CORONAVIRUS —
TRANSPORT PROJECTS
473. Mrs R.M.J. CLARKE to the Premier:
I refer to the McGowan Labor
government's unprecedented investment in transport infrastructure right
across regional Western Australia, which is supporting the economy as it
recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic. Can the
Premier update the house on this government's efforts to secure a federal
government commitment to its regional road safety program and advise the
house how the program will not only improve safety on country roads, but also
support jobs?
Mr M.
McGOWAN replied:
I thank the member for Murray–Wellington
for her excellent commitment to regional Western Australia. She has been a strong
supporter of the regional road safety program. This government has driven that
program through the Minister for Transport,
who has put it on the national agenda. I am pleased to see that the
commonwealth government has committed
to it across Australia. I raised this project with the Prime Minister and the
Minister for Transport raised it repeatedly at national meetings. We did
the policy work behind it to show the cost benefits of this program and how it would not only create jobs, but also save
lives across regional Australia, especially regional Western Australia.
We got it listed on the Infrastructure Australia priority list and I am pleased
that we were able to announce it in conjunction with the commonwealth
government on Sunday. Initially, it will be $100 million from both the state
and commonwealth governments—that is, $80 million from the commonwealth
and $20 million a year from the state government.
In the initial part of this program,
we will be able to get on and fix 1 400 kilometres of roads across regional Western
Australia with low-cost treatments to improve safety, including sealing
shoulders and putting in place audible edge lines and wide centre lines. Those
are designed to prevent single vehicle accidents, in particular the
run-off-road crashes that kill and maim so many people across regional WA.
Single vehicle run-off-road crashes are the
major cause of trauma in regional WA. Modelling indicates that this program
will be able to reduce that trauma by up to 60 per cent across regional Western
Australia.
The
good thing about these projects is that they are shovel ready; therefore, we
can get this project underway very quickly. Obviously, the state has
brought our share of funding for this program to the table. As part of this
program, roads in every region across Western Australia will obtain
improvements. We will see some significant improvements
to South West Highway, through the member for Murray–Wellington's
electorate; Brookton Highway; Albany
Highway; Great Northern Highway; and sections of Vasse Road and Sues Road, in
the electorate of Vasse. In fact, it will be in every region. This
builds on our commitment to the Bunbury Outer Ring Road, the Tom Price–Karratha road and the Albany
ring-road, and all our government's excellent work with the
commonwealth to secure commonwealth funding for these projects.
This is a program that I think the
Minister for Transport can be justifiably proud of. She is the one who came up
with the idea, promoted it nationally, put it on the agenda of the Deputy Prime
Minister and ensured that it secured support not only in Western Australia, but
also across the entire country. Many people's lives will be saved
because of the work of this transport minister in Western Australia.