Shadow Minister for Regional Development, Local Government and Territories - Shadow Minister for Regional Communications- Transcript - Interview 6PR Perth Radio - 21 October 2025

DR ANNE WEBSTER MP

SHADOW MINISTER FOR REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT, LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND TERRITORIES

SHADOW MINISTER FOR REGIONAL COMMUNICATIONS

FEDERAL MEMBER FOR MALLEE

TRANSCRIPT

TOPICS:  Local government, regional road speed limits, connectivity, Barnaby Joyce, Net Zero

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PETERSON

The Shadow Minister for Regional Development, Local Government and Territories, Anne Webster, finds herself in Western Australia. I think we're talking to you from the Pilbara G'day, Anne. G'day. How are you?

WEBSTER

I'm all right.

PETERSON 

Where are you at the moment?

WEBSTER

Karratha - Just landed in gorgeous Karratha and the sky is blue, the wind is blowing and it's 36 degrees, I believe.

PETERSON

Magnificent. Make sure you slip, slop, slap before you get out there and really discover the Pilbara I think you were in our south-west yesterday, Anne?

WEBSTER

Yes, and I've been in Perth this morning. I was down in Pinjarra yesterday afternoon doing town hall meeting with locals at the Murray Shire. So yeah, look, getting around and very keen to hear what West Australians are thinking about their shires, about their connectivity because regional connectivity is my other portfolio and yeah, look, life is very different when you live in the regions to when live in the city. Let me put it that way.

PETERSON

Absolutely. And we've got some very, very vast distances to travel, obviously, over this side of the country. I'll start with the lowest speed limits, a state like WA as I said, such vast distances to travel between a lot of these towns and communities.

WEBSTER

Yeah, look, fatalities, nobody wants to see fatalities continue on the rise. That's absolutely the bottom line. However, across Australia, this particular consultation by the Albanese government is to see whether lowering speed limits is the answer. Well, I can tell you right now, coming from Victoria, I think we've got the worst roads in the nation -we just want them to fix the damn roads. They're not putting enough funding into road maintenance and we're feeling it out in the regions. As I talk to shires here in Western Australia and in fact across Australia, they know they are not getting enough dollars put into road maintenance and that is one of the critical safety issues. Having shoulders, for example, having those structures that assist people to stay within their lane, so the bumpy bits on the side of the road, you know, it all matters to how people drive and to how safe we are on our roads. If we drop speed limits, my concern is that we reduce productivity even more. And it's honestly the last thing we need to do.

PETERSON

And it also will maybe make people a little more bored and distracted on the roads. We hear from our listeners who obviously travel vast distances that they even think sometimes at 100 they're going a little slow when they're having to drive hundreds and hundreds of kilometres on some very straight roads when they're trying to get across our state. Similarly, we've never had safer cars or motor vehicles. All the technologies in these cars these days that are designed to try and make you as safe as possible will give you that warning if you're starting to veer off the road. So is it just a cop-out, as you say there, from the maintenance and the budgets filtering down from the federal government that the roads are not in the tip-top shape they should be in?

WEBSTER

Well, look, I have even greater concern that it's the Labor government, which is, let's face it, largely city-centric, just taking their eye off the regions. And once again, regional Australians find themselves as second-class citizens. You know, we just don't matter so much. I live in the regions, and I know that's the feeling that we get when we don't receive the kind of funding that we have certainly received under the Coalition government when we were in power. And so I think that's the biggest issue. They just don't want to spend money in the regions.

PETERSON

133882, if you'd like to join the conversation, my guest is Anne Webster. She's the Shadow Minister for Regional Development, Local Government, Territories, Connectivity, because that switch off of the 3G network, it's still impacting a lot of regional areas here in WA Anne.

