❓ Opposition questions the Premier regarding Fortescue Metals Group's decision to manufacture railcars overseas and the Premier's actions to secure local business opportunities in the resources sector. The Premier defends his government's actions and criticizes the previous Labor government's record.
AnsweredQoN 88Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
RESOURCES SECTOR — LOCAL BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES
Mr Speaker, I have a question for the Premier—and in fact I have another question for the Premier. Perhaps you could give me some guidance as to what I should do in the circumstance of the Premier not being in the chamber. Mr F.M. Logan : Would anybody like to be the Premier for the day? The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Mr E.S. RIPPER : Yes, member—I volunteer! I note that this is the first Premier in the history of this state to sign a development agreement preferencing foreign jobs over local jobs. Last month I asked the Premier about the decision by Fortescue Metals Group to manufacture all 260 of its 40-tonne railcars overseas despite Western Australia’s rail fabrication industry having the capacity to perform some of this work. Given that the Premier has now had a month to be briefed on this issue, I ask — (1) Is the Premier aware that FMG is required to notify him as the Minister for State Development when it is considering sourcing a plant or equipment or materials from overseas? (2) When exactly did the Premier become aware that FMG was proposing this course of action with regard to these railcars? (3) What did the Premier actually do to stop this work going overseas and to secure at least some of it for WA businesses? Mr C.J. BARNETT
Mr Speaker, I have a question for the Premier—and in fact I have another question for the Premier. Perhaps you could give me some guidance as to what I should do in the circumstance of the Premier not being in the chamber. Mr F.M. Logan : Would anybody like to be the Premier for the day? The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Mr E.S. RIPPER : Yes, member—I volunteer! I note that this is the first Premier in the history of this state to sign a development agreement preferencing foreign jobs over local jobs. Last month I asked the Premier about the decision by Fortescue Metals Group to manufacture all 260 of its 40-tonne railcars overseas despite Western Australia’s rail fabrication industry having the capacity to perform some of this work. Given that the Premier has now had a month to be briefed on this issue, I ask — (1) Is the Premier aware that FMG is required to notify him as the Minister for State Development when it is considering sourcing a plant or equipment or materials from overseas? (2) When exactly did the Premier become aware that FMG was proposing this course of action with regard to these railcars? (3) What did the Premier actually do to stop this work going overseas and to secure at least some of it for WA businesses? Mr C.J. BARNETT
AnswerView source ↗
I thank the Leader of the Opposition for the question. (1)–(3) If my memory serves me correctly, the Pilbara infrastructure agreement was put through Parliament under the Labor government. Mr E.S. Ripper : I’m asking you what you did and asking whether you implemented it or not. Mr C.J. BARNETT : It is just a little bit rich that the projects that seem to attract attention were ones that were in a sense, if we like, the agreement acts, the final stage of which were negotiated under the previous government—Gorgon and TPI being two examples. Mr E.S. Ripper : Did you enforce the agreements? Mr C.J. BARNETT : Yes, I think I am doing a lot more than members opposite ever did in government to try to increase the level of local content. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Mr C.J. BARNETT : What did members opposite do? Did they do anything? They did not. Mr E.S. Ripper : Why don’t you answer the question about what you did? You’ve got an agreement; did you enforce it? Mr C.J. BARNETT : There is an issue, and as I made clear to the gathering outside—for those who wanted to listen, and most did—I recognise that there is a serious issue of local content and activity in the fabrication shops. I happen to believe that that will change fairly quickly as projects move beyond the conceptual stage and beyond civil groundwork construction into actual steel fabrication. However, that stage is probably at least six months away. As I also outlined outside, I have twice over the past month been down to visit the major steel fabrication yards, first with Hon Simon O’Brien, the Minister for Commerce — Mr E.S. Ripper : You’ve had a month to get briefed on the railcars, but you can’t answer the question. Mr C.J. BARNETT : I have also taken down there the heads of Woodside Petroleum Ltd, Chevron Corporation, BHP Billiton Ltd and Rio Tinto Ltd, and that was the first time that that had ever happened. Also, during my visit to Japan and Korea last week, I got personal commitments from major companies that they would send groups down to inspect those workshops with a view to working with them in alliance on major construction projects. The response by the Liberal–National government to this genuine and serious issue is to roll our sleeves up and get involved. The Labor Party’s solution is to bring in a bill that, even if it were properly drafted and