While the McGowan government's third budget is back in the black, direct funding towards the Peel region was scarce.
On Thursday afternoon, West Australian treasurer Ben Wyatt revealed his 2019-20 budget would bring the state's finances into surplus.
Tackling the state's methamphetamine "crisis", funding infrastructure projects in WA's METRONET project, diversifying the economy and creating jobs were the major focal points of the budget.
Mr Wyatt proclaimed that returning to surplus for the first time in five years showcased that the state Labor government's plan was working.
Forecasts across the entire forward estimates period included a $1.5 billion surplus in 2019-20 and over $2 billion out to 2022-23.
Mr Wyatt also claimed that the government's 150,000 jobs target was "on-track", with 37,000 jobs created since coming to office just over two years ago.
"I can't express enough how important it is to get back to surplus. We will not rest. We recognise there's more work to be done," Mr Wyatt said.
"With disciplined management of expenditure, the McGowan Labor government has delivered on its pledge to return the budget to surplus - after just two years in office."
Mandurah Train Station multi-level car park
The main winner in the Peel region was commuters struggling to find parking at the Mandurah Train Station, with $32 million pledged to build a multi-level car park over the next two years.
The car park's planning and project definition commence in 2019-20 at the cost of $2.6 million, with $29.4 million to be expended in 2020-21.
The project has been eyed off from both sides of government at federal and state level.
On February 25, Labor's shadow minister for infrastructure Anthony Albanese joined their Canning candidate Mellisa Teede, Mandurah MP David Templeman and Murray-Wellington MP Robyn Clarke to pitch a joint commitment of $32 million to build the facility if a Bill Shorten government is elected.
That was followed by a $16 million commitment by Canning's incumbent MP Andrew Hastie on April 2.
The revelations in Mr Wyatt's budget papers on Thursday will now mean the state government will not need to rely on federal funding from whoever forms government after the May 18 election.
While it may be easier to park at the local station when the project is completed, commuters have been hit with a two per cent hike in public transport fares.
Pinjarra Heavy Haulage Deviation
Another project that nabbed funding in the region was stage one of the Pinjarra Heavy Haulage Deviation, which was earmarked for $27.5 million.
The long-awaited project has been in the making for the past few years and aims to divert trucks around the eastern side of the Pinjarra town centre along Pinjarra-Williams Road to link in with South Western Highway.
In 2017, the Shire of Murray held a referendum on the matter as it was identified that heavy traffic was impacting the safety, amenity and economic potential of the Pinjarra town centre.
At the time, the Shire predicted the road would exceed its capacity by 2023 and the state government would need to invest about $27.5 million.
Rail extension to Byford
The other major project in the Peel region came in the north with the extension of the Armadale train line to Byford.
The commitment also came under the government's METRONET plan, which has allocated more than $1.2 million for several further projects "under development", including the Morley-Ellenbrook line, Midland Station Project and Karnup Station.
WA Premier Mark McGowan said METRONET would also create a more "sustainable and connected city" as the population increased
"The construction of METRONET will create thousands and thousands of jobs," Mr McGowan said.
"Creating jobs is a key focus of the budget and with a record investment for METRONET, we are creating a pipeline of work for Western Australians."
Peel Health Campus
One of the biggest losers in the region was the Peel Health Campus.
Last year's budget saw $4.4 million announced to support Peel Health Campus upgrades, which will also fund improvements to the hospital's security system.
This budget did not allocate any fresh funding to the local hospital.
Regional WA
Outside the metropolitan regions, Mr Wyatt stuck to four main areas, which included funding "job-creating" infrastructure, employment and business in regional WA, improving the well-being of communities and delivering better health services.
Investment into improving country roads was a huge focus of this year's budget papers for regional communities.
More than $2 billion will be put towards building, upgrading and maintaining regional roads, which encompasses several major projects "fully funded" in the budget.
This included $852 million for the highly anticipated Bunbury Outer Ring Road and $175 million for the Albany Ring Road.
Transport Minister Rita Saffioti said more than $2 billion will be invested in regional roads across the next four years.
"Western Australia's road network spans nearly 148,000 kilometres and is vital in connecting our regional communities to social needs, jobs, prosperity and in many cases to basic supplies," she said.
"Our investment in building, maintaining and upgrading regional roads is also an investment in local economies."
A huge winner of the budget was a record $942.1 million investment to mental health, alcohol and other drug services.
Mr Wyatt said that figure was forecast to grow to more than a billion dollars by 2022-23, representing an increase of $100.5 million compared to 2018-19.
A raft for the extra initiatives funded in this budget came in line with the recently-released recommendations of the Sustainable Health Review.
The establishment of several community mental health "step up step down" services also received a cash splash, which will include a new 10-bed Bunbury service expected to open early next year.
What's in it for the Peel?
People who would like to learn more are invited to 2019 Peel region post-budget breakfast briefing at the David Grays Arena on Friday.
This briefing, delivered by Mandurah MP David Templeman, will provide a key opportunity for the community to come together to understand and discuss the impact of the state budget from a regional perspective.
Tickets are available on Eventbrite. For event inquiries, contact the Peel Development Commission on 9535 4140 or eo@peel.wa.gov.au.
To read more on the budget, visit www.ourstatebudget.wa.gov.au.