‘Why are the govt spending money on something states can?’: Perin Davey on Labor’s pledge

Shadow Water Minister Perin Davey has questioned why the Albanese government is spending money on something state governments can spend money on. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has committed $33.5 million towards planning works to support the development of Westport in Western Australia. A further $566 million has been pledged for deposits of critical minerals and rare earths for renewable energy technologies. “This is the job that state governments should be doing, Western Australian governments should be doing, and, indeed, I would be highly surprised if the Western Australian government didn’t already know where their critical minerals resources are actually located,” Ms Davey told Sky News Australia. “Why are the federal government duplicating and spending money on something the states can spend money on when we can then turn our attention, as the federal government, to providing investment incentives for private enterprise to actually value-add to those critical resources.”