Greens Member for North Metropolitan Hon Alison Xamon MLC has today welcomed progress towards reforming the GST distribution.
Ms Xamon said WA had missed out for too long, with additional funding increasingly tied to projects the community neither wants nor needs, or which are not critical priorities, such as Roe 8.
She said it was unacceptable that to date, the only increase in funding coming to WA had been in the form of grants tied to particular projects.
"WA is in desperate need of income that can be spent on essential services within the state," Ms Xamon said.
“Since the McGowan government came to power, we have seen devastating cuts made to critical services such as education, training, health, mental health, child protection and corrective services.
"Although this has largely been in response to the appalling state of WA’s finances the fact is that many of these cuts have been devastating for West Australians.
"I urge the Government as a matter of urgency to prioritise resuscitating the essential services that have seen huge cuts in this budget and across forward estimates."
Member for Mining and Pastoral Hon Robin Chapple MLC urged the Government to direct funding towards remote Aboriginal communities.
“With the Federal Government shirking their responsibilities under the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, it is essential that some of this funding be directed towards supporting those communities that might otherwise be forced to close” he said.
"It is still unclear from where these additional Federal moneys will come and The Greens have called for full transparency.
“It is essential that we do not see any cuts to critical Federal programs such as the NDIS, or any winding back of health or education funding” added Ms Xamon.
