Question Without Notice No. 481 asked in the Legislative Council on 24 August 2017 by Hon Martin Aldridge
Parliament: 40 Session: 1
GREAT EASTERN HIGHWAY — CUNDERDIN–MERREDIN
481. Hon MARTIN ALDRIDGE to the minister representing the Minister for Transport:
Sections of Great Eastern —
Hon Alannah MacTiernan: Not to me? I thought you had questions for me!
Hon MARTIN ALDRIDGE: Nice of the minister to join us today, by the way.
Sections of Great Eastern Highway between Cunderdin and Merredin have deteriorated to such an extent that major potholes and surface crumbling have appeared.Point of Order
Hon SUE ELLERY: I draw the President's attention to the comment made by Hon Martin Aldridge with words to the effect, ''It's nice to see the minister in the house.'' I ask the President to point out to the honourable member that it is a standing convention that from time to time any member can be out of the house to attend to urgent parliamentary business. It is not the convention to question whether that is what occurred at the time.
The PRESIDENT: On that point of order, I pick up that it is the standard to acknowledge that sometimes members are absent on parliamentary business. The member may have been flippant in his comments to the minister, but I encourage him to proceed with his question and get the appropriate response.Questions without Notice Resumed
Hon MARTIN ALDRIDGE: Sections of Great Eastern Highway between Cunderdin and Merredin have deteriorated to such an extent that major potholes and surface crumbling have appeared, and it is becoming a serious safety concern.
(1) Has Main Roads Western Australia made the minister aware of the state of Great Eastern Highway?
(2) Are there plans for immediate remediation work?
(3) If no to (1) or (2), will the minister commit to remediating the road in order to ensure its safety?
Hon STEPHEN DAWSON replied:
I thank the honourable member for some notice of the question.
(1) Yes.
(2) Yes. Additional routine maintenance resources have been mobilised to respond to the immediate issues that have occurred due to severe wet weather. This work includes temporary patching and minor repairs, with the situation being monitored by Main Roads. There are plans for significant pavement repairs, rehabilitation and resurfacing in these locations; however, the permanent repairs cannot be completed until there is warmer dry weather.
(3) Not applicable.