Did anything political happen in WA other than the "canal"??
Clearly not, as it was top of the media agenda, despite the Coalition trying desperately to move on and refocus on other policy launches. Meanwhile the ALP are carefully stringing it out for what it is worth, hoping that the populist idea can be overshadowed by enough questions about economic feasibility or social and environmental impact.
This week the wormers battled with the dial on the Perception Analyser like a joystick controlling some uncontrollable spaceship in a computer game. For the first time I swung my dial in a full arc from 0 (strongly disapprove) to 100 (strongly approve) and back again as Barnett and Gallop bombarded us with more arrogance, rhetoric and spin than should be a safe limit for any voter!
Clearly this issue is dividing WA like no other current issue and is reminiscent of Dickie Court's bell tower. You either love it or hate it!
Apart from the great Colinic-irrigation scheme, the Libs managed to belt out a riposte in the Hospital sector, announcing 750 additional beds within 4 years (compared with the ALP promise of 1000 beds in the next 10). The ALP scored a few brownie points with announcements to raise the school leaving age to 17 in two stages and threw in a $200 bonus to assist with education costs ($400 for TAFE students)
Perhaps both parties are warming themselves up for a barage of pork-barrelling in the final two weeks of the campaign. Maybe they have something up their sleeves for us?
The score thus far, as I see it, is:
ALP ... one point for each of the following announcements - education, health, car rego
LIB ... three points for the canal, two points for their coup with the nurses (if it holds out), but they lose one point for roll back on cannabis
That leaves the Libs marginally ahead at this stage and in a precarious situation over Barnett's arrogant commitment to the canal plan. The question on everyone's lips is whether he can remain firm and beat off his detractors - predominantly the ALP and most of the media!
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