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Move over Shannon Noll, Reiwa says ‘What about WA?’

Staff WriterEastern Reporter

WITH a Federal election looming Reiwa has launched its ‘What about WA?’ campaign, aiming to ensure WA is not overlooked when the various parties make their election commitments.

President Damian Collins said for too long Australian governments have applied blanket national policy settings, targeted at the east coast, without considering the consequences they would have on WA.

“Time and time again we’ve seen WA overly relied upon when times are good, and ignored when West Australians are doing it tough,” he said.

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“Only recently, efforts to cool house prices in Sydney and Melbourne negatively impacted the WA housing market, making it significantly more difficult for prospective buyers to secure a loan, further stifling our local market at a time when it had just started to show signs of improvement.”

Reiwa is inviting West Australians to have their say on its www.whataboutwa.com.au page.

“We want to hear from the WA public about the property issues affecting them and learn what they would like brought to the attention of the parties contesting the election,” Mr Collins said.

“WA must have a voice in the national debate.

“We cannot afford for national policies to be a handbrake to our state’s growth.”

As well as supporting the Real Estate Institute of Australia (REIA) in calling for no changes to negative gearing or capital gains tax, Reiwa is also asking for four key local policy commitments from all parties contesting the federal election to help WA grow and prosper.

They are: Federal incentives to help phase out stamp duty. Reiwa considers stamp duty to be one of the state’s most inefficient taxes and would like Federal funding for independent research into the feasibility of each state and territory moving from stamp duty to a broad-based land tax.

Regulation – increase jobs and migration to WA to create much needed demand for housing.

Federal infrastructure funding for WA until a long-term strategy is implemented. Reiwa is calling on all parties to commit to ensuring WA has the funds it needs to keep the state moving forward by implementing a minimum infrastructure budget based on WA’s contribution to Australia’s GSP.

A City Deal for Perth. While other cities have City Deals in place, Perth does not. Reiwa said the deal would provide much needed funding and collaboration between all levels of government to ensure WA could meet the needs of its growing population.

“The introduction of these key policies will boost WA’s property market and the wider economy making WA a more attractive place to live, work and invest,” Mr Collins said.

“WA proved in the recent GST debate that we’re done being overlooked.

“It’s time our state was factored into national policy settings and that all political parties commit to helping, not hindering, WA’s prosperity.”

For more information about REIWA’s federal election campaign and to have your say, visit www.whataboutwa.com.au.