Contributed
Western Australian Premier Colin Barnett has
been forced into an embarrassing backdown after one of his Budget cuts angered
large sections of the community.
Some 75,000 households had solar power panels installed under an agreement that a feed-in tariff of 40 cents per unit of electricity would be maintained for a decade.
Only
five months into its new term of office, the WA government has been faced with
a revenue shortfall, in response to which it announced that it would halve the
feedback tariff. It was a reminder to Western Australians that no political
party has a monopoly on the parliamentary practice of the broken promise.
Four
days after the announced cut, and on the same day that Treasurer Troy Buswell
had said that the cuts would not be reversed, they were. It was a reminder to
Western Australians that no political party has a monopoly on the parliamentary
backflip.
Other
Budget measures included slashing the private car registration concession,
imposing a $4000 fee on children of Section 457 workers attending public
schools, and cutting $6.8 billion in staff salaries and services from the WA
public sector.
The
education budget was slashed by $282 million at the same time that funds were
directed to encouraging the privatisation of schooling.
WA’s
so-called “independent” public schools would be expanded at a cost of $18.2 million
and this despite the fact that research has not shown that they have improved
student learning outcomes. Funds for
expansion of buildings in private schools have been doubled, yet funding for
TAFE has been cut.
It
looks like the state that has been riding on the top of the iron ore train is
heading for derailment.
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