❓ The Premier responds to a question about the government's commitment to local railcar manufacturing, highlighting job creation, cost-effectiveness, and the revival of manufacturing in WA, while contrasting it with the previous government's actions.
AnsweredQoN 1118Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
JOBS — RAILCAR
MANUFACTURING
1118. Ms C.M. ROWE to the Premier:
I refer to the McGowan Labor
government's commitment to creating local jobs through its historic
decision of bringing local railcar manufacturing back to Western Australia. Can
the Premier advise the house how the contract signed today for the local
manufacturing of railcars will deliver not only long-term, quality jobs for Western
Australians, but also a cost-effective outcome for the state?
MANUFACTURING
1118. Ms C.M. ROWE to the Premier:
I refer to the McGowan Labor
government's commitment to creating local jobs through its historic
decision of bringing local railcar manufacturing back to Western Australia. Can
the Premier advise the house how the contract signed today for the local
manufacturing of railcars will deliver not only long-term, quality jobs for Western
Australians, but also a cost-effective outcome for the state?
AnswerView source ↗
Thank
you, member for Belmont. This is a great day for Western Australian jobs and a great
day for local manufacturing in this state. As we promised before the
state election, we have signed a contract today that will ensure that at least
50 per cent of our railcars will be manufactured right here in Western Australia.
The contract that we have signed today is the biggest order of railcars in the
history of Western Australia, and they are being built right here in WA.
Mrs A.K. Hayden interjected.
The SPEAKER : Member for
Darling Range, I call you to order for the first time.
Mr M. McGOWAN : The contract
will deliver over 200 quality, long-term jobs for Western Australians and
hundreds more additional indirect jobs for our state. It is a 10-year
manufacturing contract with one of the world's best railcar
manufacturers—Alstom. The facility itself will start construction
shortly in Midland. Today I was at the Midland railway workshops. It is a marvellous
set of old buildings and guess who closed them? When in office, the Liberals
and Nationals closed them.
The contract itself has come in $346
million under budget. That is $346 million under what was estimated at the time
we announced this policy. Members might recall that there were some people out
there who said it could not be done. On 5 February 2017, before the state
election, I announced this policy and who said it could not be done? The then
Minister for Transport, the member for Nedlands. He described it as a pipedream.
He said —
''There is not critical mass,
sufficient timeframes or the financial capacity for the state to build a rolling
stock industry in Western Australia,'' �
The reality is not only are the
railcars being built here, but also they are being built for a lower price than
the ones that were purchased from
Queensland. In fact, they are 25 per cent cheaper than the railcars bought from
Queensland by the last Liberal–National
government. We are going to see 246 new Metronet railcars built in Perth, with
at least 50 per cent of the work done here in Western Australia. Members
might recall that under the last government—the Liberal–National
government—two per cent of the work was done here in WA. At least 50 per
cent of the work will be done here in a purpose-built manufacturing facility
and it will cost 25 per cent less than the railcars that were purchased by the
last government.
Ms R. Saffioti : It's
pretty good.
Mr M. McGOWAN : This is
actually pretty good. The Minister for Transport is right. Congratulations,
minister. Credit where credit is due. To be fair, the Liberal Party should be
congratulating us.
As I said, there will be 246
Metronet railcars to replace the old A series—the red ones on the
Armadale, Midland and Fremantle lines. They are nearing the end of their life
and need to be replaced. The new railcars for the new lines are coming onstream
over the next few years: Yanchep, Thornlie–Cockburn, Morley–Ellenbrook
and the like. As part of this, we are replacing the Australind . We are
building two new trains, and an additional six railcars. They are obviously a different
type, because they are diesel. But they are being built right here in Western Australia
as well. We know the good old Australind , one of the stalwarts of the Western
Australian rail system, has been chugging away for a long time. We will get new
trains that will be built right here in WA. I am sure the people of the south
west and the Peel will love the new trains built right here in WA.
