Hundreds of young Western Australians will be trained for an AUKUS agreement defence industry jobs boom if the state Labor government is re-elected.
An $11.5 million scheme to fund training for more apprentices in shipbuilding and maintenance has been promised by Premier Roger Cook in the lead up to the state election on March 8.
"This is the biggest defence project in the nation's history and it's happening here ... in WA," he said at a Perth shipyard on Tuesday.
"AUKUS will create literally 10,000 local jobs ... and I want WA to be match-ready to take advantage of the opportunities from this extraordinary defence project."
Experts are tipping a comfortable win for Labor, which holds 53 seats in the lower house, with the Liberals and Nationals holding three each after Labor's unprecedented landslide victory in 2021.
But its massive majority is likely to shrink, with the Liberals expected to win back about 10 lost seats. Labor could also lose control of the upper house.
The WA Liberals on Tuesday promised $2 million to fund planning for two juvenile rehabilitation centres in regional WA.
"This is about ensuring that we have an on-country location for disengaged youth to try to look at better ways to address these issues before youth crime becomes a much more serious concern," leader Libby Mettam said in the Goldfields town of Kalgoorlie.
Ms Mettam said violent crime was out of control in WA and the measure was part of an $10.9 million pledge to keep West Australians safe.
The leaders traded blows over their policy announcements at the press conferences.
Mr Cook said the Liberals were chaotic and dysfunctional in reference to a failed bid to unseat Ms Mettam as leader and accusations about multiple candidates behaving poorly.
Ms Mettam said Labor could not be trusted and had failed communities in the regions, saying: "We have a farm crisis, we have a housing crisis, and we have a community we feel completely let down".
The Nationals WA promised to expand a scheme that supports economic, business and social development in regional WA to Perth's outlying eastern suburbs.
"The Perth Hills face many of the same challenges are regional communities – population growth, ageing infrastructure and stretched services – but they've been overlooked for too long," Opposition and Nationals leader Shane Love said in a statement.
"By expanding Royalties for Regions, we will direct funding where it's needed most."
The Nationals are the official opposition party in WA after winning four seats to the Liberals' two seats in the last election.
But Ms Mettam is viewed as the alternative premier and her party is expected to be the opposition after the poll.
