David Littleproud confident Coatlition can win back ground lost to Labor
The Coalition is confident of stealing back ground lost to Labor in Western Australia as it gears up to woo voters with its cost-of-living and housing pledges, according to Nationals leader David Littleproud.
“Western Australia handed the keys to the lodge to Anthony Albanese at the last election, but the Prime Minister has basically treated Western Australia with contempt,” the Queensland MP said in an interview ahead of his visit to WA next week.
“You look at his decision to phase out the live sheep industry to start with, an industry that is world leading,” he said.
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By continuing you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy.A decision by the Federal Government last year to end live sheep exports from 2028 angered the farming community who said the ban would cripple their livelihoods in exchange for winning inner-city votes and pacifying minority groups.
Mr Littleproud accused the Albanese Government of doing a deal with the Animal Justice Party that would cost 3,000 jobs and hundreds of millions of dollars, without helping animal welfare.
The Prime Minister travelled to WA last week during his first unofficial pre-election tour. A ten per cent swing towards Labor in the state in 2022 was crucial to Labor’s electoral victory.
Writing in the West on Wednesday, Mr Albanese highlighted his $200 million package to support housing and community infrastructure in regional WA, with more than $90m funding critical facilities to build more than more than 1360 new homes across the Wheatbelt, Karratha and Lockyer.
The Homes for Australia plan would see “more investment in more social housing and in more private rentals, as well as supporting home ownership through our Help to Buy scheme,” he said.
But Mr Littleproud countered that it was only because of the impending election “that he’s running around trying to splash money around.”
Mr Littleproud said the Coalition believes it has a good chance of success in outer metropolitan seats like Bullwinkel.
The Coalition’s own housing policies to commit $5 billion in infrastructure including water, power, sewerage, and access roads to unlock the delivery of up to 500,000 homes would benefit the “forgotten” outer suburbs of Perth, he said.
