Opinion
Cook’s free Zoo tickets mean the die is well and truly cast for WA
Gary Adshead
JournalistWhen the Cook government used $6.2 million of our money at the weekend to hand out free Perth Zoo tickets under the pretence of cost-of-living relief, the die was well and truly cast.
After almost eight years in power, this Labor government has become lazy, unimaginative, crass and far too eager to use taxpayers’ dollars to grab feel-good headlines and votes.
Family outings are an important part of a WA childhood, sure; but so is having a roof over your head.
Firstly, not everyone is struggling out there. Far from it.
Those voters coping just fine continue to pack out Perth five-star restaurants where the cheapest steak is $72 and the average bottle of white wine costs more than $100.
These are not necessarily the super-rich. They are those with comfortable, small or no mortgages and enough disposable income to eat, stay and recreate where and when they like.
There would be many tens of thousands of them in Perth, and no one should begrudge their right to spend their money how they like, mostly off the back of hard work and sound planning.
What should be concerning is the way Premier Roger Cook is abusing the mantra of a cost-of-living crisis to chase an electoral sugar hit by throwing much-needed money in the wrong direction.
Like the $103 million already misdirected at every school student in the name of “undeniable” cost of living pressures, the Cook government has helped the haves rather than work harder and smarter to help the have-nots.
“I am thrilled to see this payment is reaching families when they need it most,” Mr Cook argued.
In truth, he should have said how proud he was to see these payments reaching families that don’t need them at all.
In announcing “free” taxpayer-funded Perth Zoo tickets for families, the government also took its spin cycle up a level.
The premier used his “Dad from Kwinana” credentials to talk about how a trip to the zoo was “an important part of growing up”.
So is having a roof over your head.
Mr Cook even declared the zoo passes were part of his commitment to “bursting the cost of living bubble”.
What does that even mean?
The cash hand-outs – and remember all that surplus money belongs to you – continued on Monday with a decision to pay $5.5 million to cover every student’s swimming lessons across summer.
That too was labelled a cost-of-living initiative, but once again it’s a scattergun approach and there is no guarantee the savings will help those who need it most.
What the government should be doing is some detective work and creating a socially effective strategy instead of a campaign slogan.
Find those people and families living in cars, vans and tents with no idea when they’ll find an affordable home to buy or rent.
It wouldn’t be difficult. Those people are dotted across the metropolitan area.
Talk to those people. Determine whether some financial support and guidance would end their misery and then actually use the power and money of government to make a direct difference.
In a similar vein, call a meeting of crisis care agencies and discuss ways to target specific families living in poverty.
It was only Friday that the Western Australian Council of Social Service released its blueprint as to how the state could do exactly that, outlining targeted cost-of-living relief, rent reform and sustainable community services funding measures and asking for these to be committed to in the lead-up to the 2025 state election.
Through those charities providing food relief every day, go out and meet families who now make up an expanding cohort of the working poor. Help them.
It might not create a syrupy headline like the weekend’s “Spring into the Perth Zoo with the Cook Government’s free pass”, but cost-of-living relief should be about doing something meaningful, not just trying to be popular.
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