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WA seeks bigger voice in Canberra with new ‘embassy’
WA Liberal senator Michaelia Cash says the Cook government’s plan to establish an embassy-style office in the nation’s capital is an admission from state Labor that the Albanese Government does not care about WA.
WA Premier Roger Cook announced the Canberra office during his first keynote speech as Premier on Tuesday.
WA Premier Roger Cook.Credit: Trevor Collens
The office would work like the state’s overseas trade missions and would provide a permanent base for government officials and advocacy groups on “team WA” to “disrupt the thinking in Canberra that holds us back”.
Cash said the embassy idea was embarrassing for WA Labor MPs.
“Premier Cook’s plan for a WA embassy in Canberra is a stark admission that the Albanese Labor Government doesn’t care about Western Australia. If Mr Albanese understood and listened to Western Australia this would not be needed,” she said.
“It also shows how ineffective the WA Federal Labor team is.”
She said WA’s only cabinet Minister was not being heard at the highest level of government.
“Patrick Gorman, the assistant minister to the Prime Minister should be very embarrassed that his state Labor colleagues feel this is necessary,” she said.
Gorman welcomed the idea and said it was unsurprising Cash rejected the idea.
“Michaelia Cash is the WA leader of the coalition,” he said.
“Senator Cash voted against more affordable housing for WA, argued against cheaper medicines for WA and voted to block power relief for 500,000 Western Australians.
“Now Senator Cash is saying ‘no’ to WA state ministers engaging with Canberra to deliver better outcomes for all Australians.”
In his address, Cook went to lengths to point out that Anthony Albanese “got” WA but said more could be done to advocate for the state’s interests, like ensuring the current GST deal remained in place.
He rubbished Cash’s criticism as “negative Canberra psychobabble” and said the idea was not a new one.
Liberal frontbencher Michaelia Cash.Credit: Alex Ellinghausen
“Michaelia Cash should understand that. I know all my team understands that,” he said.
“This is in addition to the work that our parliamentary colleagues do on both sides of the fence. This isn’t about politics.
“This is about team WA making sure that we take a strategic approach.
“If you’re the premier of South Australia, you can be in Canberra in the morning and back home for dinner. In Western Australia, we don’t have that.”
Cook said he had been texting his senior federal Labor colleagues, Resources Minister Madeline King and Gorman about the proposal this morning.
Cook said the office would be available for use by all advocacy groups on “team WA”, including those outside the resources industry.
“This is about advocacy groups having a base in Canberra,” he said.
“Local government authorities, charity groups, non-government organisations that want to get their message across, but also those large advocacy organisations, which have a significant strategy and engagement in Canberra.
“It’s about creating the team WA base so that everyone can help.”
Conservation Council WA executive director Joe Heffernan cautioned the government about the office serving as another vehicle for the oil and gas lobby to access federal decision-makers.
“Those interests are already overrepresented and have far too great a share of airtime in Canberra, a WA Embassy should be designed to also act as a vehicle for civil society in our state to make themselves heard at a federal level,” he said.
“If the Premier wants to truly represent the best of ‘team WA’, this new office should proactively seek to support the requirements of WA’s vibrant civil society sector, including peak bodies like ours.
“This is a critical moment for achieving stronger federal nature laws that will have an outsized impact on WA. We need support to make the WA environment movement’s voice heard.”
The premier’s office said the hub model would allow the state to keep costs at a minimum and the final cost would be determined by commercial office rates.
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