Eatts claims shire forced to house police and medical staff in Parliament debate slamming Government housing

Critical services in regional communities are struggling with understaffed facilities because of the State Government’s housing program “failure”, Warren-Blackwood MLA Bevan Eatts says. Speaking in Parliament on Wednesday, Mr Eatts said police, teachers, nurses, and aged care workers were struggling to find housing in the regions. He was joined in his disapproval by other Opposition members, including Vasse MLA Libby Mettam and Member for Murrary-Wellington David Bolt. Mr Eatts claimed regional towns were “under the pump” as frontline workers found it hard to secure housing at a reasonable price and in a location close to the communities they worked in. “The lack of suitable Government Regional Officer Housing stock means that many leave or never come at all, with all the downstream consequences for local services,” he said. “Compounding this housing crisis, the State Government’s actions around revenue erosion for local governments via the forestry concessions and changes to the mining tenement rating are further stripping regional shires of the capacity to help fill the gap. “On top of all that, the commercial viability of aged-care facilities and home care in our regions is under threat, meaning that the housing shortage is hurting not only public service staff, but also the aged-care staff we desperately need.” Mr Eatts said the Shire of Boyup Brook was forced to lease houses on the open market to accommodate police and medical staff. “The shire owns a house and provides it for a community benefit, yet still finds itself leasing additional houses because State worker housing is not being delivered,” he said. “The Cook Government has repeatedly emphasised its commitment to regional Western Australia and to decentralisation, yet the lived reality in many small towns is that key staff cannot be housed, and levels of infrastructure investment in water and housing still lag. “The Government’s push for people to move to the regions rings hollow when housing and water infrastructure is missing. “When essential services, police, teachers, nurses and aged-care workers stay away or depart, schools struggle, hospitals are stretched, and aged care becomes precarious.” Mr Eatts called for an audit of Government Regional Officer Housing Program stock across regional WA to identify shortages. He said the State Government should commit to a clear time line for the delivery of new housing in Boyup Brook, Bridgetown, Nannup, and Denmark and surrounds. Housing and Works Minister John Carey hit back, saying every State in the country was dealing with “extraordinary” housing pressure, and claimed WA was leading the country in housing activity. “Even though all the signs demonstrate that Western Australia, as we have seen from the national housing scorecard, is doing the best in the nation, we never rest on our laurels,” he said. “I was advised that under its (the Liberal-National government’s) watch, more than 600 Government Regional Officer Housing homes were flogged off.” Mr Carey said the State Government had announced a $145 million regional housing program, including $104m for GROH.