central Wheatbelt seat in the capable hands of Mia Davies and winning Pilbara. Many said the risk was dangerous, but in my opinion Brendon—even if he had lost—should go down in history as one of the greatest political leaders WA has ever seen. Brendon won his seat, and the Nationals' expansion into the north is simply fantastic and a testament to the benefits Royalties for Regions is providing.

Secondly, I congratulate Wendy Duncan and welcome her home to Kalgoorlie. Wendy took a similar risk to Brendon's. She left her safe seat in the Mining and Pastoral region to run for the lower house, and the electorate of Kalgoorlie will be lucky to have Wendy as our local member.

Thirdly, I would like to mention the now extremely marginal seat of Eyre. My last check of the Electoral Commission website had local farmer Colin de Grussa 55 votes ahead of the incumbent. This is an outstanding effort and against all odds. I hope Colin is getting some sleep, because I know he has not had much in the last three or four days. Regardless of the outcome, Colin has put Eyre well and truly back on the political map.

To Vince Catania, Shane Love, Tuck Waldron, Mia Davies and Terry Redman go my sincere congratulations. And to Dave Grills, who is on a knife edge: good luck, mate—you deserve an opportunity and I hope you get it. To Rob Sutton, Michelle Pucci, Shane van Styn and all our unsuccessful candidates, congratulations on your hard work and the dedication you continue to show your local communities.

During this campaign, the opposition to the Nationals, both Labor and Liberal, continually said they would continue the Royalties for Regions policy. Some Liberal candidates even went as far as criticising the Nationals for calling it their own when it was delivered by the WA government. I note this technicality, but next some WA Liberals will be saying that the Anglicans appoint the Pope. The Nationals WA developed this policy, campaigned strongly on it and, most importantly, delivered it. In politics there is no greater testament than delivering on something you have campaigned for and worked on.

On every occasion possible I take the opportunity to praise Royalties for Regions. It is the envy of all other states as far as regional funding schemes go, and it blows out of the water the Regional Development Australia Fund administered by this federal government. The Weekend Australian reported that this government plans to use money from the Regional Development Australia Fund to sandbag marginal Sydney seats in the lead-up to the federal election. Minister Crean is well aware of my thoughts about the RDA Fund and how it is administered. Compared to Royalties for Regions, it has failed miserably, particularly in regional WA. This is despite the Commonwealth happily using WA's wealth to prop up the eastern states.

For this reason, I today wrote to the member for Lyne, Rob Oakeshott, and the member for New England, Tony Windsor, requesting their involvement in this matter, as the RDA Fund was an agreement between them and Labor reached in the formation of this government. According to today's Australian, Rob and Tony will be meeting with the Prime Minister in relation to this issue, and I look forward to hearing the outcome of that meeting.

In closing, I once again offer my sincere congratulations to the WA Nationals on an outstanding result. They no longer hold the balance of power, which is unfortunate, but it has to be said that they delivered an outstanding regional policy and, more importantly, they have delivered stable government, which is where this parliament is failing.