HOUSING —
REGIONAL TAX CONCESSIONS
1115. Hon ROBIN SCOTT to the Leader of the House representing
the Premier:
I
refer to the Premier's comments in The West Australian demanding
that the Morrison government immediately rule out a proposal to slash tax
concessions for remote housing, and arguing that the plan would kill regional
mining towns. In the same vein, will
the Premier consider bringing in legislation, similar to Queensland's
state-based legislation, that will minimise the number of fly in, fly out
workers, so that regional mining towns can once again prosper?
Hon SUE ELLERY replied:
I thank the honourable member for
some notice of the question.
It is important to note that the
Queensland legislation the member refers to only prohibits companies from
having 100 per cent of their workforce—that is, their entire workforce—made
up of fly in, fly out workers. This would allow for all but one worker, on any
given site, being fly in, fly out. Furthermore, in Queensland, this applies
only to operational projects that are within 100 kilometres of a locality with
a population of more than 200 people. Given the limitations of the Queensland
legislation, the government believes it would not have a positive impact in Western
Australia. However, the government is focused on working directly with the
sector and delivering practical outcomes, such as the Karratha local jobs
portal, to create more employment opportunities through supporting regional
centres and residential workforces. The government's priority is
ensuring that jobs are created for locals and investment continues in regional Western
Australia.