The railcars will be built in a 12 000-square-metre plant in
Bellevue, near Midland. The construction of the facility will start early in
the new year and be finished by late next year or early 2021 and work has
already been contracted to Western Australian businesses. This is a turning
point in manufacturing in Western Australia. Our businesses, our workers, our
TAFE colleges can do anything. This means that we will see rail manufacturing
come back to our state. We believe in local
manufacturing. We believe in full-cycle docking of submarines coming here as
well —where it should be! We believe in local jobs and under this
government we are delivering.
you, member for Belmont. This is a great day for Western Australian jobs and a great
day for local manufacturing in this state. As we promised before the
state election, we have signed a contract today that will ensure that at least
50 per cent of our railcars will be manufactured right here in Western Australia.
The contract that we have signed today is the biggest order of railcars in the
history of Western Australia, and they are being built right here in WA.
Mrs A.K. Hayden interjected.
The SPEAKER : Member for
Darling Range, I call you to order for the first time.
Mr M. McGOWAN : The contract
will deliver over 200 quality, long-term jobs for Western Australians and
hundreds more additional indirect jobs for our state. It is a 10-year
manufacturing contract with one of the world's best railcar
manufacturers—Alstom. The facility itself will start construction
shortly in Midland. Today I was at the Midland railway workshops. It is a marvellous
set of old buildings and guess who closed them? When in office, the Liberals
and Nationals closed them.
The contract itself has come in $346
million under budget. That is $346 million under what was estimated at the time
we announced this policy. Members might recall that there were some people out
there who said it could not be done. On 5 February 2017, before the state
election, I announced this policy and who said it could not be done? The then
Minister for Transport, the member for Nedlands. He described it as a pipedream.
He said —
''There is not critical mass,
sufficient timeframes or the financial capacity for the state to build a rolling
stock industry in Western Australia,'' �
The reality is not only are the
railcars being built here, but also they are being built for a lower price than
the ones that were purchased from
Queensland. In fact, they are 25 per cent cheaper than the railcars bought from
Queensland by the last Liberal–National
government. We are going to see 246 new Metronet railcars built in Perth, with
at least 50 per cent of the work done here in Western Australia. Members
might recall that under the last government—the Liberal–National
government—two per cent of the work was done here in WA. At least 50 per
cent of the work will be done here in a purpose-built manufacturing facility
and it will cost 25 per cent less than the railcars that were purchased by the
last government.
Ms R. Saffioti : It's
pretty good.
Mr M. McGOWAN : This is
actually pretty good. The Minister for Transport is right. Congratulations,
minister. Credit where credit is due. To be fair, the Liberal Party should be
congratulating us.
As I said, there will be 246
Metronet railcars to replace the old A series—the red ones on the
Armadale, Midland and Fremantle lines. They are nearing the end of their life
and need to be replaced. The new railcars for the new lines are coming onstream
over the next few years: Yanchep, Thornlie–Cockburn, Morley–Ellenbrook
and the like. As part of this, we are replacing the Australind . We are
building two new trains, and an additional six railcars. They are obviously a different
type, because they are diesel. But they are being built right here in Western Australia
as well. We know the good old Australind , one of the stalwarts of the Western
Australian rail system, has been chugging away for a long time. We will get new
trains that will be built right here in WA. I am sure the people of the south
west and the Peel will love the new trains built right here in WA.
The railcars will be built in a 12 000-square-metre plant in
Bellevue, near Midland. The construction of the facility will start early in
the new year and be finished by late next year or early 2021 and work has
already been contracted to Western Australian businesses. This is a turning
point in manufacturing in Western Australia. Our businesses, our workers, our
TAFE colleges can do anything. This means that we will see rail manufacturing
come back to our state. We believe in local
manufacturing. We believe in full-cycle docking of submarines coming here as
well —where it should be! We believe in local jobs and under this
government we are delivering.
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.