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September 15, 2008
So the Nationals in WA have stayed true to tradition in their decision to deliver power to the Barnett-led Liberals. That spells the end of the Carpenter Government, Alan Carpenter and Labor's dominance Labor in all states and territories of the federation. It is also political humiliation for WA Labor, given the boom times in WA.
Bill Leak
Brendon Grylls said that a major factor in aligning with the Liberals was that a deal with them meant the Nationals would hold the balance of power in both houses of parliament. That would indicate they could remain an independent political force. Will they be able to do so? Will the pro-development Barnett Liberals deliver on health, education and transport (they say they have a social conscience) as well as invest heavily in infrastructure in the regions?
In an op-ed The Australian Peter Van Onselen observes that:
at a personal level, Grylls wanted his team to support a Labor government led by Alan Carpenter. He was outvoted by his Nationals colleagues ... The young leader was wooed by a significant slush fund for the bush offered by the Labor Party .... Carpenter's offer included an amount of money almost twice the size of Barnett's, the distribution of which would have been put in the hands of Nationals MPs given portfolio responsibility for the regions, effectively creating a two-tiered government structure: one set of ministers for the regions and one for Perth.The mobile slush fund looked conspicuously like the Howard government's Regional Partnership Scheme, labelled by federal Labor as blatant pork barrelling ... Grylls liked the look of Labor's proposal because he believed the pork-barrelling opportunities for regional electorates during the next four years would have helped the Nationals expand its voting base in the state's north...Grylls also wanted to send a strong message to soft Labor voters and the Liberal Party that the Nationals are truly independent, again as a way of broadening the party's appeal.
Van Onselen says that has not happened. The Nationals have done what is in their best interests, given the conservative make-up of its voting base. But Carpenter's offer would have delivered more money and more autonomy for regional WA.
Maybe the stench of corruption, Brian Burke style was too great for the Nationals.
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How many new police stations and gaols can they build? Labor was well advanced on law and order and hospitals in remote areas like the Kimberley. The new Broome station dwarfs the old one.