Labor’s plan to support pensioners and seniors:

• State Senior’s Card holders, aged pensioners and disability support pensioners will be able to travel free between 10am and 3pm from Monday to Friday and all day Saturday and Sunday. This policy will provide some financial relief for aged pensioners, disability support pensioners, and Seniors Card holders.  It will also make them more mobile, because they will be able to visit family and friends and attend social events without the need to budget for transport
• Seniors and disability support pensioners who undertake four public transport trips during the free travel periods each week could expect to save around $300 a year

• A re-elected Labor Government will provide additional funding of $2 million over four years to cover the costs of operating the Association for the Blind Braille and Talking Book Library
• We have already contributed $6 million towards the Association for the Blind Centre of Excellence and also provides over $300,000 each year for early intervention therapy services for children. More than $180,000 is currently provided each year towards the ongoing cost of the library
• Over the next four years, we will spend almost $1.5 billion on disability support services, including accommodation

• Labor will double the current two days’ support through the Government’s Alternatives to Employment program
• The expanded support will make it easier for young people with disabilities – and their carers – to manage the transition from school into the broader community
• The expanded Alternatives to Employment program will cost an extra $43 million over four years
• Labor believes that all Western Australians should benefit from our economic strength, especially those people who are less able to directly engage with the economy

• Five-kilometre $147.5 million extension to Butler will be the next step in Labor’s plan for a massive expansion of the city’s public transport network
• The extended line is expected to be completed by 2012 and will be used by about 2,000 people each day upon commencement taking the equivalent of 1,800 cars off the road each day
  
   

The Liberal Party agrees that the benefits of the mining boom have not been shared by all. We also agree with your view that it is unacceptable to allow the continuation of poverty and social exclusion, especially when economic times have been good.

This is especially true of rural and regional Western Australians and our Indigenous communities who have largely not shared in the benefits of the boom:

• A Liberal Government will support all Western Australians, particularly those outside of Perth, by funding the Royal Flying Doctor Service and; 
• Boosting the Patient Assisted Travel Scheme
• Social Inclusion is also dependent on a justice system which is strong, fair and transparent. The Liberal Party is committed to ensuring that people feel safe in their homes and in their communities, this is especially so for our senior citizens
• The Liberal Government will make economic management a key priority and this approach will be essentail to ensuring economic growth and a strong labour market in uncertain times
• A Liberal Government will consider the future of the Social Inclusion Taskforce on taking office
   

Social Justice is one of the Four Pillars underpinning the beliefs and work of the Greens (WA). The Greens believe everyone is entitled to equal access to opportunity, justice and democracy in a society that recognises nature's limits, and that these rights co-exist with responsibilities of individuals and corporations to their communities.

The Greens support affirmative action to overcome inequalities and respect and encourage social diversity. The Greens consider everyone has a right to a comprehensive health system, education, work, an equitable share of the world’s resources, a satisfactory standard of living and adequate housing.

The Greens belief in social justice therefore underpins all of their policies. For more specific manifestations of this belief, the Greens refer you particularly to their Caring for People series of policies, their Housing policy and their Transport policy.

The Nationals have focused on health, housing, police and other essential services in our key policies leading up to the State election on September 6th.

Some of the policies which will benefit all regional communities, attract others to the regions and help ease the costs of living include the:

• BushChange Housing Grant
• Country Age Pensioner Fuel Card
• Housing our Workforce

• The Country Age Pensioner Fuel Card will give a $500 fuel card to each regional pensioner or pensioner household to help them cope with rising fuel costs. This recognises the lack of public transport available in the regions and the increased burden on country pensioners of having to travel to access basic services such as health
• The Nationals campaigned against the closure of regional police stations and successfully lobbied the Police Commissioner to review the situation in 12 months. We continue to campaign for the return of those stations and would re-open them if we attain the balance of power
• The Nationals have a housing policy aimed at encouraging essential workers to live, work and stay in the regions. The attraction and retention of workers to regional areas is a necessity to ensure that regional communities have access to adequate essential services
   

WACOSS advocates for action to strengthen the ability of all Western Australians to participate fully in society. Our strong economy provides a unique opportunity to implement a plan to address inequity and create a fairer society.

Effective participation in society is described as ‘social inclusion’.  To be effective, a fairer vision should be supported by a Social Inclusion Strategy, which should set targets, objectives and plans for action.

• Invest resources in a Social Inclusion Strategy for WA
  Embed the strategy across the whole Government.
• Implement the strategy over the long term
• Provide high level leadership for the social vision