Tania Lawrence (Hasluck, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister. How is the Albanese government working with the government of Western Australia to deliver real benefits and a better future for Western Australians?

Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Hasluck for her question and for the contribution that she's making to the connections between the federal Labor government and the WA government. Today I want to take the opportunity to pay tribute to a great leader of a great state in my friend Mark McGowan. He has left office as he led: on his own terms, as his own person. He steered Western Australia through an unprecedented time. He did that with courage and with leadership. His conviction and strength in shielding WA made him a target for bad-faith operators. We know about the Clive Palmer lawsuit that occurred and that was backed by the former government of the coalition. I chose to stand with Mark McGowan and did it proudly.

The government that I lead will also continue to work constructively with WA to deliver real, lasting benefits to Western Australians. Already we're delivering seven urgent care clinics, including two regional clinics, and we've saved more than $8.6 million from 785,000 prescriptions since 1 January. Our bulk-billing investments will help 1.16 million eligible Western Australians; 111,000 families in WA will benefit from cheaper child care from one month's time; 18,800 fee-free TAFE places have been delivered already, with more to come; 26,500 aged-care workers are getting a pay rise in WA; and 6,700 single parents in WA alone are benefiting from the change that we've made. In WA 79,000 households will receive increased rent assistance; 498,000 households are eligible for a $350 rebate on their energy bills—something opposed by those opposite; $2.8 million has been provided for infrastructure, including the Tonkin Highway, the Pilbara ports and METRONET as well; 132,000 homes in WA alone will benefit from full-fibre NBN access; 380,000 small businesses with an annual turnover of $10 million will increase their instant asset write-off threshold to $20,000; and around 90,000 small businesses will receive bill relief of $650 from 1 July.

We will continue to work with the WA government. My government had a full cabinet meeting in Port Hedland and we will have one in coming months in Perth. We understand that, to represent the whole nation, you have to actually deliver for the whole nation, and we are delivering for Western Australia.