❓ Mr. Love questions the Minister for Transport about securing Royalties for Regions funding for coastal erosion remedial works in regional areas. The Minister details meetings with affected shires, discusses federal funding limitations, and outlines ongoing efforts to address coastal erosion hotspots.
AnsweredQoN 599Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
COASTAL EROSION
599. Mr R.S. LOVE to the Minister for Transport:
I refer to the report ''Assessment of Coastal Erosion
Hotspots in Western Australia'', which was recently released by the
Department of Transport. Has the minister sought royalties for regions funding
for urgent remedial works in the regional areas noted in the report including
in my electorate, the shires of Gingin, Dandaragan, Irwin and Northampton?
599. Mr R.S. LOVE to the Minister for Transport:
I refer to the report ''Assessment of Coastal Erosion
Hotspots in Western Australia'', which was recently released by the
Department of Transport. Has the minister sought royalties for regions funding
for urgent remedial works in the regional areas noted in the report including
in my electorate, the shires of Gingin, Dandaragan, Irwin and Northampton?
AnswerView source ↗
I thank the member for that question. The release on Monday
of the report on the 55 hotspots is a very positive thing for the state,
because we can all work together to address the priority areas. I met with the
Shire of Gingin yesterday morning, and it was a very, very good meeting at
which we discussed some of the issues facing the Shire of Gingin. I learnt, for
example, that it had sought funding from the commonwealth government through
the national disaster relief arrangements because of the infrastructure damage
the shire had sustained. The shire said that it was surprised to have been
knocked back by the commonwealth.
Mr D.J. Kelly : Which government was that?
Ms R. SAFFIOTI : It was, I think, the Liberal–National
government that knocked it back.
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER : Member for Moore!
Ms R. SAFFIOTI : The national guidelines do not allow
it.
Mr R.S. Love interjected.
The SPEAKER : Member for Moore, do not ask the question and
then answer it. I call you to order for the first time.
Ms R. SAFFIOTI : The national guidelines do not allow
it. That is why —
Mr R.S. Love interjected.
The SPEAKER : I call you to order for the second time,
member for Moore.
Mr R.S. Love interjected.
The SPEAKER : I call you to order for the third time,
member for Moore.
Ms R. SAFFIOTI : The national guidelines do not allow
it, so the Premier is going to raise this matter at the Council of Australian
Governments. We believe the issue of coastal erosion is something that needs to
be addressed nationally, and having new rules under the national disaster
relief arrangements would assist us in doing that.
All that said, we had a very productive meeting with the
Shire of Gingin. The shire gave me some feedback about its pressing issues, particularly with regard to tourism accommodation,
and I intend to work with it. I take this issue seriously. In case the
member did not realise it, there has been erosion for a while and the previous
government ignored it. I am happy to have —
Mr F.M. Logan interjected.
The SPEAKER : Minister!
Several members interjected.
Ms R. SAFFIOTI : Members opposite fixed it? Then why
are they complaining about it? Of course they did not fix it.
I take this issue very seriously, as I said. There are
differing views about what we should be doing at different locations, but there
is a different approach for every location, particularly when we recognise some
of the infrastructure, both private and
public, that is in danger. The two highest priority spots outlined are Thomson
Bay —we are working with the Rottnest Island Authority on that—and
Port Beach. I have been talking to both the member for Fremantle and the member
for Bicton. The City of Fremantle has done some work on assessing different
options, funded previously through state government grants. It will be going
out to the community with that very, very soon. That includes engineering
options and, of course, the retreat option. I would always support an
engineering solution in that case because of the significant amount of
infrastructure near the coast.
That is the work we are doing. We take it seriously. We have
talked to the Shire of Gingin, and we are very keen to continue to work with it
on a national level to try to get a loosening-up of those guidelines to allow
these sorts of things to be assessed through the federal government. It is a federal
government program; we just administer it.
of the report on the 55 hotspots is a very positive thing for the state,
because we can all work together to address the priority areas. I met with the
Shire of Gingin yesterday morning, and it was a very, very good meeting at
which we discussed some of the issues facing the Shire of Gingin. I learnt, for
example, that it had sought funding from the commonwealth government through
the national disaster relief arrangements because of the infrastructure damage
the shire had sustained. The shire said that it was surprised to have been
knocked back by the commonwealth.
Mr D.J. Kelly : Which government was that?
Ms R. SAFFIOTI : It was, I think, the Liberal–National
government that knocked it back.
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER : Member for Moore!
Ms R. SAFFIOTI : The national guidelines do not allow
it.
Mr R.S. Love interjected.
The SPEAKER : Member for Moore, do not ask the question and
then answer it. I call you to order for the first time.
Ms R. SAFFIOTI : The national guidelines do not allow
it. That is why —
Mr R.S. Love interjected.
The SPEAKER : I call you to order for the second time,
member for Moore.
Mr R.S. Love interjected.
The SPEAKER : I call you to order for the third time,
member for Moore.
Ms R. SAFFIOTI : The national guidelines do not allow
it, so the Premier is going to raise this matter at the Council of Australian
Governments. We believe the issue of coastal erosion is something that needs to
be addressed nationally, and having new rules under the national disaster
relief arrangements would assist us in doing that.
All that said, we had a very productive meeting with the
Shire of Gingin. The shire gave me some feedback about its pressing issues, particularly with regard to tourism accommodation,
and I intend to work with it. I take this issue seriously. In case the
member did not realise it, there has been erosion for a while and the previous
government ignored it. I am happy to have —
Mr F.M. Logan interjected.
The SPEAKER : Minister!
Several members interjected.
Ms R. SAFFIOTI : Members opposite fixed it? Then why
are they complaining about it? Of course they did not fix it.
I take this issue very seriously, as I said. There are
differing views about what we should be doing at different locations, but there
is a different approach for every location, particularly when we recognise some
of the infrastructure, both private and
public, that is in danger. The two highest priority spots outlined are Thomson
Bay —we are working with the Rottnest Island Authority on that—and
Port Beach. I have been talking to both the member for Fremantle and the member
for Bicton. The City of Fremantle has done some work on assessing different
options, funded previously through state government grants. It will be going
out to the community with that very, very soon. That includes engineering
options and, of course, the retreat option. I would always support an
engineering solution in that case because of the significant amount of
infrastructure near the coast.
That is the work we are doing. We take it seriously. We have
talked to the Shire of Gingin, and we are very keen to continue to work with it
on a national level to try to get a loosening-up of those guidelines to allow
these sorts of things to be assessed through the federal government. It is a federal
government program; we just administer it.
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