INFRASTRUCTURE AUSTRALIA PROJECTS — BINDOON BYPASS
351. Mr R.S. LOVE to the Minister for Transport:
I refer to media reports that the
minister is considering delaying projects that have not yet started and
information conveyed by Main Roads Western Australia
officials to a public meeting in the Shire of Chittering on Tuesday night.
(1) Can the minister confirm that
the Bindoon bypass has been put on ice for at least two years?
(2) What other Western
Australian projects on Infrastructure Australia's 2020–21 list
of priority projects will be delayed?
(3) Will the
minister release a full list of projects that she will delay, or even scrap,
under her government's so-called smoothing of the projects pipeline?
Ms R.
SAFFIOTI replied:
(1)–(3) We are not scrapping any projects, members. As I have
outlined today, in many speeches and in a lot of communication, and as
the Premier has outlined, we have seen an economic recovery beyond
expectations. I think it was the Leader of the Opposition who said that we will
not have enough jobs for Western Australians. We have a lot of jobs and we are
trying to manage the economic impact of what is a boom in economic activity around Western Australia. It is a unique
situation. As I have said and continue to say, we are working with industry to
create a pipeline of work over the next five to seven years. That means working with industry and making sure that
we have a continuum of work around Western Australia—in regional Western Australia and
in metropolitan Western Australia. Those negotiations are ongoing. As the
Premier outlined, it was raised at the skills summit on Friday. We will
continue to work with industry and we will outline our pipeline of work nearer
to the budget.
I
am very proud that we have so many Western Australians working today. I am very
proud that we are getting more programs, such as encouraging Western Australians
living in remote and regional Western Australia to get drivers'
licences, and the Infrastructure Ready course and the heavy vehicle training
course that we have introduced. All these programs will get as many people
working as possible.
We will outline all those policies
later. We are working with industry. We are not scrapping any projects. We are
very proud of the program of works that we are delivering, and will continue to
deliver over a longer time, to make sure that all Western Australians get the
benefit of this economic recovery.