SHADOW Minister for Regional Development Jim Chown will lead a party review into Royalties for Regions (RfR), as the WA Liberals determine its policy on the program heavily scrutinised in a recent report.
It comes after former Treasury WA boss John Langoulant handed down a scathing review on The Nationals WA flagship program last month, recommending a major overhaul of RfR.
The RfR program sees 25 per cent of the State’s forecast annual mining and onshore petroleum royalties hypothecated into a fund capped at $1 billion per year.
The fund is separate to the consolidated account and has seen close to $6.7bn allocated to driving regional development since its inception in 2008.
The Langoulant report made recommendations for the funding allocations to be linked to the budget process and urged the government to reconsider the program’s $1bn expenditure cap.
Since then The Nationals WA have stood by RfR, while the Labor government has decided to continue with a reformed program, that includes a hypothecated account.
Meantime, opposition leader Mike Nahan endorsed the recommendations, prompting concern from agricultural lobby groups that the Liberal Party was abandoning regional investment.
Speaking with Farm Weekly at the Make Smoking History Wagin Woolorama last week, Dr Nahan reassured that his party was committed to investing in rural and regional WA.
“There was some issues where RfR encouraged shires to invest in facilities they struggle now to fund,” Mr Nahan said.
“It needs to be more sensible, if you’re going to fund a new investment make sure the recipient can make full utilisation of it, and operate it.
“Over the next year we will come up with our own approach and what we call it and what it’s focused on is yet to be determined, but it will be a major focus for us investing in rural and regional WA, no doubt about that, that’s where our wealth comes from.”
Dr Nahan said Mr Chown had been tasked with leading the review, which would roll out over the next year.
Mr Chown said while RfR had delivered significant outcomes for regional WA, changes needed to be made.
He said the Liberal Party was committed to the regions but would work towards a strengthened regional development program that would stand up against scrutiny.
“Our policy will support RfR, but we just need a tightening of the processes to make it absolutely more acceptable so in the future this great policy doesn’t come under similar attack,” Mr Chown said.
“If it came under a similar attack in a future government without decent processes involved, it could be taken away all together.”
Mr Chown said the Langoulant report had brought to light several flaws within the program that needed to be addressed, and that the Liberal Party would work towards creating a more evolved policy.
“The report that came down was significant, RfR was a great concept and under the previous Barnett government – certainly the first term– it was well received in regional WA,” Mr Chown said.
“When you had a lot of money I don’t think that was an issue, but process is important in government, it’s public monies and some- body has to be responsible in how you spend it.
“As time went on, $1b is a massive amount of money on top of all of the other government expenditure.
“There is some concern in the community at large at it being put aside as a separate process and out of the budgetary process of the State.
“We’re working on a policy, we have to work through this and talk about it in the party room and I can’t pre-empt what the outcome is going to be but our policy will support RfR, there’s no doubt about that.”