MOBILE BLACK SPOT
PROGRAM
912. Hon MARTIN ALDRIDGE to the Minister for Regional Development:
I refer to the ministerial statement
made by the minister on 9 October 2018 relating to the federal government's
Mobile Black Spot Program.
(1) On what date
and by what means did the minister communicate with the Minister for Regional
Services as suggested in the statement?
(2) Can the minister please provide
a copy of that correspondence?
(3) Is it the
state government's position that it seeks to obtain $3 million in
funding from the federal government program and on what basis does the minister
believe this to be fair and equitable rather than a higher amount?
(4) Where in the
2018–19 state budget can the $3 million in matching funding from the
state government for this purpose be found?
Hon DARREN WEST replied:
I thank the honourable member for
some notice of the question. On behalf of the Minister for Regional Development,
I give the following answer.
(1) I approved a letter
to the minister on 5 October 2018. Due to an oversight in my office, this
letter was not processed and posted until 9 October 2018. My office also
emailed a copy of the letter to the minister's office on 9 October
2018. My chief of staff contacted the minister's officer today to
explain the need for the extension and apologised for the delay in the letter
being sent. We expressed our desire to work cooperatively with the federal
government to obtain the best outcome for Western Australia.
(2) I table the
document.
[See paper 2030.]
(3) My intention
is to obtain as much funding as possible from the federal government, but one
needs to be realistic about the share of the $25 million national pie that we
will receive.
(4) Any state
government investment will be approved though normal budgetary processes.
However, I am advised that the current regional telecommunications project
budget includes some unallocated funding that may be able to be put towards
that purpose.