In just over a year, WA residents will head to the polls for a State election.
For those engaged in a primary industry - anywhere along the supply chain - I'd hazard a guess it can't come soon enough.
The current term of Parliament has been marked by a Labor government that has exploited its numbers to push through poorly planned legislation, leaving a lasting impact on the lives of regional residents.
Whether it has been its decision to dismantle important industries such as our sheep, fishing and forestry sectors, or arrogantly pushing forward with contentious firearms reform and changes to the Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Act without proper consultation.
We've also been treated to a preview of what's to come as the Labor Party's ongoing campaign to silence regional voices continues.
The WA Electoral Act is a dry subject, but now more than ever it's important that those of us that live, work and invest in the bush understand the political power it wields over our lives and wellbeing.
As a result of the changes pursued by the Labor Party over the past two decades, the 2025 State election will see the lowest number of regional seats contested in WA's history.
With 44 of the 59 Legislative Assembly seats up for grabs in the Perth metropolitan area, this leaves just 15 seats to represent all of regional WA.
This erosion of regional voices in State Parliament is no accident and cannot simply be explained away by changing populations.
It is a result of sustained and systemic attacks on regional voices by the WA Labor government over the past two decades.
As it pursued the academic and ideological 'fairness' of one-vote-one-value, it has left regional communities floundering, reducing their access to decision makers and their power to influence policy and spending.
The first attack came in the lead-up to the 2008 State election, when Labor introduced contentious 'one-vote, one-value' legislation which saw WA's 23 regional electorates reduced to 17 overnight, and down to just 16 by the 2017 State election.
In a bid to protect regional voices, The Nationals WA moved a private members bill in 2016 which would have empowered the WA Electoral Commission (WAEC) to expand the number of seats in the legislative assembly from 59 to 61.
Adding two electorates would recognise WA's massive population growth off the back of the mining boom - which saw about 600,000 people relocate to WA in a decade - and give greater flexibility for the WAEC to add new metropolitan seats without placing regional seats on the chopping block.
Then Nationals leader Terry Redman said "without legislative change, regional electorates will continue to become larger and more difficult to represent while metropolitan electorates will be faced with a greater number of constituents who may be unable to be represented effectively by a single MP".
This proposal faced resistance from both major parties.
In 2018, a senior Labor MP delivered a presentation to a New Zealand parliamentary conference, outlining a variety of proposals to reform WA's legislative council.
This included the option to abolish the six Upper House regions and replace them with a single, Statewide electorate.
When The Nationals WA raised concerns about this proposal prior to the 2021 State election the Labor government lied to the people of WA and said electoral reform was not on the agenda.
Mark McGowan denied it again and again, only to arrogantly make it his government's first order of business.
At a time when a housing crisis, a health crisis and a cost-of-living crisis was (and still is) impacting everyday Western Australians, Labor chose to make silencing regional voices its top priority.
With just over a year before the next State election, regional voices in WA's Parliament are more at risk than ever.
With just 15 regional seats in the Legislative Assembly, and no dedicated regional seats in the Upper House, WA's Parliament risks becoming even more city-centric.
This would result in a parliament that fails to understand the challenges of accessing health services, childcare, or quality education for those who live beyond the Darling Scarp.
And which struggles to understand not only the economic benefits of agriculture, but the civic and social benefits of having a local industry which is deeply connected and active in our communities.
My hope is that regional voters don't forget how Labor MPs have used their numbers to disenfranchise regional communities and silence their voices.
