Helen Morton

More than 4,100 Western Australians will take part in the federal and state government versions of disability care, which will run in conjunction from next week.

A draft strategy paper released by the state government today has outlined plans to close the state’s largest psychiatric facility within the next 10 years.

The state government will provide a free, confidential drug and alcohol counselling service for fly-in, fly-out (fifo) workers and others who work away from home.

The disability services industry is agitating for the state government to start early negotiations with the Commonwealth over the choice of disability services model for Western Australia, as funding flaws in the National Disability Insurance Scheme emerge.

The state government will be glad to put 2015 behind it, but there will be no let up in the financial and portfolio challenges it will face next year.

Managing the state’s economic transition was the main focus of today’s cabinet reshuffle, Premier Colin Barnett said, with tourism and agriculture in his sights as key growth industries.

Colin Barnett says he is confident he has the support to continue as premier if there is a leadership spill this week, following the resignation of ministers Dean Nalder and Tony Simpson over the weekend.

Colin Barnett has seen off an attempted spill motion at today’s party room meeting by 31 votes to 15, emerging with what he claimed was a united Liberal team after a ‘therapeutic’ exercise.