The Latest police statistics show the Cook Labor Government has done nothing to slow the wave of violent crime sweeping Western Australia.
The figures released early this month paint a grim picture – there is more violence, more robberies, and more drug offences. But Western Australians don’t need statistics to know crime is up; they’re feeling the effects of it every day.
It’s no surprise to learn that crime in the regions is particularly bad. In the past two years alone, residents in some of our state’s most important regional centres have been hit hard by rising crime:
Karratha – 51 per cent increase
Broome – 18 per cent increase
Albany – 36 per cent increase
Kalgoorlie – 33 per cent increase
Carnarvon – 76 per cent increase
WA is also experiencing a surge in family and domestic violence, which is up by 40 per cent on the five-year average.
Roger Cook would have Western Australians believe everything is fine and dandy. Just last week Roger Cook claimed Perth didn’t have a youth crime problem, right after commenting on vision of an 11-year-old who violently bashed a 69-year-old man.
In Kalgoorlie, shop owners told my colleague Neil Thomson and I that they’re ready to pack up and leave town because crime has become so bad. Sugar hits of crack police squads won’t cut it – they need permanent solutions.
The fact is, WA Labor’s soft on crime approach has sent our state backwards. Instead of addressing the problem and working on policies to bring crime down, the Police Minister has stuck his head in the sand.
Your WA Liberal team is taking a different approach. We will be taking a tough-on-crime suite of policies to the next election to ensure Western Australians know that addressing violence and anti-social behaviour is among our key priorities.
Western Australians deserve to feel safe in their own communities and their homes. In a state as prosperous as WA, with the multitude of tools we have at our disposal, these ever-increasing crime rates are simply unacceptable.
We’ve already announced our bail and parole law policies, which will help give our courts greater powers to keep serial offenders behind bars.
We’re just getting started. Western Australians want a government that can deliver on lowering crime and that’s what a Liberal Government will bring to the table.
WA short-changed on health
WA patients continue to experience some of the longest wait times in emergency departments in the country.
Only 48 per cent of patients are seen in the clinically recommended time, the worst of all jurisdictions and well below the national average of 65 per cent.
Ambulance ramping remains sky high with last year’s annual total at 52,000 hours — more than double the 24,400 hours recorded in 2019.
It’s clear that despite record surpluses and promises of record investment, the health system remains in crisis with doctors increasingly going to extraordinary lengths to raise the alarm.
Our frontline health workers are doing the best they can with what they have but can’t continue to operate with one arm tied behind their backs.
For more of my comments on the current state of our health system, please read my comments here – WA short-changed on health - Libby Mettam
WA Liberals Summer Conference
Your WA Liberal team recently hosted its Summer Conference in Perth’s northern suburbs. We know how vital this area is for our electoral successes in 2025, so our entire team was out in force.
We met with small business owners and community leaders right across the northern corridor. Many concerns were raised regarding the direction of Labor governments, both state and federal.
Western Australians feel like their concerns are being ignored by an arrogant government who are still riding on the coat tails of a COVID.
Well, your WA Liberal team is listening. That’s why we were out and about meeting with as many businesses and community groups as we possibly can – so we can understand what your priorities are.
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