passed, would have absolutely no impact for two to three years, given the time cycle on projects. The Labor Party has no solution for the current situation. It has no solution at all. Mr M. McGowan : So it would work? Mr C.J. BARNETT : Even if it did work, it would only impact in about three years’ time. We have to deal now with the lack of work in the workshops, and we have to deal with both the construction companies and the unions. I have also met with the Australian Steel Institute. Ms M.M. Quirk : FMG? Mr C.J. BARNETT : Fortescue Metals Group Ltd is bringing in its railcars. That was something that was concluded quite some time ago. It is entitled to do that under its agreement. Most of the major companies are importing railcars; that is the reality. That may not be the sort of work that gets done here, but there is a lot more work that can be done here, with some exceptions. Some are looking at railcar construction here, but most of that work has gone offshore. The Labor Party says that I am the only Premier to have signed an agreement to send work offshore; that is factually incorrect. If the opposition is referring in such claims to the Oakajee state development agreement—which is not a formal state agreement, but will come into this place as a state agreement—everyone will have an opportunity to scrutinise that agreement act. Ms M.M. Quirk : When? Mr C.J. BARNETT : When we have the project underway—something the Labor Party did not do too much about. Ms M.M. Quirk : The cheque’s in the mail, is it? Mr C.J. BARNETT : This is the party that would not even pick up the phone for Inpex. As I have said before, I can accept that we might lose an LNG project to Qatar, or a mining project to Canada, but the Labor Party managed to get knocked off by Darwin! Mr C.J. Tallentire : Tell the truth about Inpex, Premier. Mr C.J. BARNETT : Your minister would not pick up the telephone because he was going into an election. Mr E.S. Ripper : You wouldn’t give them the site they wanted, either! Mr C.J. BARNETT : To return to the Oakajee issue, the state development agreement requires the partners to Oakajee Port and Rail—that is, Mitsubishi Corporation and Murchison Metals Ltd—to use their best endeavours to get Chinese participation in the project. By “Chinese participation”, I mean the joint venture and the development and raising of finance for the project. Yes, there will be fabrication of parts and perhaps railcars in China; China is the customer for iron ore. It is all very well to criticise me and the government for what we are doing with Oakajee, but as I tried to say to the demonstration outside, the first job of any government or any Premier or Minister for State Development is to secure the project; otherwise, we will just be arguing in a vacuum. Unless we can get the project — Ms M.M. Quirk : For China! The SPEAKER : Member for Girrawheen! Mr C.J. BARNETT : Unless we can get the project, there is nothing to argue over. I am doing all I can to secure Oakajee for this state, and I am being supported by the Minister for Regional Development and others. We secured Gorgon; Gorgon was in an absolute stalemate. Several members interjected. Mr C.J. BARNETT : It was going nowhere. Remember the banded iron formations? Because the former government would not deal with the issues that mattered to Chevron and Gorgon and the banded iron formations in the Mid West, Oakajee went nowhere. And it lost Inpex. I am happy to debate any public policy issue. I agree that local content and work in the fabrication shops is critically important, but it is a bit rich when this crowd opposite try to claim some credibility on industrial development in the state.
Mr F.M. Logan : Would anybody like to be the Premier for the day? The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Mr E.S. RIPPER : Yes, member—I volunteer! I note that this is the first Premier in the history of this state to sign a development agreement preferencing foreign jobs over local jobs. Last month I asked the Premier about the decision by Fortescue Metals Group to manufacture all 260 of its 40-tonne railcars overseas despite Western Australia’s rail fabrication industry having the capacity to perform some of this work. Given that the Premier has now had a month to be briefed on this issue, I ask — (1) Is the Premier aware that FMG is required to notify him as the Minister for State Development when it is considering sourcing a plant or equipment or materials from overseas? (2) When exactly did the Premier become aware that FMG was proposing this course of action with regard to these railcars? (3) What did the Premier actually do to stop this work going overseas and to secure at least some of it for WA businesses? Mr C.J. BARNETT replied: I thank the Leader of the Opposition for the question. (1)–(3) If my memory serves me correctly, the Pilbara infrastructure agreement was put through Parliament under the Labor government. Mr E.S. Ripper : I’m asking you what you did and asking whether you implemented it or not. Mr C.J. BARNETT : It is just a little bit rich that the projects that seem to attract attention were ones that were in a sense, if we like, the agreement acts, the final stage of which were negotiated under the previous government—Gorgon and TPI being two examples. Mr E.S. Ripper : Did you enforce the agreements? Mr C.J. BARNETT : Yes, I think I am doing a lot more than members opposite ever did in government to try to increase the level of local content. