❓ Question regarding the Cook Labor government's public transport policies and their impact on household budgets and job creation, contrasted with the Liberal Party's alleged plans to increase fares and move manufacturing jobs interstate. The Minister's answer defends Labor's record and attacks the Liberal Party's stance on public transport.
AnsweredQoN 230Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
PUBLIC TRANSPORT — COST-OF-LIVING RELIEF —
C-SERIES RAILCARS
230. Mrs L.A. MUNDAY to the Minister for Transport:
I refer to the Cook Labor government's
commitment to public transport, including cheaper fares and the return of local
railcar manufacturing to WA.
(1) Can the
minister outline to the house how this government's policies are
relieving pressure on household budgets and creating more Western Australian
jobs?
(2) Can the
minister please advise the house how these policies compare with the Liberal
Party's new plan to increase public transport fares and move local
manufacturing jobs out of WA?
C-SERIES RAILCARS
230. Mrs L.A. MUNDAY to the Minister for Transport:
I refer to the Cook Labor government's
commitment to public transport, including cheaper fares and the return of local
railcar manufacturing to WA.
(1) Can the
minister outline to the house how this government's policies are
relieving pressure on household budgets and creating more Western Australian
jobs?
(2) Can the
minister please advise the house how these policies compare with the Liberal
Party's new plan to increase public transport fares and move local
manufacturing jobs out of WA?
AnswerView source ↗
(1)–(2) I
thank the member for the question. We on this side of the house know that the
Labor Party has supported public transport
over many decades. That could not be demonstrated more than by what we have
already done over two terms, including building Metronet and bringing
railcar manufacturing back to Western Australia, and introducing free public
transport on Sundays, free public transport travel for students and, of course,
capped fares. As we have discussed many times, in relation to the cost of
living, which the opposition keeps ignoring, it means we are delivering
thousands of dollars in savings to families in our outer suburbs. We know that
the Nationals WA does not care about the suburbs. It hates it when we deliver
services to the suburbs. We know that the Liberal Party does not like public
transport; it is in its DNA that it hates public transport. If anyone listened
to the MPI yesterday, they would have realised that that hatred is worse than
ever. It completely ran down our new rail lines to places such as Byford,
Ellenbrook, Canning Vale and Yanchep. It hates Metronet.
Yesterday, we saw another chapter in
what a Liberal government would do to public transport in WA. The member for Vasse said that we should be making
trains in Queensland, saying it is better for the national economy to be
making trains in Queensland than in Western Australia. The Liberal Party is
against local manufacturing. This is the party that tried to build the
Matagarup Bridge in Malaysia. Then it lost it. It could not find it; it was on
a container somewhere. Yesterday, the Liberal Party said that building trains
in Queensland added to national economic activity. The Liberal Party is against
building trains in Western Australia—a new insight. Yesterday, we heard
the same from the member for Cottesloe.
Members may recall that the previous
Barnett government had a policy to increase public transport fares to reduce
the level of subsidies to 50 per cent. Yesterday, the member for Cottesloe said
that our subsidies on public transport are too high. How do we change that? If
the Liberal Party wins government, it will increase public transport fares. It
will remove the two-zone fare cap. It will remove free public transport for
students and there will be no free public transport on Sundays if the Liberal
Party is elected. When the member stands up,
like he did yesterday, there are consequences for what he says. If he says the
subsidy is too high, it means the opposition will increase public
transport fares for all the people of Dawesville, Mandurah, Byford and
Ellenbrook. They will all have increased public transport fares.
I
do not know whether members saw the graph produced by the member for Cottesloe
yesterday. Now we know why the printer has broken down; the member for
Cottesloe was out there and even the opposition's printer could not
handle what was being produced yesterday! Again, yesterday: increased public
transport fares and taking manufacturing away from Western Australia. Nationals
WA members want to appeal to densely populated areas, but they cannot even
bring themselves to like public transport. They try, but they cannot do it.
It is very, very clear. This is a party
that closed the Midland workshops and closed the Fremantle train line. It
committed to the Ellenbrook rail line and did not deliver it over eight years.
