TRANSPORT PROJECTS —
2020–21 STATE BUDGET
808. Mr R.R. WHITBY to the Minister for Transport:
I refer to the McGowan Labor
government's efforts in keeping WA safe and strong through its record
investment in job-creating transport infrastructure across the state.
(1) Can the minister outline to the house how the state
budget, handed down last week, will help deliver job-creating,
economic-driving infrastructure throughout the southern suburbs, including the electorates
of Baldivis and Darling Range?
(2) Can the
minister advise the house whether she is aware of anyone who does not support
this massive investment in local jobs and local businesses?
Point of Order
Mr Z.R.F.
KIRKUP: Under standing order 77, questions should not contain
preambles, opinion, statements or the like. Mr Speaker, the question asked the
member for Baldivis clearly contained all three of those and I ask you to rule
the question out of order.
The SPEAKER: No. I think he
went pretty close to the line, but I do not think it is out of order. The
member just got in there; I was thinking of doing it myself.
Questions without Notice Resumed
Ms R.
SAFFIOTI replied:
I cannot wait to hear the
supplementary, member. I thank the member for Baldivis for that excellent
question. If that is ruled out of order, I would say that most questions in
this place should be ruled out of order, members.
The SPEAKER: I hope you are
not querying the Chair there, minister?
Ms R. SAFFIOTI: No. I am not.
Of course not, Mr Speaker.
(1)–(2) As
we have outlined, this is an excellent budget and as we have heard from members
on this side of Parliament over the past three days, there are record amounts
of infrastructure across the state. There is no better place to see that record
infrastructure than in those southern suburbs, member for Baldivis. We have, of
course, already seen Baldivis benefit from significant injections of funds,
including the smart freeway project and the widening of the Kwinana Freeway,
member for Baldivis—but there is so much more to come. Throughout those
southern suburbs, where we have seen an explosion of housing activity, there is
a lot of infrastructure to catch up with a massive explosion of suburbs. We
have seen Byford transform over the past 10 years
in particular. A significant commitment of over $1 billion of infrastructure
has been made to that region. Of course, $52 million has been provided as a kickstart
to the Byford rail extension, which includes a new Thomas Road bridge to remove
the level crossing. We are awaiting federal government approval for the Tonkin
Highway extension. We have the funding and we are so keen to start. We have
provided $140 million for the removal of the Denny Avenue level crossing.
Upgrades will be made to Thomas Road, which I know affects many members on this
side. Further work will be done on the freight upgrades to Anketell Road. There
is the recreation precinct in Mundijong, a new shared path along Soldiers Road
and upgrades to schools throughout the area. That is all possible because of
the strong leadership through this pandemic crisis. Of course, the question
asked was: is there anyone out there who is not supporting that record
infrastructure or acknowledging it? Member, to answer that very direct question,
yes, there is someone; it is the member for Darling Range, who unfortunately is
not here today! After the budget was presented, a budget that included an
extension of a rail line to Byford, the Tonkin Highway extension, improvements
across the area never seen before—for example, that recreation precinct
in Mundijong that has been talked about for 10 years—and a budget that
contained $1 billion of infrastructure, do
members know what that member said on social media? She said, ''Labor
has once again ignored the people of Darling Range.'' It was an
incredible assessment of a budget that is probably delivering more to that area
than any area across Western Australia.
Of
course, the Liberal Party has this view about infrastructure: it wants it but
it does not want it! It wants us to
go faster, but it does not want us to go faster—slow down. Remember
Vicky Pollard from Little Britain? It is the
yeah-but-no-but-yeah-but-no approach to infrastructure in this state.
Opposition members want it but then they do not want it. They want us to build
it but then they say, ''You shouldn't build it this fast. Slow
down!''—as demonstrated with those job numbers today. We are out
there delivering record infrastructure and
record jobs across Western Australia and we will continue to make sure that WA
industry and workers get jobs and a pipeline of work throughout Western Australia.