Mettam lashes ‘lazy’ school support plan

The Liberal Party of WA says a $103.5 million cost of living assistance program for Western Australian families with school-aged children should be better targeted to support those in need.

Under the WA Student Assistance Payment initiative announced on Sunday, the families of students will receive $150 for each child in primary school and kindergarten, and $250 for each high school student.

The package will be part of the 2024-25 state budget and is designed to assist with cost-of-living pressures on many WA families.

The assistance will not be means tested, with Education Minister Tony Buti telling media yesterday that the state “doesn’t have the data” that the federal government has around household income to properly target relief.

The lack of data means assistance will be provided to all households with school-aged children.

WA Liberal leader Libby Mettam said while her party was supportive of initiatives to ease cost-of-living pressures, relief could be better allocated to those who needed it.

“It’s a lazy approach to an issue that is impacting on households’ ability to put food on the table,” she said.

Ms Mettam said similar relief programs had been rolled out with greater targeting in states such as NSW, and that the opposition would be seeking answers around the modelling that guided the policy announcement.

“We know NSW had a much more targeted program, and we have further questions to ask about how the government came up with this more simple solution,” she said.

The lack of means testing is consistent with the state’s approach to power bill credits most recently rolled out in the 2023-24 state budget.

Speaking over the weekend, Dr Buti said the initiative was designed to help students get the essentials they needed for their education.

“We want to make sure all students have what they need for school, regardless of their family’s financial situation,” he said.

“The WA Student Assistance Payment is an effective way to pay for the essentials like books and uniforms and still be able to afford important extras like camps and excursions.

“It will reduce the pressure on parents to pay for everything and help every student focus on learning, so they can do well in and out of the classroom.”

Ms Mettam said the WA Liberals were calling on the state government to freeze household fees and charges to further support those in need.