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ABC News
26-06-2025
- Business
- ABC News
WA local government minister suggests merger for Kalgoorlie-Boulder, Coolgardie councils
Western Australia's local government minister has put council mergers back on the agenda, suggesting the unification of a trouble-plagued Goldfields council with its much larger regional neighbour. Hannah Beazley made the comments in state parliament on Thursday, suggesting the combination of the City of Kalgoorlie-Boulder and Shire of Coolgardie — both about 600 kilometres east of Perth — could be a solution to the latter's significant financial and governance issues. The potential amalgamation of the Shire of Coolgardie and the City of Kalgoorlie-Boulder has been mooted for decades, while broader proposals to reduce WA's 139 councils have a similar history. Ms Beazley rebuffed the Shire of Coolgardie earlier this month when it attempted to hike mining rates by 97 per cent to address a $6.5 million budget deficit. In state parliament on Thursday, Ms Beazley said "shocking mismanagement" had resulted in questions about the Shire of Coolgardie's ongoing financial viability, describing the council as a "financial mess". "I will take prompt action and have arranged a meeting with representatives of the Shire of Coolgardie, the City of Kalgoorlie-Boulder and the local member [Labor MP Ali Kent], to address the serious concerns in relation to the financial viability of the Shire," she told parliament. "While I am assured that no malice was intended by elected members, nevertheless, shocking mismanagement and poor governance has occurred at the shire. "I would urge the shire to do what is right for their community and region and be cooperative in speaking with their neighbouring council at Kalgoorlie-Boulder and jointly support a boundary adjustment." Kalgoorlie MLA Ali Kent said she hoped both councils would be supportive of the proposal. "It's a different thing that I believe Colin Barnett put into the act some time ago. A boundary readjustment is just basically redrawing where the boundary goes out to," she said. "Surely the future of the region is far more critical than what a line on the map is. "There's obviously a lot of work and a lot of detail that will need to go into the boundary readjustment." The ABC has contacted both Kalgoorlie-Boulder Mayor Glenn Wilson and Shire of Coolgardie President Malcolm Cullen for comment. A merger of the neighbouring shires — founded on the discovery of gold at Coolgardie in 1892 and at Kalgoorlie in 1893 — would create one of the physically largest local governments in WA. The Shire of Coolgardie covers 30,400 square kilometres and has about 3,600 people living in the towns of Coolgardie, Kambalda, Widgiemooltha and the Aboriginal community of Kurrawang. The City of Kalgoorlie-Boulder is significantly larger in both land mass and population, responsible for an area covering 95,575 square kilometres and about 30,000 residents. It was created out of the 1989 merger of the Town of Kalgoorlie and the Shire of Boulder. A review of the Local Government Act in 2020 sparked renewed calls for councils to consider mergers to be sustainable into the future. There has been some reluctance in the past, with the proposed merger of the shires of Westonia and Yilgarn in WA's Wheatbelt voted down by ratepayers in 2012. Some councils have been successfully merged, like in the state's Midwest, where the City of Greater-Geraldton was created following its 2011 amalgamation with the Shire of Mullewa. That followed City of Geraldton's prior amalgamation with the Shire of Greenough in 2007. The potential amalgamation comes after Shire of Coolgardie councillors this week agreed to put a controversial mining camp on the market to address its dire financial situation. The council built the 328-room Bluebush Village in Kambalda to take advantage of the Goldfields' latest mining boom. Figures provided by the Shire of Coolgardie to the ABC confirmed the initial budget for Bluebush Village blew out from $9 million to more than $24.5 million. The workers' accommodation opened in late 2022 but had lower-than-expected occupancy rates following the demise of WA's once-booming nickel industry. Shire president Malcolm Cullen said the first step in the sale process was for acting CEO Aaron Cook to prepare a report detailing the requirements for a major land transaction, with cost estimates and timeframes. "It's a process that we promised the community we would look into, and we are definitely going down that path," Mr Cullen told the ABC on Wednesday. "It is a great facility and we feel it does create a significant economic benefit for the community of Kambalda being in the middle of the town."
West Australian
10-06-2025
- Automotive
- West Australian
Soccer teams help spread road safety message with donation of Belt Up balls
An important road safety message was behind the donation of new soccer balls to Kalgoorlie-Boulder clubs at the weekend. Football West, in partnership with the Insurance Commission, handed out 20 balls to each of the six clubs in town for the annual Belt Up road safety campaign. This campaign aims to increase public awareness about the importance of drivers and passengers wearing seatbelts to minimise the risk of injury from serious motor accidents. Football West Goldfields participation officer Sam Tester said it was an important message for locals young and old to keep fresh in their minds. 'Road safety is incredibly important and everyone needs to know they should be wearing a seat belt any time they are driving in the car,' she said. 'We have a lot of juniors here who will one day get their licence and it's important they have that message, and it's good to remind the seniors as well. 'It was great to see everyone kicking the Belt Up balls around on the weekend and ensuring the message was spread to hopefully help save anyone from potential road tragedies.' Kalgoorlie MP Ali Kent was at the Goldfields Oasis playing fields on Saturday during the junior soccer games to help hand out the balls and spread the message.
West Australian
25-05-2025
- Business
- West Australian
Work starts on 120-lot Yilkari Industrial Estate on Kalgoorlie-Boulder's western edge
Work has started at the Yilkari Industrial Estate on Kalgoorlie-Boulder's western edge, with the first 13 lots of the 138ha development to go on pre-sale next month. The State Government last week said contractor Ertech has started stage one of DevelopmentWA's latest industrial estate in Kalgoorlie-Boulder. When announced in January, the government said the contract with Ertech was worth more than $30 million. The government said the estate on the corner of Great Eastern Highway and Anzac Drive, opposite Anzac Drive Industrial Park, would ultimately have 120 general industrial lots. It said stage one lots would range in size from 2500sqm to 1.8ha, which were expected to attract strong interest from both WA-based and interstate businesses. The government said the 13 lots to be made available by pre-sale next month would be serviced with power, water, NBN, and have direct access to the RAV10 heavy vehicle road network. It said titles are anticipated in July next year. The government said the development was forecast to attract about $200m in private investment and create 700 construction jobs during the next decade. It said once fully operational, the development would deliver 850 new permanent jobs and a $300m annual boost to the local economy. Planning and Lands Minister John Carey said the development of Yilkari Industrial Park would lead to industry diversification and growth for Kalgoorlie-Boulder and the wider Goldfields region. ''These general industrial lots are expected to support the growth in a variety of industries, including mining support services, transport/logistics, fabrication, and manufacturing,' he said. Kalgoorlie MLA Ali Kent said Yilkari would provide a long-term asset to the resources sector but also more opportunities for other industries to get established. 'This high-quality industrial estate will play a crucial role in strengthening the city's long term economy quality development,' she said.
