Budget will hurt Albany: mayor

Albany Mayor Dennis Wellington says Albany will be a loser as a result of the Federal Budget released on Tuesday night.

Picture: Federal Treasurer Wayne Swan

Mr Wellington said the $5 million Federal funding announcement for the Anzac Interpretive Centre in Albany was a positive, but there was little else in the budget to benefit the region.

“The Government is saying they want to share the boom, but places like Albany are not sharing in the boom anyway,” he said.

“It would seem that WA is the loser, in that we end up in three or four year’s time with only 29 per cent return in our dollar for the GST (compared with 55 per cent currently).

“It leaves us I think at a serious disadvantage.”

However, Mr Wellington said promised cash bonuses for low-income earners was a positive for struggling families in town.

Albany Chamber of Commerce and Industry President and Liberal candidate for the seat of Albany Trevor Cosh said WA would be $1.1 billion worse off under the budget.

“That affects WA’s ability to work on infrastructure which will flow through to all regional areas,” he said.

Mr Cosh, who is a business owner, said the abandonment of a promised one per cent tax cut for larger businesses was a major negative. While the budget includes $5 billion in “battler’s” bonuses for families, students, welfare recipients and seniors, Mr Cosh said this was simply a “sugar fix”.

“It’s a positive, but we all know a sugar six doesn’t last,” he said.

“We’re looking at increased costs with the carbon tax, we don’t know what the flow through will be on everyday living yet.”

Albany city councillor Rob Sutton, who was officially endorsed as the National Party candidate for the seat of Albany on Saturday, said the budget offered little to small businesses.

Mr Sutton had hoped for funding allocations for infrastructure projects in the Great Southern, including the ring road, which he described as crucial.

keir.tunbridge@albanyadvertiser.com