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Barnett on attack as election nears end

It was the Nationals, not Labor, who drew blood on the Liberal Barnett government as the campaign for the WA election entered its final days.

West Australia Opposition Leader Mark McGowan
WA Labor leader Mark McGowan says he can't promise a fast solution to the state's rising debts. (AAP)

Western Australia will go into final day of campaigning for Saturday's state election with Labor looking likely to win, but fending off attacks from the Liberal government over its economic credentials.

The Barnett government, which is seeking a third term, was itself under fire from its own side over its decision to revamp the Royalties for Regions scheme.

Tensions with alliance partners the Nationals hit an all time-low on Thursday with the regional party vowing not to partner with the Liberals if they go ahead with plans to milk the program.

An infuriated Nationals leader Brendon Grylls says he'd "die in a ditch" to protect the scheme that has poured billions of dollars into rural and regional WA since he forced it on the government in 2008.

Mr Barnett said there would be "not a dollar lost", but regional and rural communities needed the funds redirected to help them maintain the infrastructure.

The premier saved his fire for the opposition, accusing Labor leader Mark McGowan of being "cheap and tacky" and lacking vision over Labor plans to allow naming rights for the Perth Stadium and Perth Arena to net around $10 million.

It's an idea Mr Barnett has long opposed, saying it's "not about the money, it's about the identity of the state".

Mr McGowan said considering the state of the WA budget, every dollar counted.

Costings have become a key election focus in the last week, given WA's debt and deficit are at record $3 billion and $30 billion-plus levels respectively.

The opposition released the independent costings for its election promises on Thursday afternoon which led to accusations from the government that they were avoiding scrutiny.

WA Labor says it will get the state's budget back in surplus by 2019/20, but makes only a small dent in debt tipped to hit $41 billion, after releasing its election costings.

The costings, ticked off by two former public servants, estimate a capital spend of $2.8 billion - not $5 billion as widely estimated - that can be easily covered by $3 billion of sources including federal funds not yet guaranteed.

However, Labor has not included spending beyond the four-year forward estimates, with stage one of its Metronet project alone costing $2.95 billion.

The Barnett government on Wednesday got a tick from Treasury, which said the party's promises were "reasonable", although there was criticism over nine missing commitments.

All parties are expected to blitz electorates on Friday.

Pauline Hanson finished a three-day campaign tour of rural WA in Geraldton on Thursday confident of picking up five seats, but first she had to issue a partial backdown on her vaccination statement.

Mr McGowan on Thursday insisted Labor was still the underdog because it needed to win an extra 10 seats to form government.

More than 1.5 million people will vote in Saturday's election.


3 min read

Published

Source: AAP



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