Premier Mark McGowan claims to be ‘regular’ visitor to Carnarvon despite last trip being 15 months ago

Premier Mark McGowan claims to visit crime-riddled Carnarvon “regularly” but had to be reminded it had been more than year since he last set foot in the Gascoyne town. The Opposition and local community leaders have been calling on the Premier and Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to visit Carnarvon to see the effects of the local youth crime crisis for themselves. In Geraldton on Sunday for a two-day Community Cabinet, Mr McGowan was asked when he next planned to visit Carnarvon. “I visit Carnarvon regularly and as soon as I can get there I will get there,” he said. “I’ve been doing a lot of travelling lately representing Western Australia and trying to secure jobs and projects for the State but as soon as I can get there I will.” The Premier initially disputed it had been more than a year since his last Carnarvon trip, but that fact had been confirmed by his own office a week earlier. Mr McGowan last visited Carnarvon 15 months ago, in November 2021, the day after local girl Cleo Smith was rescued following an 18-day kidnapping ordeal. The Premier flew into town to meet the little girl and her parents and thank the police team responsible for her remarkable rescue. Before the November 2021 visit, the Premier had been in Carnarvon to open the town’s new PCYC in July of that year. The Prime Minister snubbed an invitation to Carnarvon during his last trip to WA last week. He had been called on to make a detour to Carnarvon after finding time for a last-minute visit to crime-ravaged Alice Springs the week before. Mr Albanese defended his decision not to include Carnarvon on his itinerary. “I was in Fitzroy Crossing just a few weeks ago. This is my second visit to WA (this year). I will be visiting Port Hedland and taking my entire Cabinet to Port Hedland later this month,” he said. Mr McGowan backed the Prime Minister against the criticism that other remote communities were being ignored. “The Prime Minister is a very busy person and he travels to Western Australia more than any other prime minister in my memory. But I’m sure when he gets here, he’ll be in regional WA as soon as he can,” the Premier said. Carnarvon community leaders have been crying out for government action, saying persistent crime has left their town feeling like a “war zone”, causing people to either flee or be too afraid to venture out of their own homes. Local police say an injection of extra police resources in the town has seen crime rates drop recently. Carnarvon Shire president Eddie Smith said he was a realist about politician’s schedules, adding a lot of towns in WA were having similar problems. Cr Smith said he was disappointed the Gascoyne seemed to have been forgotten about during the Community Cabinet in Geraldton, which the Shire was not invited to. “The Gascoyne being plumped in with the Mid West means a lot of our leadership is no longer here,” he said. ”It’s a little bit annoying ... if we could be standalone Gascoyne, having leadership back in the town would be a huge benefit.” “When you don’t have the leadership here or anyone with an oversight role, it can be quite fractious. “We will make a noise and we will do what we can for the best of the town.”