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Parliamentary Questions


Question Without Notice No. 281 asked in the Legislative Assembly on 11 May 2022 by Mrs L.M. O’Malley

Parliament: 41 Session: 1

TOURISM INFRASTRUCTURE — FREMANTLE

281. Mrs L.M. O'MALLEY to the Minister for Ports:

I refer to the McGowan Labor government's commitment to delivering a new outer harbour and container port that will drive Western Australia's economy for the next century. Can the minister outline to the house how this government's plan for Westport will open up more employment, tourism and economic development opportunities around Fremantle port, and can the minister update the house on how this government is driving this transformation of Fremantle?

Ms R. SAFFIOTI replied:

I thank the member for Bicton for that question.

The Premier, the member for Fremantle and I were down in Fremantle today to announce $20 million to start the transition of the Fremantle port to be a premier tourism destination for Western Australia. It will be not only a place for Western Australians to come to visit in greater and greater numbers, but also an icon for international and interstate tourism. That is why the work starts now. We have committed $7 million towards the plaza around the museum and to improve the connections into Fremantle. As the Premier outlined, we have also allocated funds to refresh the submarine at the WA Maritime Museum. We have also committed to planning to move the vehicle and livestock trade from that area to, again, make sure that we can create a premier tourism precinct. We see this as a transition. It will happen in a very clear and strategic way. As we move from the museum to the bridge, we will continually make decisions that will create new possibilities for hospitality and short-term accommodation—all those types of uses—to make sure we keep jobs in that area.

Of course, this is an area of great history. It is the area in which my mum and dad disembarked when they came from Italy many decades ago. A little known fact is that the Premier and I worked together when the Premier was the parliamentary secretary to Geoff Gallop to create the Welcome Walls in that area. I know that thousands of Western Australians love that their heritage—the fact that their parents or grandparents came through that port—is now recognised in those Welcome Walls. I invite people to go down and look at all the work that is there and all the work that will be undertaken.

I have to talk about transport. We want to better connect the Midland and Fremantle lines to the brewery and that whole area. We want to make sure that we have better connections from Fremantle train station to the Victoria Quay precinct. I am very happy that the Leader of the Liberal Party has extensively travelled throughout the state to Maylands! The good thing is that the Fremantle line connects into the Midland line, so the Leader of the Liberal Party will not have to get off the train. Of course, because of our work on the Forrestfield–Airport Link, we will increase the number of trains on that line, so the Leader of the Liberal Party's extensive travel could perhaps continue to Bayswater! Madam Speaker, you never know; you might even see him in Midland one day.

The SPEAKER: He might need a passport for that!

Ms R. SAFFIOTI: I encourage the Leader of the Liberal Party to keep going on his extensive travels. We will give him one of those gold SmartRiders just to make sure. He might even get to Armadale, but I do not know.

Several members interjected.

Ms R. SAFFIOTI: He might get to Cannington. We might give him one of those special SmartRiders so that he can travel extensively across the network of our suburbs.