EAST PERTH POWER STATION
414. Ms M.J. DAVIES to the Premier:
I refer to the $112 million being
spent by the government on the East Perth power station and the Auditor General's
recent report and recommendation that the
government regularly report the status of projects to improve transparency
to both Parliament and the public.
(1) In light of the Auditor General's report,
will the Premier table the full cost of works planned and undertaken by
the state government at the East Perth power station site?
(2) Will the
Premier regularly report on this project as it progresses, as recommended by
the Auditor General?
Mr M.
McGOWAN replied:
(1)–(2) The
costs incurred by the state are in the budget. The cost of this project to
remediate this site has been in the last few budgets. If the Leader of the
Opposition wants to open the budget papers, she will find it. That is where the
costs are contained.
Ms M.J. Davies interjected.
Mr M. McGOWAN: I am trying to
answer the question, Madam Speaker.
All the costs are in the budget. To
explain the project to the Leader of the Opposition, an expression of interest process was begun by the last government that we
inherited when we arrived in office. I think it came out with around
five potential proponents to redevelop the site. The site has sat there now for
42 years. It is an old power station in the
middle of the city. Think about that. If this was New York, Sydney or
Melbourne, it would have been redeveloped decades ago and something
would have been done about the site. Nothing has been done for 42 years—42
years! The damage from the war in East Berlin was fixed in less time than that!
It has sat there like that. Basically, the Gallop government did some
remediation work worth around $16 million, I think, to make sure that the walls
did not fall over and so forth. It is an amazing historic building. It is one
of the only remaining ones in the world of its type. I think the Battersea Power Station in the heart of London, which
is now some sort of gallery, and the East Perth power station are the
only remaining ones of their type that were built back in the early parts of
the last century; all the rest were demolished. The last government decided on
an EOI process, this government continued with that and a proponent was
selected. Obviously, it is a very, very difficult site because it needs
remediation and all sorts of services, such
as electricity and gas infrastructure on the site that needs to be moved, so it
has a cost attached to it. That is the reality. But once that is done
and the site is redeveloped, the total cost for the private sector to redevelop
the site, I am advised, will be around $1 billion.
We will get $1 billion of spend on
that site, including on office accommodation and public access to the old power
station that will include all sorts of public art and amenity and so forth, and
other activity on the site, whether it is residential or otherwise. At the end
of the day, the government has decided—and I personally think—that
is a great thing, otherwise that site will sit there for another 40 years,
rotting and an embarrassment. People see it when they come in from the airport. It would not stand in Sydney, Melbourne,
London, New York or wherever it might be, and it should not stand like
that in Perth, and so we have come up with a process to resolve the issue. All
the costs are contained within the budget. If the Leader of the Opposition
wants to see the costs, open the budget.