Aged housing money pulled from budget

SOUTH West Nationals MLC Colin Holt has condemned the Labor Government for failing to guarantee previously allocated funding for an independent living housing project for the aged in Brunswick Junction.

Under the previous Coalition Government, the project was granted $2.3 million from Royalties for Regions to fund the project but in the 2017 State Budget the money had disappeared.

Mr Holt said demand for aged care facilities was increasing but without housing options, older people would be forced to leave their communities.

“The Nationals delivered unprecedented investment into aged care and independent living while in government,” he said.

Minister for Regional Development Alannah MacTiernan said many of the Royalties for Regions-funded aged accommodation projects were funded in the last months of the former government and were effectively election promises.

“We will be undertaking a significant review of aged accommodation projects right across regional WA,” she said.

“We have allocated $22.7 million for a new aged accommodation program in our budget – this project needs to be a reasonable ask on taxpayers in the current challenging financial environment.

“We will be exploring more cost-effective construction techniques and more sustainable funding models for these projects.

“We expect to have the new scheme up and running early next year and those who did not receive funding in our recent budget can apply under this program.”