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Parliamentary Questions


Question Without Notice No. 736 asked in the Legislative Assembly on 23 September 2020 by Ms L. Mettam

Parliament: 40 Session: 1

METRONET — RAILCARS

736. Ms L. METTAM to the Premier:

I have a supplementary question. I am referring to Beurteaux Australia, which built tens of thousands of seats for WA railcars.

Several members interjected.

The SPEAKER: Members!

Ms L. METTAM: Can the Premier confirm that, as a direct result of the government giving major contracts to foreign companies, Western Australian local jobs are being lost, as is the case with Beurteaux?

Mr M. McGOWAN replied:

The answer is clearly no. We will have railcar manufacturing here for the first time in 35 years, or at least 30 years. The advice I have is that the company to which the member referred did not put in a final bid and did not want to comply with modern Australian safety standards.

Ms L. Mettam interjected.

The SPEAKER: Member for Vasse!

Mr M. McGOWAN: That is the advice that I have been given.

Ms L. Mettam interjected.

The SPEAKER: Member for Vasse!

Mr M. McGOWAN: I want to give the Liberal Party a lesson on economics because clearly it does not understand it these days. Overseas companies invest in Western Australia, set up offices here and employ Western Australians. Liberal Party members do not seem to like that, but if they walk down St Georges Terrace they will see the offices of BHP, Rio Tinto, Chevron and all sorts of companies that are all over Perth, Western Australia and, indeed, all over Australia. They are based overseas but they set up offices in our country and employ local people. That is the way it works. We do not have enough capital and we do not have homegrown organisations that build railcars. Therefore, we attract overseas investment. Woe betide the people of Western Australia who actually want jobs and a future if the Western Australian Liberal Party, with its attitude, is ever elected again. Its attitude appears to be more in tune with Fidel Castro's Cuba than modern day Western Australia.