Labor's Secret Harbour by-election campaign walks fine line on pork barrelling

The Labor party's campaign for the Secret Harbour by-election is walking a fine line between legitimate political campaigning and "pork barrelling," according to critics.

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What caught my attention was how it was announced. Not through an official government media statement, not by a minister or department, but via a Facebook video on the Labor candidate's campaign page. To me, that looks dangerously close to targeted pork barrelling and in-kind taxpayer-funded contributions dressed up as community investment.

Recent government funding announcements have been concentrated within the electorate, raising questions about their timing and purpose. These include funding for the WA Student Assistance Payment, an expansion of the full-time kindy pilot program at a local primary school, and a $5 million expansion of electrical training facilities at Rockingham TAFE. Candidate Georgia Tree has claimed credit for some of these announcements, though at least $600,000 had been previously pledged by the area's former member.

One Nation WA leader Rod Caddies has specifically questioned the announcement of an extra $1 million for Lakelands Youth Park. He described the announcement, made via the Labor candidate's campaign Facebook page rather than an official government statement, as "dangerously close to targeted pork barrelling and in-kind taxpayer-funded contributions dressed up as community investment."

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You can't say on the one hand that this [announcement] is just you doing what you're always doing … [and] on the other hand saying it's pork barrelling. What we've said is this is a demonstration of our $6.4 billion investment pipeline for schools right across WA.

Premier Roger Cook has defended the announcements, stating they demonstrate the government's $6.4 billion investment pipeline for schools across Western Australia. When pressed by reporters on whether the funding was either pre-planned or a response to by-election concerns, the Premier stated they were "taking advantage of a by-election to highlight" the investments.

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Well obviously we're taking advantage of a by-election to highlight