It broke a commitment to MAX light rail, after the then Premier said, ''Buy
real estate on the alignment''! That is the record of members opposite.
Yesterday we saw the way they say ''public transport''—like
they are spitting poison! They cannot even say it properly. We have seen what
the Liberal Party will do to the mums, dads and families of Western Australia
if it ever wins government again.
thank the member for the question. We on this side of the house know that the
Labor Party has supported public transport
over many decades. That could not be demonstrated more than by what we have
already done over two terms, including building Metronet and bringing
railcar manufacturing back to Western Australia, and introducing free public
transport on Sundays, free public transport travel for students and, of course,
capped fares. As we have discussed many times, in relation to the cost of
living, which the opposition keeps ignoring, it means we are delivering
thousands of dollars in savings to families in our outer suburbs. We know that
the Nationals WA does not care about the suburbs. It hates it when we deliver
services to the suburbs. We know that the Liberal Party does not like public
transport; it is in its DNA that it hates public transport. If anyone listened
to the MPI yesterday, they would have realised that that hatred is worse than
ever. It completely ran down our new rail lines to places such as Byford,
Ellenbrook, Canning Vale and Yanchep. It hates Metronet.
Yesterday, we saw another chapter in
what a Liberal government would do to public transport in WA. The member for Vasse said that we should be making
trains in Queensland, saying it is better for the national economy to be
making trains in Queensland than in Western Australia. The Liberal Party is
against local manufacturing. This is the party that tried to build the
Matagarup Bridge in Malaysia. Then it lost it. It could not find it; it was on
a container somewhere. Yesterday, the Liberal Party said that building trains
in Queensland added to national economic activity. The Liberal Party is against
building trains in Western Australia—a new insight. Yesterday, we heard
the same from the member for Cottesloe.
Members may recall that the previous
Barnett government had a policy to increase public transport fares to reduce
the level of subsidies to 50 per cent. Yesterday, the member for Cottesloe said
that our subsidies on public transport are too high. How do we change that? If
the Liberal Party wins government, it will increase public transport fares. It
will remove the two-zone fare cap. It will remove free public transport for
students and there will be no free public transport on Sundays if the Liberal
Party is elected. When the member stands up,
like he did yesterday, there are consequences for what he says. If he says the
subsidy is too high, it means the opposition will increase public
transport fares for all the people of Dawesville, Mandurah, Byford and
Ellenbrook. They will all have increased public transport fares.
I
do not know whether members saw the graph produced by the member for Cottesloe
yesterday. Now we know why the printer has broken down; the member for
Cottesloe was out there and even the opposition's printer could not
handle what was being produced yesterday! Again, yesterday: increased public
transport fares and taking manufacturing away from Western Australia. Nationals
WA members want to appeal to densely populated areas, but they cannot even
bring themselves to like public transport. They try, but they cannot do it.
It is very, very clear. This is a party
that closed the Midland workshops and closed the Fremantle train line. It
committed to the Ellenbrook rail line and did not deliver it over eight years.
It broke a commitment to MAX light rail, after the then Premier said, ''Buy
real estate on the alignment''! That is the record of members opposite.
Yesterday we saw the way they say ''public transport''—like
they are spitting poison! They cannot even say it properly. We have seen what
the Liberal Party will do to the mums, dads and families of Western Australia
if it ever wins government again.
Explore WA Government Data
Search the full archive in the free dashboard, or query programmatically via API.
Explore more
Government Gazette
Appointments, regulatory notices, planning changes.
Hansard
Debates, questions, speeches and sentiment.
Tabled Papers
Reports and documents tabled in Parliament.
Committees
Committee profiles and recent reports.
Regulations
Subsidiary legislation with filters and summaries.
Bills
Proposed laws and parliamentary progress.
Acts
Current WA legislation and summaries.
Explanatory Memoranda
Bills with EMs (text/PDF) available.
Members
MP profiles, party breakdown and rankings.
Pollie Rankings
Data-driven rankings across 19 categories.
Amendment Chains
Track how schemes and regulations evolve over time.