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Parliamentary Questions


Question Without Notice No. 574 asked in the Legislative Assembly on 21 September 2022 by Mr R.S. Love

Parliament: 41 Session: 1

FORRESTFIELD–AIRPORT LINK — FIREFIGHTING

574. Mr R.S. LOVE to the Minister for Transport:

I refer to reported concerns of the United Firefighters Union of WA claiming that not enough firefighters have been trained to respond in the event of an accident or fire emergency on the Forrestfield–Airport Link. What has the minister done in response to those concerns, and is she recklessly disregarding the risks posed by the long tunnel sections of the Forrestfield–Airport Link?

Ms R. SAFFIOTI replied:

The answer to the second part of the question is no. The answer to the first part is that the Public Transport Authority has been working very constructively with the Department of Fire and Emergency Services in training firefighters and ensuring that everything is ready to go on 9 October.

We know that the opposition does not like Metronet. We know that members opposite have talked it down day upon day upon day. They walk around wanting to be offended, wanting to hate things, and we know that they hate Metronet; they hate the rail line to the airport. Member, we have been working very hard across —

Dr D.J. Honey: It was our project!

Ms R. SAFFIOTI: It is your project now! The Leader of the Liberal Party should go and talk to the firefighters if it is his project. Honestly—it is your project now! I get confused. One day it is a bad project; on another day, it is a good project.

Dr D.J. Honey: It's badly managed.

Ms R. SAFFIOTI: This is an oppositional Liberal Party. What did it do? It promised rail projects and never delivered. The Liberal Party actually promised a rail line to the airport in 2012. That is what it did—it promised a rail line to the airport in 2012. By the time we won the election in 2017, the tunnel boring machine had not even arrived. We started the project; we got on with it. The Liberal Party promised the Metro Area Express light rail and it never delivered, and it promised the Ellenbrook rail line twice. Now members opposite want to undermine one of the best projects that the state has ever delivered. They have constantly been in here, undermining the workers on our projects and the teams that are delivering complex projects across the state. I remember you walked across Matagarup Bridge and said that the work was shoddy. You criticised the workers of WA.

The Public Transport Authority and the Department of Fire and Emergency Services have been working very closely to make sure that everything is ready to go, and I have full confidence in my agencies to deliver.