Lachlan Hunter MLA

The Cook Labor Government has again proven powerless to influence its federal colleagues, as two major Canberra reforms threaten investment in Western Australia’s resources sector.

Shadow Minister for Mines, Petroleum and Exploration Lachlan Hunter MP said WA Labor has talked tough about protecting Western Australia from Canberra’s proposed national gas reservation scheme and changes to capital gains tax, but had failed to secure the protections WA needs.

Mr Hunter said that despite Premier Roger Cook calling for Western Australia to be carved out of the Commonwealth’s national gas reservation scheme, the Federal Government’s latest proposal did not provide WA with a guaranteed, legislated exemption.

“Western Australia asked for certainty. Instead, Canberra has left the door open to interference in a gas market WA has spent decades building,” Mr Hunter said.

“The Premier can issue all the press releases he likes, but they mean nothing if his Labor colleagues in Canberra simply ignore him.

“WA should have a clear, legislated carve-out, not an exemption that may ultimately depend on the discretion of a Federal Minister.

“Roger Cook wants Western Australians to believe he is standing up to Canberra, but all he has demonstrated is how little influence WA Labor carries within its own party.”

Mr Hunter said the same humiliating pattern was now emerging over Federal Labor’s controversial capital gains tax changes.

The Albanese Government has moved to provide concessions for eligible innovative businesses and start-ups, while junior mineral explorers have not been given a specific equivalent pathway.

The Minerals Council of Australia has warned the changes could reduce investor returns from successful junior exploration investments by at least 19 per cent and make it harder for explorers to attract capital.

“Even WA’s new Mines Minister, Daniel Pastorelli, has now publicly called on his federal Labor colleagues to rethink these changes,” Mr Hunter said.

“But once again, WA Labor appears to hold absolutely no sway with its federal counterparts.

“The pattern is becoming embarrassingly familiar: WA Labor tells Western Australians it disagrees with Canberra, Canberra ignores it and pushes ahead, and Western Australia is left to carry the consequences.

“If Roger Cook and Daniel Pastorelli cannot secure a fair hearing from members of their own party, what hope do they have of securing the outcomes our State deserves?

“Junior explorers are the lifeblood of our mining industry. Today’s exploration creates tomorrow’s mines, jobs, exports and royalties. At a time when we should be fighting for every dollar of exploration investment, Canberra is changing the tax settings while handing concessions to other sectors.

“Western Australia drives the national economy through its resources sector. We should not have to continually beg Canberra not to damage the industries that generate the jobs, investment and royalties our State relies on.

“Roger Cook and Daniel Pastorelli need to stop merely telling Western Australians they disagree with Canberra and start delivering actual outcomes.

“Tough words in Perth are worthless when WA Labor’s federal colleagues treat them as background noise. Western Australia needs a government prepared to put our State ahead of Labor Party ideology, and with enough influence to make Canberra listen.”

Deputy Leader of The Nationals WA Peter Rundle MLA has called on the State Government to ensure its procurement policies support Western Australian manufacturing and regional jobs, by prioritising WA built buses for regional school transport services.

Mr Rundle said the Cook Government could not continue promoting its Made in WA agenda while procurement settings were driving operators toward cheaper, imported buses.

“The Premier regularly talks about supporting WA industry and local manufacturing but, when it comes to our regional school bus fleet, his Government’s procurement policies are helping imported buses replace vehicles built for Western Australian conditions,” Mr Rundle said.

“The iconic orange school buses that service our regional communities carry thousands of students every day, often across long distances and on challenging roads. If the Government is serious about backing WA industry, it should be ensuring procurement policies support buses built for the conditions they operate in and the communities they serve.”

Mr Rundle said changes to the way the Public Transport Authority awards School Bus Service contracts had placed greater emphasis on competitive tendering and upfront costs.

“Operators tell me it is becoming increasingly difficult to justify purchasing Australian-built buses when lower cost imported options provide a significant advantage during the tender process. While a cheaper purchase price may look attractive in the short term, there are legitimate questions about whether the current system properly considers durability, longevity and whole-of-life value.”

Mr Rundle said operators were concerned the procurement process was favouring the cheapest option at the expense of local manufacturing and vehicles designed for regional conditions.

“Western Australia has manufacturers capable of producing buses that meet the standards required for regional school transport and are designed to operate on the roads found throughout country WA,” he said.

“Every government procurement decision should consider not only the upfront cost, but also the economic benefits of supporting local jobs, local businesses and local manufacturing.”

Mr Rundle said the recent review of the State’s procurement framework provided the Government with an opportunity to align its actions with its rhetoric on supporting Western Australian industry.

“The Cook Government talks a lot about Made in WA. This is its chance to put those words into action,” Mr Rundle said.