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Mr C.J. BARNETT : What did members opposite do? Did they do anything? They did not. Mr E.S. Ripper : Why don’t you answer the question about what you did? You’ve got an agreement; did you enforce it? Mr C.J. BARNETT : There is an issue, and as I made clear to the gathering outside—for those who wanted to listen, and most did—I recognise that there is a serious issue of local content and activity in the fabrication shops. I happen to believe that that will change fairly quickly as projects move beyond the conceptual stage and beyond civil groundwork construction into actual steel fabrication. However, that stage is probably at least six months away. As I also outlined outside, I have twice over the past month been down to visit the major steel fabrication yards, first with Hon Simon O’Brien, the Minister for Commerce — Mr E.S. Ripper : You’ve had a month to get briefed on the railcars, but you can’t answer the question. Mr C.J. BARNETT : I have also taken down there the heads of Woodside Petroleum Ltd, Chevron Corporation, BHP Billiton Ltd and Rio Tinto Ltd, and that was the first time that that had ever happened. Also, during my visit to Japan and Korea last week, I got personal commitments from major companies that they would send groups down to inspect those workshops with a view to working with them in alliance on major construction projects. The response by the Liberal–National government to this genuine and serious issue is to roll our sleeves up and get involved. The Labor Party’s solution is to bring in a bill that, even if it were properly drafted and passed, would have absolutely no impact for two to three years, given the time cycle on projects. The Labor Party has no solution for the current situation. It has no solution at all. Mr M. McGowan : So it would work? Mr C.J. BARNETT : Even if it did work, it would only impact in about three years’ time. We have to deal now with the lack of work in the workshops, and we have to deal with both the construction companies and the unions. I have also met with the Australian Steel Institute. Ms M.M. Quirk : FMG? Mr C.J. BARNETT : Fortescue Metals Group Ltd is bringing in its railcars. That was something that was concluded quite some time ago. It is entitled to do that under its agreement. Most of the major companies are importing railcars; that is the reality. That may not be the sort of work that gets done here, but there is a lot more work that can be done here, with some exceptions. Some are looking at railcar construction here, but most of that work has gone offshore. The Labor Party says that I am the only Premier to have signed an agreement to send work offshore; that is factually incorrect. If the opposition is referring in such claims to the Oakajee state development agreement—which is not a formal state agreement, but will come into this place as a state agreement—everyone will have an opportunity to scrutinise that agreement act. Ms M.M. Quirk : When? Mr C.J. BARNETT : When we have the project underway—something the Labor Party did not do too much about. Ms M.M. Quirk : The cheque’s in the mail, is it? Mr C.J. BARNETT : This is the party that would not even pick up the phone for Inpex. As I have said before, I can accept that we might lose an LNG project to Qatar, or a mining project to Canada, but the Labor Party managed to get knocked off by Darwin! Mr C.J. Tallentire : Tell the truth about Inpex, Premier. Mr C.J. BARNETT : Your minister would not pick up the telephone because he was going into an election. Mr E.S. Ripper : You wouldn’t give them the site they wanted, either! Mr C.J. BARNETT : To return to the Oakajee issue, the state development agreement requires the partners to Oakajee Port and Rail—that is, Mitsubishi Corporation and Murchison Metals Ltd—to use their best endeavours to get Chinese participation in the project. By “Chinese participation”, I mean the joint venture and the development and raising of finance for the project. Yes, there will be fabrication of parts and perhaps railcars in China; China is the customer for iron ore. It is all very well to criticise me and the government for what we are doing with Oakajee, but as I tried to say to the demonstration outside, the first job of any government or any Premier or Minister for State Development is to secure the project; otherwise, we will just be arguing in a vacuum. Unless we can get the project — Ms M.M. Quirk : For China! The SPEAKER : Member for Girrawheen! Mr C.J. BARNETT : Unless we can get the project, there is nothing to argue over. I am doing all I can to secure Oakajee for this state, and I am being supported by the Minister for Regional Development and others. We secured Gorgon; Gorgon was in an absolute stalemate. Several members interjected. Mr C.J. BARNETT : It was going nowhere. Remember the banded iron formations? Because the former government would not deal with the issues that mattered to Chevron and Gorgon and the banded iron formations in the Mid West, Oakajee went nowhere. And it lost Inpex. I am happy to debate any public policy issue. I agree that local content and work in the fabrication shops is critically important, but it is a bit rich when this crowd opposite try to claim some credibility on industrial development in the state.