WEBSTER

It is a shocker. My electorate, because nobody will know where I come from, is actually over a third of the state of Victoria. And I can tell you right now, when 3G shut down, we continue to feel it. People lost their services. They couldn't use their heart monitoring services. It was absolutely awful. I can't use the language that I would use in private about that, but it was very, very bad and the problem is it has not improved. I was just reading through all the reports today on the plane regarding the 3G shutdown, and I am absolutely convinced that the Albanese Labor Government has not done enough about this. And I'm certainly going to start digging this up and making a scene about it because out in the regions in particular, 3G shutdown is still impacting how we are able to connect in the country.

PETERSON

Absolutely. Look, we've spoken to many farmers in Western Australia who are struggling to even make a phone call, be able to download that data, obviously off the harvester, to be able to input that in to how they're running their business, their operations, their farms. Now, it is a necessity, communications, it is something that the government needs to be able to provide regardless of where you are in this country, Anne.

WEBSTER

Yeah, absolutely. It's 2025. Get with the program! We must have digital connectivity and it must be equal for all. Now, yes, that means that we're breaking into new ground with technology, LEO satellites. They're not where we need them to be yet. Certainly not direct to device in terms of being able to connect with loved ones and with emergency and with business calls across the nation, in fact, across the world. But it must change and there must be a swift development so that Australia is not left behind. And in particular, regional Australians are not left behind.

PETERSON

And you're about to lose Barnaby Joyce from your party. You're sad to see him go?

WEBSTER

Look, Look, Barnaby has only said he won't be standing for New England. What his plans are in two, let's face it, it's two years' time? Lots of things can change. This is a moving feast. So in that two-year time, I imagine Barnaby will let all of us know what his plans really are. I see all the speculation and at the moment, I think it's just really incredibly important that we get this net zero subject clear and our communication of that clear once we have come to a party decision. And of course, we've got a Coalition partner.

PETERSON

Yes.

WEBSTER 

So we need to be at least respectful of the Liberal Party and how they come to their decision on net zero. And hopefully, we can walk into the future together. But I can tell you right now, the National Party is not sitting on its hands with regard to net zero. We are very focused on the damage that it is causing regional communities, is causing regional businesses and ultimately for what? We do not want to see our country go down the toilet in terms of our economy because we have ideological targets in timeframes that really put Australia's economy at risk. And that's what we're finding right now.

PETERSON

Are you able to convince your Coalition partner, the Liberal Party to see it the Nationals' way, Anne?

WEBSTER

Look, I hope so. I certainly talk with a lot of my Coalition partners and I'll be very interested to see how they come to a place where they can walk together forward, you know, that broad church, and we'll hope that they can, you know, confidently move into the future and hopefully hand in hand with the National Party.

PETERSON

Anne Webster, thank you, Tom. Enjoy the Pilbara, enjoy Broome in the next couple of days as well.

WEBSTER

Thank you very great to talk with you Ollie

PETERSON

Shadow minister for regional development, local government, territories connectivity Anne Webster, 133882, calling on the federal government there to look at our regional roads in particular and make sure that the maintenance is being prioritised.

Mal says he's just done over 1,000 k's from Esperance and Norseman area last week on his motorbike. The dirt roads were better. Some of the bitumen roads. It's time to invest in better roads, yeah. And Mal, we drove from Albany to Esperance and a lot of that is a dirt road. And you're right. Some of those bitumen roads that you ended up finding yourself on, the dirt roads were in much better condition. Now, we constantly hear the speed limit on regional roads are 100km, but the maximum speed limit in WA is 110, not 100. On the unsealed roads, they are 100, though. So that's where you go 100km an hour.

Slightly separate issue, says Dave, but similar to what the Shadow Minister just said, the fact there's a lot of less population in the regions, if you take mining, agriculture out of the gross domestic product of this country, we would be totally and utterly stuffed, Ollie. The governments are abusing the farmers and the other people in the regions. They just pull out the profits and they say they've done a good job. But this is probably most governments, but Labor in in particular at the moment, it's really, sad. That's from Dave. More acknowledgement of the regions.