Back to the bush offers a solution to WA’s regional representation crisis

Politicians come from different backgrounds and experiences and have different skills and abilities.

They belong to all sides of the ideological spectrum — but they share one thing in common — they can all count.

The most votes win and the most seats form government and we know where most of the seats are.

Sadly, next year’s State election will see the continuation of the demise of regional representation in the WA Parliament.

Perth’s takeover of the WA political landscape is almost complete.

Our capital city is extraordinarily dominant in terms of population and elected members of Parliament compared to the rest of our vast State.

WA’s demographic trend has seen an inexorable rise in Perth’s influence over politics in WA and unless something changes that influence is set to grow even more pervasive.

In 1960, Perth’s population of 409,000 was 56 per cent of the WA total.

In 2023 the State’s capital accounts for approximately 75 per cent of the total.

Regional people more often feel their views and issues are not being heard.

The last WA Premier who represented a regional seat in the WA Parliament was Liberal Sir David Brand who held the top job from 1959-71.

And from a regional point of view the lopsided nature of WA politics is about to get worse.

The WA Electoral Distribution Commissioners’ draft of proposed boundaries for the next election has recommended stripping a seat out of country WA by amalgamating the regional State seats of Moore and North West Central, and then adding another seat to the metropolitan area.

The time for comments on that draft closed this month, and going by previous redistributions we can expect to see little changes to the draft and final verdict when it is announced by December 1.

Plenty has been written about the fairness or otherwise of this proposal.

The view of regional Western Australians is clear — this is another blow.

It is particularly painful after the State Labor Government removed dedicated regional representation in the Legislative Council — after denying their plan to do so before the 2021 election.

We’ll see the impact of that from 2025 onwards too.

Shire of Morawa president Karen Chappel, who is also the WA Local Government Association president, made her views clear in The West Australian recently.

“I mean, how one person is going to be able to represent that (electorate) is quite unreasonable,” she said.

“The disadvantage that (regional West Australians) have in living where we do seems to be accepted by everybody else who think it is fine we don’t actually have a voice in Parliament.”

The independent commissioners have some ability to allow fewer electors in regional districts, however even accounting for the large district allowance, which allows for the enrolled numbers to be lower in seats larger than 100,000sqm in recognition of their remoteness — North West Central remains well outside the acceptable enrolment level.

The problem for those that want the regions to have a strong voice is that Harvest Terrace simply won’t buy the argument that geographical remoteness and size matters.

They’ve shown they’re happy to sacrifice the ability to adequately service the needs of regional electorates on the altar of ‘one-vote one-value’.

So fewer and fewer regional MPs will be left to represent larger and larger electorates.

In the representation discussion nobody in power is interested in the practical reasons that regional communities need strong representation.

Unlike in the metropolitan areas, regional Shires have to use their rates to pay for doctors, build houses for State government employees and maintain long stretches of roads.

Locals have to volunteer their time to provide ambulance, firefighting and other services.

The only real cure to the increasingly Perth-centric make-up of our State Parliament is an increase of population in the regions.

A resurgence of population, of decentralisation away from Perth, is a good long-term economic plan as well as a method for broadening representation.

There are incredible economic opportunities in the regions, and a ‘back to the bush’ mentality could benefit a lot of people, particularly young families.

The regional economy of WA is thriving and drives not only the economy of this State but of the nation.

Our key export commodities including iron ore, gold, lithium, nickel and mineral sands aren’t mined in the suburbs.

Natural gas wells aren’t sprouting out of the ground in Nedlands or Joondalup.

The Wheatbelt has produced two record grain harvests in the past two years, worth billions and has fed tens of millions around the globe.

Our sheep, cattle, fishing, wine and horticulture sectors are all valuable export earners — they’re also great industries to work in.

For decades, government has failed to convince locals and new arrivals that regional WA is a great place to live.

Regional communities need educational opportunities for our children, adequate health care, safe and reliable transport networks.

WA is bigger than most countries, and yet almost everybody lives in one small patch.

It’s time we embraced our whole State — let’s get back to the bush.

Steve Martin is a Liberal MLC for the Agricultural Region and shadow housing and forestry minister