The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Mr E.S. RIPPER : Yes, member—I volunteer! I note that this is the first Premier in the history of this state to sign a development agreement preferencing foreign jobs over local jobs. Last month I asked the Premier about the decision by Fortescue Metals Group to manufacture all 260 of its 40-tonne railcars overseas despite Western Australia’s rail fabrication industry having the capacity to perform some of this work. Given that the Premier has now had a month to be briefed on this issue, I ask — (1) Is the Premier aware that FMG is required to notify him as the Minister for State Development when it is considering sourcing a plant or equipment or materials from overseas? (2) When exactly did the Premier become aware that FMG was proposing this course of action with regard to these railcars? (3) What did the Premier actually do to stop this work going overseas and to secure at least some of it for WA businesses? Mr C.J. BARNETT replied: I thank the Leader of the Opposition for the question. (1)–(3) If my memory serves me correctly, the Pilbara infrastructure agreement was put through Parliament under the Labor government. Mr E.S. Ripper : I’m asking you what you did and asking whether you implemented it or not. Mr C.J. BARNETT : It is just a little bit rich that the projects that seem to attract attention were ones that were in a sense, if we like, the agreement acts, the final stage of which were negotiated under the previous government—Gorgon and TPI being two examples. Mr E.S. Ripper : Did you enforce the agreements? Mr C.J. BARNETT : Yes, I think I am doing a lot more than members opposite ever did in government to try to increase the level of local content. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Mr C.J. BARNETT : What did members opposite do? Did they do anything? They did not. Mr E.S. Ripper : Why don’t you answer the question about what you did? You’ve got an agreement; did you enforce it? Mr C.J. BARNETT : There is an issue, and as I made clear to the gathering outside—for those who wanted to listen, and most did—I recognise that there is a serious issue of local content and activity in the fabrication shops. I happen to believe that that will change fairly quickly as projects move beyond the conceptual stage and beyond civil groundwork construction into actual steel fabrication. However, that stage is probably at least six months away. As I also outlined outside, I have twice over the past month been down to visit the major steel fabrication yards, first with Hon Simon O’Brien, the Minister for Commerce — Mr E.S. Ripper : You’ve had a month to get briefed on the railcars, but you can’t answer the question. Mr C.J. BARNETT : I have also taken down there the heads of Woodside Petroleum Ltd, Chevron Corporation, BHP Billiton Ltd and Rio Tinto Ltd, and that was the first time that that had ever happened. Also, during my visit to Japan and Korea last week, I got personal commitments from major companies that they would send groups down to inspect those workshops with a view to working with them in alliance on major construction projects. The response by the Liberal–National government to this genuine and serious issue is to roll our sleeves up and get involved. The Labor Party’s solution is to bring in a bill that, even if it were properly drafted and passed, would have absolutely no impact for two to three years, given the time cycle on projects. The Labor Party has no solution for the current situation. It has no solution at all. Mr M. McGowan : So it would work? Mr C.J. BARNETT : Even if it did work, it would only impact in about three years’ time. We have to deal now with the lack of work in the workshops, and we have to deal with both the construction companies and the unions. I have also met with the Australian Steel Institute. Ms M.M. Quirk : FMG? Mr C.J. BARNETT : Fortescue Metals Group Ltd is bringing in its railcars. That was something that was concluded quite some time ago. It is entitled to do that under its agreement. Most of the major companies are importing railcars; that is the reality. That may not be the sort of work that gets done here, but there is a lot more work that can be done here, with some exceptions. Some are looking at railcar construction here, but most of that work has gone offshore. The Labor Party says that I am the only Premier to have signed an agreement to send work offshore; that is factually incorrect. If the opposition is referring in such claims to the Oakajee state development agreement—which is not a formal state agreement, but will come into this place as a state agreement—everyone will have an opportunity to scrutinise that agreement act. Ms M.M. Quirk : When? Mr C.J. BARNETT : When we have the project underway—something the Labor Party did not do too much about. Ms M.M. Quirk : The cheque’s in the mail, is it? Mr C.J. BARNETT : This is the party that would not even pick up the phone for Inpex. As I have said before, I can accept that we might lose an LNG project to Qatar, or a mining project to Canada, but the Labor Party managed to get knocked off by Darwin! Mr C.J. Tallentire : Tell the truth about Inpex, Premier. Mr C.J. BARNETT : Your minister would not pick up the telephone because he was going into an election. Mr E.S. Ripper : You wouldn’t give them the site they wanted, either! Mr C.J. BARNETT : To return to the Oakajee issue, the state development agreement requires the partners to Oakajee Port and Rail—that is, Mitsubishi Corporation and Murchison Metals Ltd—to use their best endeavours to get Chinese participation in the project. By “Chinese participation”, I mean the joint venture and the development and raising of finance for the project. Yes, there will be fabrication of parts and perhaps railcars in China; China is the customer for iron ore. It is all very well to criticise me and the government for what we are doing with Oakajee, but as I tried to say to the demonstration outside, the first job of any government or any Premier or Minister for State Development is to secure the project; otherwise, we will just be arguing in a vacuum. Unless we can get the project — Ms M.M. Quirk : For China! The SPEAKER : Member for Girrawheen! Mr C.J. BARNETT : Unless we can get the project, there is nothing to argue over. I am doing all I can to secure Oakajee for this state, and I am being supported by the Minister for Regional Development and others. We secured Gorgon; Gorgon was in an absolute stalemate. Several members interjected. Mr C.J. BARNETT : It was going nowhere. Remember the banded iron formations? Because the former government would not deal with the issues that mattered to Chevron and Gorgon and the banded iron formations in the Mid West, Oakajee went nowhere. And it lost Inpex. I am happy to debate any public policy issue. I agree that local content and work in the fabrication shops is critically important, but it is a bit rich when this crowd opposite try to claim some credibility on industrial development in the state.
