There is a housing crisis in Perth. Perth tenants are struggling as rental prices rise faster than in any other city. The roads are congested, with some reporting that the associated psychological stress is associated with increased road rage. Rising prices have forced people to buy property ever further from their work, and Perth now has the longest median distance to work (commutes) in Australia.
Meanwhile regional local governments, which employ 200,000 people throughout Australia and deliver frontline services and stimulus to local business activities, face substantial fiscal challenges in remaining viable. For some rural and remote councils where own-source revenue-raising capacity is limited, grants can account for more than 50% of total revenue. And up to 80% of rates revenue can come from unimproved farm land, the supply of which is fixed. The only way to increase rates is to build more houses in town; and because the town might account for only 20% of rates revenue, you would need a fivefold increase in the number of rateable dwellings in order to double rates revenue without increasing the amount paid by existing residents.
The obvious solution to both the metro housing crisis and the local government funding crisis is for more people to live in the regions.
Australia has an unusually high proportion of its population living in state capitals. More than two thirds of the overall population live in state capitals. In WA, 80% of the population live in Perth. By contrast, in most U.S. states, less than 20% of the population lives in the largest city.
Placing 80% of the state population in one city makes no strategic sense – it is very much like putting 80% of your eggs in one basket. If a foreign adversary wanted to take out WA, they only need to send something big to one city, and all the mineral and agricultural wealth of the state would be theirs. Where would that leave the $368 billion AUKUS treaty? Very much with egg on its pants in my opinion. Defence is beyond the remit of the State Government, but the resilience of its own state is not.
Countries like Afghanistan have proved difficult to quell over centuries because they have small power bases spread all over the country. I am not suggesting garrisons all over WA, but moving even a small percentage of the Perth Metro population into surrounding towns would not only make Perth less of a target, but also improve the economic sustainability of those towns and possibly even improve the quality of life for the people who move.
For $368 billion you could build 736,000 half million dollar homes – enough to accommodate nearly 3 million people in families of four. The $368 billion AUKUS treaty is Federally funded, but the tax dollars come from the whole country, including WA. That money could be spent on accommodation for teachers, nurses and families in need, rather than submarines of limited use. The submarines won’t even be armed with nukes for a revenge attack. Their whole use is for posturing.
