CAROL MARTIN
Labor candidate for Durack
FORMER State member for the Kimberley, Carol Martin is Labor's endorsed candidate for the Federal seat of Durack at the 2017 election.
Ms Martin's vision, if elected, is to create a stable, diverse region that can withstand the fluctuations of a resource based economy.
She wants to focus on health, mental health, jobs, education, remote communities, services and the environment and to create stronger, more resilient communities that can take control of their own destiny.
Ms Martin was the Member for Kimberley in the WA Parliament from 2001 to 2013, and was the first Aboriginal woman elected into any State or Territory Parliament.
"During my time as the Member for Kimberley, I worked closely with the pastoral, agriculture and horticulture industries and represented them many times and am now seek to become, along with Tammy Solonec in Swan, the first Aboriginal woman elected to the Federal House of Representatives," she said.
"I have lived in Durack since 1974, currently living in Geraldton and I am the only candidate from a major party who lives in Durack.
"I'm passionate about promoting regional WA and supporting its people.
"I have the experience, the knowledge, the drive, and the passion to do this and with the support of the voters, we can turn Durack around and make it great once more, better than ever."
Ms Martin said Labor had a strong record of investing in regional infrastructure in WA, including; the National Broadband Network (NBN), Ord Stage 2 as well as several important road projects.
"Labor will deliver a better fairer health and education systems, protect penalty rates and create real jobs," she said.
"A Shorten Labor government will put people first and ensure that large multinationals pay their fair share of tax."
Ms Martin said Labor's plan for a world-class fibre NBN would ensure rural and regional Australians were not left behind and can enjoy the benefits this nation-building will bring to the economy, to education and health services.
"After three years in government Malcolm Turnbull's Liberals and their Nationals partners have failed the people of regional Australia.
"He promised a first-rate NBN to every home and he didn't deliver," Ms Martin said.
"Decades from now we will all look back and wonder what this debate about fibre and copper was all about.
"Under a Shorten Government we will be using will be essentially a fibre network - even us in the regions."
Ms Martin said Labor had committed to addressing mobile blackspots for our region, as mobile phone services was really important in the Durack electorate, especially in the event of an emergency.
"The Coalition has really under-delivered on this," she said.
"Of the 499 mobile towers funded in round one of the Mobile Black Spot Program, as of 21 May 2016, only 21 had actually been activated Australia wide.
"Labor has committed to addressing mobile blackspots for our region, and has budgeted an additional $60 million to the Mobile Black Spot Program to make that happen."
In terms of mental health, jobs, education, remote communities, services, Ms Martin said only Labor had a plan to protect Medicare, and prioritise mental health.
"It's not fair that this government has prioritised tax cuts to multi-national companies at the expense of working families in rural and regional Australia," she said.
"Students in rural and regional Australia will bear the brunt of the Liberals' savage $29 billion funding cut to schools.
"Roughly $12 billion of funding will be ripped away from 1.5 million rural and regional students.
"Under Labor's needs-based school funding model, around 40 per cent of additional funding will flow to rural and regional classrooms.
"It's such a serious issue in regional Australia - suicide rates amongst men are double those in urban areas. Farmers are more than twice as likely to die by suicide than the rest of the community, yet psychiatrists in the cities out-number those in rural areas three to one- this has to change."
Ms Martin believes WA's regionally-based agriculture, pastoral, livestock, fishing and forestry sectors have played a key role in the national economic development.
She said the cattle trade was particularly important to pastoralists in the region.
"I support live exports," Ms Martin said.
"I note around a third of cattle stations in the north of WA are owned by Aboriginal interests.
"The Live Export Trade is worth around $800 million annually and the introduction of the ESCAS system has created a more sustainable industry and has allayed community concerns around Animal Welfare.
"Protecting animals and boosting agriculture aren't competing aims, they can support one another, but there has to be a balance and the local community has to be included in decisions that effect their trade."
Ms Martin said compliance and Red Tape had increased under the Abbott/Turnbull Administration.
"Labor will seek to find ways to streamline government processes to allow more timely delivery of government services and greater collaboration between agencies," she said.