Mr E.S. RIPPER : Yes, member—I volunteer! I note that this is the first Premier in the history of this state to sign a development agreement preferencing foreign jobs over local jobs. Last month I asked the Premier about the decision by Fortescue Metals Group to manufacture all 260 of its 40-tonne railcars overseas despite Western Australia’s rail fabrication industry having the capacity to perform some of this work. Given that the Premier has now had a month to be briefed on this issue, I ask — (1) Is the Premier aware that FMG is required to notify him as the Minister for State Development when it is considering sourcing a plant or equipment or materials from overseas? (2) When exactly did the Premier become aware that FMG was proposing this course of action with regard to these railcars? (3) What did the Premier actually do to stop this work going overseas and to secure at least some of it for WA businesses? Mr C.J. BARNETT replied: I thank the Leader of the Opposition for the question. (1)–(3) If my memory serves me correctly, the Pilbara infrastructure agreement was put through Parliament under the Labor government. Mr E.S. Ripper : I’m asking you what you did and asking whether you implemented it or not. Mr C.J. BARNETT : It is just a little bit rich that the projects that seem to attract attention were ones that were in a sense, if we like, the agreement acts, the final stage of which were negotiated under the previous government—Gorgon and TPI being two examples. Mr E.S. Ripper : Did you enforce the agreements? Mr C.J. BARNETT : Yes, I think I am doing a lot more than members opposite ever did in government to try to increase the level of local content. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Mr C.J. BARNETT : What did members opposite do? Did they do anything? They did not. Mr E.S. Ripper : Why don’t you answer the question about what you did? You’ve got an agreement; did you enforce it? Mr C.J. BARNETT : There is an issue, and as I made clear to the gathering outside—for those who wanted to listen, and most did—I recognise that there is a serious issue of local content and activity in the fabrication shops. I happen to believe that that will change fairly quickly as projects move beyond the conceptual stage and beyond civil groundwork construction into actual steel fabrication. However, that stage is probably at least six months away. As I also outlined outside, I have twice over the past month been down to visit the major steel fabrication yards, first with Hon Simon O’Brien, the Minister for Commerce — Mr E.S. Ripper : You’ve had a month to get briefed on the railcars, but you can’t answer the question. Mr C.J. BARNETT : I have also taken down there the heads of Woodside Petroleum Ltd, Chevron Corporation, BHP Billiton Ltd and Rio Tinto Ltd, and that was the first time that that had ever happened. Also, during my visit to Japan and Korea last week, I got personal commitments from major companies that they would send groups down to inspect those workshops with a view to working with them in alliance on major construction projects. The response by the Liberal–National government to this genuine and serious issue is to roll our sleeves up and get involved. The Labor Party’s solution is to bring in a bill that, even if it were properly drafted and passed, would have absolutely no impact for two to three years, given the time cycle on projects. The Labor Party has no solution for the current situation. It has no solution at all. Mr M. McGowan : So it would work? Mr C.J. BARNETT : Even if it did work, it would only impact in about three years’ time. We have to deal now with the lack of work in the workshops, and we have to deal with both the construction companies and the unions. I have also met with the Australian Steel Institute. Ms M.M. Quirk : FMG? Mr C.J. BARNETT : Fortescue Metals Group Ltd is bringing in its railcars. That was something that was concluded quite some time ago. It is entitled to do that under its agreement. Most of the major companies are importing railcars; that is the reality. That may not be the sort of work that gets done here, but there is a lot more work that can be done here, with some exceptions. Some are looking at railcar construction here, but most of that work has gone offshore. The Labor Party says that I am the only Premier to have signed an agreement to send work offshore; that is factually incorrect. If the opposition is referring in such claims to the Oakajee state development agreement—which is not a formal state agreement, but will come into this place as a state agreement—everyone will have an opportunity to scrutinise that agreement act. Ms M.M. Quirk : When? Mr C.J. BARNETT : When we have the project underway—something the Labor Party did not do too much about. Ms M.M. Quirk : The cheque’s in the mail, is it? Mr C.J. BARNETT : This is the party that would not even pick up the phone for Inpex. As I have said before, I can accept that we might lose an LNG project to Qatar, or a mining project to Canada, but the Labor Party managed to get knocked off by Darwin! Mr C.J. Tallentire : Tell the truth about Inpex, Premier. Mr C.J. BARNETT : Your minister would not pick up the telephone because he was going into an election. Mr E.S. Ripper : You wouldn’t give them the site they wanted, either! Mr C.J. BARNETT : To return to the Oakajee issue, the state development agreement requires the partners to Oakajee Port and Rail—that is, Mitsubishi Corporation and Murchison Metals Ltd—to use their best endeavours to get Chinese participation in the project. By “Chinese participation”, I mean the joint venture and the development and raising of finance for the project. Yes, there will be fabrication of parts and perhaps railcars in China; China is the customer for iron ore. It is all very well to criticise me and the government for what we are doing with Oakajee, but as I tried to say to the demonstration outside, the first job of any government or any Premier or Minister for State Development is to secure the project; otherwise, we will just be arguing in a vacuum. Unless we can get the project — Ms M.M. Quirk : For China! The SPEAKER : Member for Girrawheen! Mr C.J. BARNETT : Unless we can get the project, there is nothing to argue over. I am doing all I can to secure Oakajee for this state, and I am being supported by the Minister for Regional Development and others. We secured Gorgon; Gorgon was in an absolute stalemate. Several members interjected. Mr C.J. BARNETT : It was going nowhere. Remember the banded iron formations? Because the former government would not deal with the issues that mattered to Chevron and Gorgon and the banded iron formations in the Mid West, Oakajee went nowhere. And it lost Inpex. I am happy to debate any public policy issue. I agree that local content and work in the fabrication shops is critically important, but it is a bit rich when this crowd opposite try to claim some credibility on industrial development in the state.
