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.