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Parliamentary Questions


Question Without Notice No. 226 asked in the Legislative Assembly on 6 April 2022 by Ms E.J. Kelsbie

Parliament: 41 Session: 1

MAIN ROADS — MAINTENANCE CONTRACTS

226. Ms E.J. KELSBIE to the Minister for Transport:

I refer to the McGowan Labor government's decision to end the outsourcing of road maintenance and bring those jobs back in-house to Main Roads.

(1) Can the minister please outline to the house what this means for regional jobs, including employment opportunities for Aboriginal people?

(2) Can the minister outline to the house how this decision will support economic growth in regional Western Australia?

Ms R. SAFFIOTI replied:

I thank the member for Warren–Blackwood for the question. Of course, the member for Warren–Blackwood joined the Premier and me last week in Manjimup where we announced the end to those long-term maintenance contracts.

(1)–(2) I think everyone would be aware that the wholesale privatisation of Main Roads work occurred under the stewardship of a Liberal–National government. What we saw was a massive reduction in the number of jobs in Main Roads. We saw the loss of hundreds of jobs in regional WA. We all knew the impact that it had on towns, yet it was something that again demonstrated how all the Liberal and National Parties do when in government is create job uncertainty and take jobs from the regions.

We commissioned a significant accounting firm to undertake an economic analysis, and that analysis showed that bringing those jobs back in-house at the end of those long-term maintenance contracts would do a lot of things. It would assist with employing and training young people in the regions. It would assist and allow for a greater direct employment of Aboriginal people. Remember that under that wholesale privatisation we saw the number of Aboriginal people involved in our road construction and maintenance fall dramatically. We have started to reverse that, and this will again be reversed even more as we go down our path of bringing those jobs in-house.

We also saw, of course, as I said, many regional towns being impacted. The analysis shows that 419 permanent jobs will be created in regional WA. Workers will have access to better pay and better leave conditions. It will be value for money and cost taxpayers less, and the gross state product will actually increase as a result. It is a very, very strong recognition of the strong case to end that wholesale privatisation.

It also allows us to create new Main Roads offices in Broome, Karratha, Manjimup and Esperance and to expand other existing facilities.

Ms M.J. Davies interjected.

Ms R. SAFFIOTI: It is funny that the Leader of the Opposition says that, because I refer to an opposition —

Several members interjected.

Ms R. SAFFIOTI: I am glad the opposition leader seems to now support it, because the opposition alliance went out to criticise what we were doing. It criticised that decision of supporting regional Western Australia by saying —

''While the State Government intends to hire locals wherever possible, they will inevitably have to bring in new workers to fill all the roles.

''It's all well and good for WA Labor to announce new regional jobs, but the tricky part is actually delivering them.

It went on to say that we will need to do more for housing, and people do not want them in their towns because there is not enough housing. You actually oppose the commitment. You opposed our decision.

Several members interjected.

Ms R. SAFFIOTI: What a ridiculous—you stripped workers from regional WA and you should be ashamed of yourself for what you did to regional WA. When you won government, all you did was run around and you did not address the core issues in regional WA, like job security and more jobs in the regions. That is what we are doing, members. We believe in regional WA. No wonder they call you the ''FIFO Nats'', because all you want to do is have the same FIFO for these sorts of road maintenance jobs in the regions.

This is an excellent policy backed up by economics and it will deliver excellent results. Again, the opposition alliance does not know what it stands for. Does it want more jobs in the regions? It does not sound like it does. Members opposite go out and criticise more jobs in the regions. Again, they never —

Ms M.J. Davies interjected.

Ms R. SAFFIOTI: Yesterday, you said there were 1 000 empty ones. Is that still true?

Ms M.J. Davies interjected.

Ms R. SAFFIOTI: You are all over the place. Yesterday, you said there were 1 000 empty ones, and now you are saying that there is not enough housing. I do not understand. You are not consistent in 24 hours.

Again, we are delivering —

Ms M.J. Davies interjected.

Ms R. SAFFIOTI: Honestly; you should be embarrassed. As a minister of the previous government, you privatised Water Corporation jobs and stripped jobs out of regional WA. You did nothing for roads in regional WA—nothing! You flew in and out of here, you never cared and you never delivered. Look at this house and look at your side now. You did nothing when you were in government.