I note that this is the first Premier in the history of this state to sign a development agreement preferencing foreign jobs over local jobs. Last month I asked the Premier about the decision by Fortescue Metals Group to manufacture all 260 of its 40-tonne railcars overseas despite Western Australia’s rail fabrication industry having the capacity to perform some of this work. Given that the Premier has now had a month to be briefed on this issue, I ask — (1) Is the Premier aware that FMG is required to notify him as the Minister for State Development when it is considering sourcing a plant or equipment or materials from overseas? (2) When exactly did the Premier become aware that FMG was proposing this course of action with regard to these railcars? (3) What did the Premier actually do to stop this work going overseas and to secure at least some of it for WA businesses? Mr C.J. BARNETT replied: I thank the Leader of the Opposition for the question. (1)–(3) If my memory serves me correctly, the Pilbara infrastructure agreement was put through Parliament under the Labor government. Mr E.S. Ripper : I’m asking you what you did and asking whether you implemented it or not. Mr C.J. BARNETT : It is just a little bit rich that the projects that seem to attract attention were ones that were in a sense, if we like, the agreement acts, the final stage of which were negotiated under the previous government—Gorgon and TPI being two examples. Mr E.S. Ripper : Did you enforce the agreements? Mr C.J. BARNETT : Yes, I think I am doing a lot more than members opposite ever did in government to try to increase the level of local content. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Mr C.J. BARNETT : What did members opposite do? Did they do anything? They did not. Mr E.S. Ripper : Why don’t you answer the question about what you did? You’ve got an agreement; did you enforce it? Mr C.J. BARNETT : There is an issue, and as I made clear to the gathering outside—for those who wanted to listen, and most did—I recognise that there is a serious issue of local content and activity in the fabrication shops. I happen to believe that that will change fairly quickly as projects move beyond the conceptual stage and beyond civil groundwork construction into actual steel fabrication. However, that stage is probably at least six months away. As I also outlined outside, I have twice over the past month been down to visit the major steel fabrication yards, first with Hon Simon O’Brien, the Minister for Commerce — Mr E.S. Ripper : You’ve had a month to get briefed on the railcars, but you can’t answer the question. Mr C.J. BARNETT : I have also taken down there the heads of Woodside Petroleum Ltd, Chevron Corporation, BHP Billiton Ltd and Rio Tinto Ltd, and that was the first time that that had ever happened. Also, during my visit to Japan and Korea last week, I got personal commitments from major companies that they would send groups down to inspect those workshops with a view to working with them in alliance on major construction projects. The response by the Liberal–National government to this genuine and serious issue is to roll our sleeves up and get involved. The Labor Party’s solution is to bring in a bill that, even if it were properly drafted and passed, would have absolutely no impact for two to three years, given the time cycle on projects. The Labor Party has no solution for the current situation. It has no solution at all. Mr M. McGowan : So it would work? Mr C.J. BARNETT : Even if it did work, it would only impact in about three years’ time. We have to deal now with the lack of work in the workshops, and we have to deal with both the construction companies and the unions. I have also met with the Australian Steel Institute. Ms M.M. Quirk : FMG? Mr C.J. BARNETT : Fortescue Metals Group Ltd is bringing in its railcars. That was something that was concluded quite some time ago. It is entitled to do that under its agreement. Most of the major companies are importing railcars; that is the reality. That may not be the sort of work that gets done here, but there is a lot more work that can be done here, with some exceptions. Some are looking at railcar construction here, but most of that work has gone offshore. The Labor Party says that I am the only Premier to have signed an agreement to send work offshore; that is factually incorrect. If the opposition is referring in such claims to the Oakajee state development agreement—which is not a formal state agreement, but will come into this place as a state agreement—everyone will have an opportunity to scrutinise that agreement act. Ms M.M. Quirk : When? Mr C.J. BARNETT : When we have the project underway—something the Labor Party did not do too much about. Ms M.M. Quirk : The cheque’s in the mail, is it? Mr C.J. BARNETT : This is the party that would not even pick up the phone for Inpex. As I have said before, I can accept that we might lose an LNG project to Qatar, or a mining project to Canada, but the Labor Party managed to get knocked off by Darwin! Mr C.J. Tallentire : Tell the truth about Inpex, Premier. Mr C.J. BARNETT : Your minister would not pick up the telephone because he was going into an election. Mr E.S. Ripper : You wouldn’t give them the site they wanted, either! Mr C.J. BARNETT : To return to the Oakajee issue, the state development agreement requires the partners to Oakajee Port and Rail—that is, Mitsubishi Corporation and Murchison Metals Ltd—to use their best endeavours to get Chinese