“Regional school bus contracts should support Western Australian manufacturing and jobs, not encourage imported alternatives. Our iconic orange school buses should showcase local industry, yet while Perth’s green buses are locally built, country students are riding in cheaper, lower-quality buses made overseas.”

“If WA-built products are good enough for the Government’s media releases, they should be good enough for the orange school buses carrying our kids to and from school every day.”

Nationals WA MP and Shadow Minister for Emergency Services Hon Rob Horstman MLC has called on the Cook Labor Government to explain how Western Australia’s emergency medical retrieval system will manage the additional demand created by locating the new Women and Babies Hospital away from Perth Children’s Hospital.

Mr Horstman said yesterday’s announcement of a new Newborn Emergency Transfer Service (NETS) hub at Murdoch highlighted how heavily the Government’s model would rely on emergency transfers.

“The Government is effectively acknowledging that transferring critically ill newborns between hospitals will be an unavoidable part of this model,” Mr Horstman said.

“These are not routine transfers. We are talking about some of the sickest and most vulnerable babies in Western Australia, where minutes can matter.”

The Government says NETS already transfers approximately 1,100 sick newborns and young infants each year and has announced a dedicated NETS hub at the new Murdoch hospital, alongside an expansion of the existing service at Perth Children’s Hospital.

Medical professionals have continued to raise concerns about separating maternity services from specialist paediatric care, with the Australian Medical Association WA estimating between 100 and 200 babies each year could require transfer from Murdoch to Perth Children’s Hospital.

Mr Horstman said the key issue was whether the Government had properly planned and resourced the retrieval network it was increasingly relying upon.

“We need to know how many additional transfers are anticipated, what extra specialist crews and vehicles will be required, and what contingency arrangements are in place when multiple critical cases occur at the same time.

“This is particularly important when the Government is pointing to Murdoch’s proximity to Jandakot Airport and retrieval services as an advantage for regional patients.

“Regional families already understand better than most what it means to depend on emergency medical transport to access specialist care in Perth.

“We cannot keep adding pressure to the retrieval network without ensuring the people, aircraft, vehicles and specialist resources are there to support it.

“This is not about the dedicated professionals who deliver these services every day. It is about whether the Cook Labor Government is providing the capacity and support needed to meet growing demand.”

Mr Horstman said the additional investment in neonatal services was welcome, but it should not be used to avoid legitimate questions about emergency transfer capacity.

“Western Australian parents deserve confidence that if their baby needs urgent specialist care, the system has the people, equipment and resources to respond immediately.

“The Cook Labor Government should release the modelling behind its transfer assumptions and explain how NETS, RFDS and the broader retrieval network will be supported from day one.”

Shadow Minister for Mines, Petroleum and Exploration Lachlan Hunter MP has demanded the Cook Labor Government immediately clarify its position on uranium mining, after the Minister refused to deny in Parliament that Labor was reconsidering its ban.

During Question Time yesterday, the Minister for Mines, Petroleum and Exploration Daniel Pastorelli confirmed he had recently met with Cauldron Energy, which is exploring for uranium south of Onslow. Cauldron Energy has received up to $167,750 in taxpayer funding towards uranium exploration programs worth $335,500.

Mr Hunter said the Minister had failed to explain why the Government was subsidising uranium exploration while maintaining a policy that prevented new uranium discoveries from being developed.

“Commercial exploration companies are not drilling out of some altruistic desire to tell the Cook Government what lies beneath Western Australia,” Mr Hunter said.

“They invest in exploration to discover commercially viable resources that can ultimately be mined and developed to deliver returns to shareholders. The Cook Government is now using taxpayers’ money to help a commercial company find and define uranium resources, while simultaneously telling that company it cannot develop what it discovers.

“That is an incoherent position, and the Minister’s refusal to rule out a policy change is farcical.”

When asked directly whether the Government was reconsidering its uranium ban, the Minister refused to answer, instead defending Labor’s funding of mineral exploration.

“If the ban remains Labor’s policy, the Minister should have been able to say so clearly and unequivocally,” Mr Hunter said.

“He was given a direct opportunity to rule out a change and refused to do it. Western Australians are entitled to know whether this was deliberate ambiguity, a policy shift under consideration or, more likely, a Minister who does not understand his own Government’s position.”

Mr Hunter said The Opposition supported lifting Labor’s outdated ban and allowing uranium proposals to be considered on their individual merits through Western Australia’s stringent environmental, safety and regulatory approval processes.

“The Opposition’s position is clear: uranium mining should be permitted where a project can meet the same rigorous environmental, safety and regulatory standards expected of other mining developments,” he said.

“The Cook Government’s position is now the one nobody can explain—not even its own Mines Minister.”