More than $4 billion in Royalties for Regions funding has been announced by the WA Government today as part of its 2024-25 State Budget deliberations.
This is on top of the $762 million spend to deliver cost of living pressures, including a $400 electricity credit for every WA household and eligible small businesses.
Included in the budget is a $103.5m WA Student Assistance Payment initiative, including a $25.8m regional allocation, to provide $150 or $250 for every WA school student, easing the pressure of school expenses; and $20.3m to increase the value of the Regional Pensioner Travel Card by $100 to $675, reducing transport costs for eligible pensioners in the regions.
The government will also spend $400m for social and affordable housing projects that will also benefit the regionals, and $60m for a Regional Community Housing Grants Program, to support community housing providers to deliver new dwellings or refurbish existing dwellings; and
$43.8 million in additional investment was announced for Government Regional Officer Housing, to fund new builds and land acquisitions.
More than $2.6 billion per annum in regional healthcare investment was announced including:
- $405m to boost regional health service delivery, including $11.9m to incentivise nurses and midwives to work in regional WA;
- $32.5m to continue the Patient Assisted Travel Scheme, supporting those travelling for treatment;
- Additional funding to finalise contract negotiations with the Royal Flying Doctor Service;
- $8.6m to expand child development services in the regions;
- $7.7m to refurbish outdated staff accommodation; and
- $2.5m to develop an extension plan for the Ronald McDonald House facility, supporting families travelling to Perth for medical treatment.
Mr Cook said the government was focused on diversifying regional economies and creating quality local jobs. This includes investments of:
- $324m investment into the South West Interconnected System, to support WA's decarbonisation journey, provide certainty to investors, and unlock job-creating renewable energy projects;
- $1.1b in training programs across regional WA, to prepare Western Australians for the jobs of the future;
- $8m to extend the highly successful Fee Free TAFE program through the 2025 training year;
- $16.4m over the next three years for biosecurity management; and
- $36.4m to slash green tape and facilitate approvals for job-creating projects in the regions.
Country roads and regional transport infrastructure will be upgraded, with a $6.4b investment. Key regional transport initiatives include:
- $169m in additional funding for regional roads, which forms part of a $4.5b investment in regional roads over the next four years;
- $29.3m to upgrade regional and remote airstrips across the State, keeping communities connected;
- $11.6m in funding for the Driving Access and Equity Program, improving access to driving services, instructors and vehicles, including in the Wheatbelt; and
- $12.4m to upgrade the York-Williams Road and Milo Road River Crossing bridges.
The 2024-25 State Budget will help make regional communities safer, including:
- $23.4m to extend Operation Regional Shield, which allows WA Police to rapidly deploy officers to the regional areas where they are needed most;
- $30.2m to enhance bushfire mitigation activities led by the Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions;
- $3.1m over the next three years to continue funding the Grain Harvest Air Support Strategy;
- $46.3m to continue the successful Home Stretch WA program, which provides support for young people leaving Out of Home Care, including in the Wheatbelt;
- $96.4m for programs for family and domestic violence across WA, including $26.4 million specifically for regional initiatives; and
- $7.7m for various metropolitan and regional career fire and rescue service stations, including $4.9m to provide firefighters with gender-separate facilities and $2.8m to install post-incident hygiene showers.
