METRONET —
ELLENBROOK RAIL LINE
731. Ms J.J. SHAW to the Minister for Transport:
Before I begin, I welcome Brandon
Waterfield and his mother to Parliament today on behalf of the member for
Kalamunda.
My question is to the member for
Swan Hills—sorry, my question is to the Minister for Transport! I have
lots of questions for myself in this place sometimes!
The SPEAKER: Preamble,
member!
Ms J.J. SHAW: I refer to the
McGowan Labor government's efforts to drive WA's economic
recovery through the delivery of Metronet and its significant investment in
local manufacturing.
(1) Can the minister update the house on how this
government's investment in Metronet, including the long-awaited
Morley–Ellenbrook link is supporting local jobs?
(2) Can the
minister outline to the house how this government's record of
investment in local manufacturing compares with that of the Liberal–National
government?
Ms R.
SAFFIOTI replied:
(1)–(2) I thank the member for Swan Hills for that
question. I am sure she would also be able to provide the answer, but I will
give it a go anyway! It is a great pleasure to show what we are delivering in
relation to the Ellenbrook rail line. This week
we announced the preferred contractor for the Ellenbrook rail line and it is
the MELconnx Consortium. Laing O'Rourke
Australia Construction will deliver that rail line. This is a rail line
that the Liberal Party promised in 2008 and never delivered. This is the rail
line it promised in 2013 and never delivered. We have been around the suburbs
and the state. We were in Albany today with your good self, Mr Speaker,
outlining the record infrastructure we have around the state. Metronet is a key
part of that. The packages for the new Bayswater station have been let and the
Tonkin Highway gap package has been let. The Tonkin gap alliance comprises BMD
Constructions, Georgiou Group, WA Limestone, BG&E and GHD, with works to
commence very, very soon.
We
are getting on delivering our commitments to creating thousands of jobs
throughout Western Australia. Every
time I go to a site, every construction company I meet says that this state
government is doing a record amount
in delivering contracts to all contractors operating in WA. Of course, the
opposition does not support Laing O'Rourke
delivering this project. It would rule out Multiplex and Clough, for example,
ever bidding for projects in Western Australia. That is their policy. It
would rule out those companies bidding for contracts. We know this opposition
is in a desperate, desperate spin when it comes to policies, as we have seen in
recent days. It rocked up to a company claiming that company was locked out of
bidding for a contract for railcar
manufacturing. That is absolutely wrong. It is yet another Liberal lie. The
Liberal Party members rocked up with
their self-produced hi-vis vests. No-one else in the entire company was wearing
one, but they had hi-vis vests. It is all about spin and desperate
politics from the opposition. Again, we are seeing an opposition wanting to
undermine confidence in Western Australia and cut out companies such as Clough
and Multiplex from ever bidding for projects in Western Australia again.
That should not surprise anyone. This
opposition has taken sides against WA and WA workers again and again. It said
we should not have a local railcar manufacturing industry because there was an
industry from a bygone area. It subcontracted work for the Matagarup Bridge
overseas, and when we brought it onshore, it said it would be substandard. The
opposition has backed against the interests of WA workers. It has sided, and
continues to side, with Clive Palmer. Yet again today, we saw the member for
Dawesville put the interests of Clive Palmer ahead of Western Australians. The
opposition sided with the federal government when it attempted to pull down our
borders. I understand that the member for Dawesville just issued a challenge to
the Chief Health Officer to front a town hall meeting. I will give the member for Dawesville this: I challenge him and the
Leader of the Opposition to stand in front of a town hall meeting and
explain to the public of Western Australia why they continually side with Clive
Palmer on every issue in Western Australia.