Matt O’Sullivan: WA is Samwise to the Prime Minister’s Frodo

Western Australia is the engine room of our nation, an inexhaustible source of iron ore, natural gas, gold, and other critical minerals that fuel our economy and boost the Federal Government’s bottom line.

In 2023–24, our gross State product hit $455.7 billion, making up 17.1 per cent of Australia’s GDP. We’re a key economic powerhouse.

And yet, we are consistently underfunded by Federal infrastructure measures. This isn’t an oversight. It’s a deliberate pattern of neglect by an Eastern States–focused Federal Labor Government, compounded by a State Labor Government that is either shockingly passive or quietly complicit in short-changing our State.

In the Albanese Government’s March Budget, just 2 per cent of the new $17.1b in national road and rail funding was assigned to WA infrastructure. That’s not just inadequate, it’s an insult.

The only new WA project explicitly earmarked for immediate funding was $350 million for the Kwinana Freeway widening, covering less than half the cost and leaving WA to cover the rest. To make matters worse, WA is the only State whose road funding is set to decrease over the forward estimates. That’s not a “fluctuation,” as State Treasurer Rita Saffioti claims, it’s an outright cut. A purposeful one.

Meanwhile, crucial projects like the $450m Erindale Road–Reid Highway interchange, a jointly funded Commonwealth–State priority will be drip-fed Federal funds over almost a decade. But what happens when inflation blows out the cost of this project? Who will be left to pick up the tab?

Honestly, the whole situation feels like something out of The Lord of the Rings. WA is Samwise Gamgee, carrying the load, climbing the mountain, doing the work.

The Prime Minister is Frodo, technically in charge, but hesitant, unreliable, and ultimately unable to do the hard stuff when it counts. And let’s not forget, Frodo didn’t even throw the ring into Mount Doom. He faltered. He claimed it. It only fell in by accident. Sam got him there.

That’s WA, faithfully hauling the weight of the national economy, only to see Canberra hesitate, dither, or take credit for outcomes it didn’t earn, then offer our State a few crumbs and call it “partnership”.

So why is WA Labor sitting back in the face of this neglect? Why is Rita Saffioti so eager to explain away Federal shortfalls rather than fight for WA’s fair share?

Maybe she’s too busy planning a $217m taxpayer-funded racetrack in Burswood, a project nobody asked for, while essential freight routes and congestion solutions are left unfunded.

The ghost of the Perth Freight Link still haunts the southern suburbs of Perth. Infrastructure Australia identified it as a nationally significant project that would have eased congestion and improved freight movement in the southern corridor. WA Labor made cancelling it an election promise, and once in government, they scrapped it.

Federal Labor followed suit, removing the Commonwealth’s earmarked funding. Neither of them offered a serious alternative. The result? WA remains without a coherent freight infrastructure plan, and the economic costs are being borne by commuters, businesses, and taxpayers to this day.

Meanwhile, Queensland just secured $7.2b for the Bruce Highway. Victoria got a $1b “road blitz”.

WA? We received the smallest slice of the pie, and it’s getting smaller.

The State Government’s own infrastructure commitments, $38 billion over the forward estimates, including $12 billion in 2025–26, may seem ambitious on paper. But that’s not out of choice. It’s out of necessity. WA taxpayers are being forced to fill the gaps left by federal under-investment.

This isn’t how the federation should operate. It’s not how infrastructure partnerships are meant to work.

During the recent election Anthony Albanese talked a big game about how Federal Labor were working with the Cook Labor Government to build WA’s future. But if you follow the money, this narrative becomes a house of cards.

WA has proven itself time and again to be efficient, capable, and economically indispensable. But if that efficiency isn’t matched with fair funding, it’s not partnership, it’s exploitation.

WA needs a new deal.

We are being let down by a Federal Government that prioritises political convenience over fairness, and by a State Government that refuses to stand up for us. Both must be held accountable.

The Federal Government must end the political games and provide a consistent and immediate share of infrastructure funding. One that reflects both WA’s contribution to the nation and our growing infrastructure requirements.

And the State Government must grow a backbone. It must stop accepting delayed promises and start fighting for WA, because WA builds the nation.

We deserve a deal that builds us too.

Matt O’Sullivan is a Liberal Senator for WA and shadow assistant minister for infrastructure, fisheries and forestry.