Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announces WA cabinet meeting for September

The Prime Minister will bring his entire cabinet back to WA next month, saying the State that “drives the national economy” was often not understood on the east coast. Anthony Albanese spent a night in Perth on Thursday and is due to fly back to Canberra on Friday after blitzing morning radio. While at a press conference spruiking a wage rise for childcare worker wage rise announcement, the PM vowed he would return — with his frontbench in tow — on September 2 for four days for the fourth time since winning Government. “You need to be here in Western Australia because, quite often, people who are living in the Sydney-Melbourne-Canberra triangle don’t get WA,” Mr Albanese said. “You have to spend time here, you have to engage here, you have to develop relationships here with business, with political leaders, with the community. “It’s a great State.” Mr Albanese said WA was “not just Perth” and said his next visit could include a regional stint. “As Prime Minister. I’ve been to Port Hedland, Karratha, Kalgoorlie Albany, Bunbury and other parts of this great State,” he said. “I’ve been to WA more than times and the previous three prime ministers combined in the Liberal Government. “And it’s important because (WA) does help to drive our national economy.” The PM said four cabinet visits to WA — including one in Port Hedland — mean his Government “gets WA”. “To get the scale of Port Hedland or Karratha — you have to see it,” he said. “You have to see one of those trains, where you can see the front of the train but you can’t see the end of it. “You have to see the scale, you have to talk with the workforce about the experience of being FIFOs — or about the growth that I’ve seen in a town like Karratha.” Mr Albanese highlighted that 20 years ago, Karratha had no hotels or medium rise buildings. “It is now a vibrant place to live. And it’s the credit to the WA Government in particular, working with local government as well,” he said. Federal cabinet was last in WA in February, when Mr Albanese was selling his reworked Stage 3 tax cuts and defending his backflip on a pre-election pledge not to change the tax package. The PM’s visit this week included four radio interviews, a beer at the Quinns Rock Sporting Club with Pearce MP Tracey Roberts, followed by a visit to a childcare centre in Dayton.