Julie Matheson, Subiaco councillor, to run for Senate

SUBIACO councillor Julie Matheson will run for the Senate in WA.

Ms Matheson said the Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull announced a multimillion-dollar infrastructure investment package for WA after claiming he would not throw a “fistful of dollars” at voters.

Running as an independent Senate Candidate Ms Matheson said the package would not be a substitute for WA’s low GST share.

“It will come with conditions which WA doesn’t have the finances to match,” she said.

“The Premier has already acknowledged WA’s coffers are in a ‘mess’.

“The State is suffering a $3 billion budget deficit, a forecast debt of $39 billion and the transfer of State Government costs to ratepayers of local government.”

Mr Turnbull has earmarked $490 million for WA infrastructure to ensure the state would receive a reasonable share of the GST.

He said the May budget would be about “prudence, fairness and responsibility to our future generations”.

Mr Turnbull said it was about ensuring WA was given a fair deal.

He said the “net consequence” was about ensuring the West was not worse off than it would have been, because of the allocation of the GST.

“WA has had a very raw deal. Everyone understands that. What we are doing is ensuring, as we did last year, that there is a balance brought back into it,” he said.

Ms Matheson said that Victoria had managed to secure $1.5 billion in funding from Mr Turnbull.

“It begs the question what have the WA federal parliamentarians achieved?

“A 3.4 per cent share of the GST up 0.1 per cent plus some grants funding if the Federal Government like what we spend it on is not enough.

“WA needs better representation in the Senate. That’s why I’m standing as an Independent with no party loyalties.”

The funding was designed to reduce congestion and improve safety, according to the Prime Minister.

Ms Matheson said she was concerned that extra money would not come, without a restricting caveat for the state, which they could ill-afford.