Another blow to regional representation in the South West
The Member for the South West Region Dr Steve Thomas MLC says the cut backs inflicted on regional members of the state’s upper house in the South West are a disgrace, and yet another attack on regional representation following the Government’s scrapping of upper house regions in country WA.
“First the Government abandons regional representation changing the upper house to completely remove regional boundaries, and now the Salaries and Allowances tribunal has joined in the attack by cutting back the capacity of regional MLCs to reach their communities” Dr Thomas said.
“I have been a member of the Legislative Council representing the entire South West for the last eight years, but the Government decided that having dedicated representatives for the South West was a bad thing, so they made us all now represent the entire state.
“That was a disgraceful act by a Government that said repeatedly it was not on their agenda.
“Now the SAT has joined in the kicking when regional representation in the South West is already down and hurting.
“Now that the region I am supposed to represent has gone from 39,000 square kilometres to 2.6 million square kilometres, and from 250,000 electors to 1.8 million voters, the Salaries and Allowances Tribunal has at the same time seen fit to cut my vehicle allowance by a quarter.
“The SAT has also decided to cut my electorate allowance, which I use to communicate with and support my electorate, by 10% .
“People may be outraged that they have given South West MPs another $3000 over four years for study travel, which I have hardly touched in eight years, but the joke is that at the same time that they have taken $20,000 a year away in other allowances that I do use.
“It would appear that either the SAT has no understanding of the role of a regional member of the Legislative Council, or it has simply joined the Government in undermining regional representation” Dr Thomas said.
“The people of the South West should be very concerned as their access to the Parliamentary process continues to be diminished and they continue to be ignored.
“I have no doubt the Labor Party are happy to reduce the effectiveness of regional Members of Parliament, especially in the South West, and to be honest I didn’t think they needed any help.”