participation in the project. By “Chinese participation”, I mean the joint venture and the development and raising of finance for the project. Yes, there will be fabrication of parts and perhaps railcars in China; China is the customer for iron ore. It is all very well to criticise me and the government for what we are doing with Oakajee, but as I tried to say to the demonstration outside, the first job of any government or any Premier or Minister for State Development is to secure the project; otherwise, we will just be arguing in a vacuum. Unless we can get the project — Ms M.M. Quirk : For China! The SPEAKER : Member for Girrawheen! Mr C.J. BARNETT : Unless we can get the project, there is nothing to argue over. I am doing all I can to secure Oakajee for this state, and I am being supported by the Minister for Regional Development and others. We secured Gorgon; Gorgon was in an absolute stalemate. Several members interjected. Mr C.J. BARNETT : It was going nowhere. Remember the banded iron formations? Because the former government would not deal with the issues that mattered to Chevron and Gorgon and the banded iron formations in the Mid West, Oakajee went nowhere. And it lost Inpex. I am happy to debate any public policy issue. I agree that local content and work in the fabrication shops is critically important, but it is a bit rich when this crowd opposite try to claim some credibility on industrial development in the state.
(1) Is the Premier aware that FMG is required to notify him as the Minister for State Development when it is considering sourcing a plant or equipment or materials from overseas? (2) When exactly did the Premier become aware that FMG was proposing this course of action with regard to these railcars? (3) What did the Premier actually do to stop this work going overseas and to secure at least some of it for WA businesses? Mr C.J. BARNETT replied: I thank the Leader of the Opposition for the question. (1)–(3) If my memory serves me correctly, the Pilbara infrastructure agreement was put through Parliament under the Labor government. Mr E.S. Ripper : I’m asking you what you did and asking whether you implemented it or not. Mr C.J. BARNETT : It is just a little bit rich that the projects that seem to attract attention were ones that were in a sense, if we like, the agreement acts, the final stage of which were negotiated under the previous government—Gorgon and TPI being two examples. Mr E.S. Ripper : Did you enforce the agreements? Mr C.J. BARNETT : Yes, I think I am doing a lot more than members opposite ever did in government to try to increase the level of local content. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Mr C.J. BARNETT : What did members opposite do? Did they do anything? They did not. Mr E.S. Ripper : Why don’t you answer the question about what you did? You’ve got an agreement; did you enforce it? Mr C.J. BARNETT : There is an issue, and as I made clear to the gathering outside—for those who wanted to listen, and most did—I recognise that there is a serious issue of local content and activity in the fabrication shops. I happen to believe that that will change fairly quickly as projects move beyond the conceptual stage and beyond civil groundwork construction into actual steel fabrication. However, that stage is probably at least six months away. As I also outlined outside, I have twice over the past month been down to visit the major steel fabrication yards, first with Hon Simon O’Brien, the Minister for Commerce — Mr E.S. Ripper : You’ve had a month to get briefed on the railcars, but you can’t answer the question. Mr C.J. BARNETT : I have also taken down there the heads of Woodside Petroleum Ltd, Chevron Corporation, BHP Billiton Ltd and Rio Tinto Ltd, and that was the first time that that had ever happened. Also, during my visit to Japan and Korea last week, I got personal commitments from major companies that they would send groups down to inspect those workshops with a view to working with them in alliance on major construction projects. The response by the Liberal–National government to this genuine and serious issue is to roll our sleeves up and get involved. The Labor Party’s solution is to bring in a bill that, even if it were properly drafted and passed, would have absolutely no impact for two to three years, given the time cycle on projects. The Labor Party has no solution for the current situation. It has no solution at all. Mr M. McGowan : So it would work? Mr C.J. BARNETT : Even if it did work, it would only impact in about three years’ time. We have to deal now with the lack of work in the workshops, and we have to deal with both the construction companies and the unions. I have also met with the Australian Steel Institute. Ms M.M. Quirk : FMG? Mr C.J. BARNETT : Fortescue Metals Group Ltd is bringing in its railcars. That was something that was concluded quite some time ago. It is entitled to do that under its agreement. Most of the major companies are importing railcars; that is the reality. That may not be the sort of work that gets done here, but there is a lot more work that can be done here, with some exceptions. Some are looking at railcar construction here, but most of that work has gone offshore. The Labor Party says that I am the only Premier to have signed an agreement to send work offshore; that is factually incorrect. If the opposition is referring in such claims to the Oakajee state development agreement—which is not a formal state agreement, but will come