Kalgoorlie-Boulder early voting centre sees almost 3000 votes cast for State election in first four days

Almost 3000 votes were cast in the first four days of early voting for the State election at the Kalgoorlie-Boulder voting centre. Figures from the WA Electoral Commission show 2789 votes were cast locally up to 6pm on Thursday, after early voting opened on Monday. Overall, 162,426 votes have been made across the State in the first four days. How-to-vote cards from various parties were being offered to voters who attended the local centre — on the corner of Brookman and Wilson streets — by local candidates and their supporters. WA Labor’s Ali Kent, Liberals’ Rowena Olsen, Nationals’ Tony Herron, and independent candidate Kyran O’Donnell have been familiar faces every day of early voting, while Greens candidate Donald Clarke and his supporters have also made appearances. The other four candidates on the Kalgoorlie seat ballot are Kelly Malcolm of the Legalise Cannabis Party WA, Stefan Colagiuri of Shooters, Fishers and Farmers Party WA, Ross Patterson of Australian Christians, and Jordan Whitten for Pauline Hanson’s One Nation. The first week of early voting in Kalgoorlie-Boulder saw the key party leaders all make appearances to support their candidates and speak to residents about their parties’ plans. Liberal leader Libby Mettam was the first to touch down in the city on Tuesday, where she and Ms Olsen announced a $2 million pledge to plan two on-country youth rehabilitation centres — likely to be in the Goldfields and Kimberley — to help crack down on youth crime. On Friday, both Premier Roger Cook and Opposition Leader Shane Love were in town, where they hit out at each other over Royalties for Regions. Mr Cook labelled the Nats’ plan to cut R4R funding in Mandurah to support outer Perth metropolitan areas in the Perth Hills as the most “contemptuous, audacious and corrupt political policy” he had seen in his time in politics. However, Mr Love said the plan would simply allow towns “over the imaginary line” in the Perth Hills to be eligible for R4R in the same way their “cousin towns” always had been. He said Labor spending R4R money as part of Metronet was “ludicrous”. Mr Cook also toured mining services firm MLG Oz where he, alongside Ms Kent, announced an election promise to make Kalgoorlie-Boulder the “vanadium powerhouse of WA”. He committed to cutting royalties on vanadium products in half to 2.5 per cent and keeping the royalty rate for vanadium electrolyte at zero to help stimulate growth in the sector. This followed his pledge last month to spend $150 million on building a 50-megawatt vanadium battery in Kalgoorlie-Boulder to secure the city’s energy supply.