into this place as a state agreement—everyone will have an opportunity to scrutinise that agreement act. Ms M.M. Quirk : When? Mr C.J. BARNETT : When we have the project underway—something the Labor Party did not do too much about. Ms M.M. Quirk : The cheque’s in the mail, is it? Mr C.J. BARNETT : This is the party that would not even pick up the phone for Inpex. As I have said before, I can accept that we might lose an LNG project to Qatar, or a mining project to Canada, but the Labor Party managed to get knocked off by Darwin! Mr C.J. Tallentire : Tell the truth about Inpex, Premier. Mr C.J. BARNETT : Your minister would not pick up the telephone because he was going into an election. Mr E.S. Ripper : You wouldn’t give them the site they wanted, either! Mr C.J. BARNETT : To return to the Oakajee issue, the state development agreement requires the partners to Oakajee Port and Rail—that is, Mitsubishi Corporation and Murchison Metals Ltd—to use their best endeavours to get Chinese participation in the project. By “Chinese participation”, I mean the joint venture and the development and raising of finance for the project. Yes, there will be fabrication of parts and perhaps railcars in China; China is the customer for iron ore. It is all very well to criticise me and the government for what we are doing with Oakajee, but as I tried to say to the demonstration outside, the first job of any government or any Premier or Minister for State Development is to secure the project; otherwise, we will just be arguing in a vacuum. Unless we can get the project — Ms M.M. Quirk : For China! The SPEAKER : Member for Girrawheen! Mr C.J. BARNETT : Unless we can get the project, there is nothing to argue over. I am doing all I can to secure Oakajee for this state, and I am being supported by the Minister for Regional Development and others. We secured Gorgon; Gorgon was in an absolute stalemate. Several members interjected. Mr C.J. BARNETT : It was going nowhere. Remember the banded iron formations? Because the former government would not deal with the issues that mattered to Chevron and Gorgon and the banded iron formations in the Mid West, Oakajee went nowhere. And it lost Inpex. I am happy to debate any public policy issue. I agree that local content and work in the fabrication shops is critically important, but it is a bit rich when this crowd opposite try to claim some credibility on industrial development in the state.
(2) When exactly did the Premier become aware that FMG was proposing this course of action with regard to these railcars? (3) What did the Premier actually do to stop this work going overseas and to secure at least some of it for WA businesses? Mr C.J. BARNETT replied: I thank the Leader of the Opposition for the question. (1)–(3) If my memory serves me correctly, the Pilbara infrastructure agreement was put through Parliament under the Labor government. Mr E.S. Ripper : I’m asking you what you did and asking whether you implemented it or not. Mr C.J. BARNETT : It is just a little bit rich that the projects that seem to attract attention were ones that were in a sense, if we like, the agreement acts, the final stage of which were negotiated under the previous government—Gorgon and TPI being two examples. Mr E.S. Ripper : Did you enforce the agreements? Mr C.J. BARNETT : Yes, I think I am doing a lot more than members opposite ever did in government to try to increase the level of local content. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Mr C.J. BARNETT : What did members opposite do? Did they do anything? They did not. Mr E.S. Ripper : Why don’t you answer the question about what you did? You’ve got an agreement; did you enforce it? Mr C.J. BARNETT : There is an issue, and as I made clear to the gathering outside—for those who wanted to listen, and most did—I recognise that there is a serious issue of local content and activity in the fabrication shops. I happen to believe that that will change fairly quickly as projects move beyond the conceptual stage and beyond civil groundwork construction into actual steel fabrication. However, that stage is probably at least six months away. As I also outlined outside, I have twice over the past month been down to visit the major steel fabrication yards, first with Hon Simon O’Brien, the Minister for Commerce — Mr E.S. Ripper : You’ve had a month to get briefed on the railcars, but you can’t answer the question. Mr C.J. BARNETT : I have also taken down there the heads of Woodside Petroleum Ltd, Chevron Corporation, BHP Billiton Ltd and Rio Tinto Ltd, and that was the first time that that had ever happened. Also, during my visit to Japan and Korea last week, I got personal commitments from major companies that they would send groups down to inspect those workshops with a view to working with them in alliance on major construction projects. The response by the Liberal–National government to this genuine and serious issue is to roll our sleeves up and get involved. The Labor Party’s solution is to bring in a bill that, even if it were properly drafted and passed, would have absolutely no impact for two to three years, given the time cycle on projects. The Labor Party has no solution for the current situation. It has no solution at all. Mr M. McGowan : So it would work? Mr C.J. BARNETT : Even if it did work, it would only impact in about three years’ time. We have to deal now with the lack of work in the workshops, and we have to deal with both the construction companies and the unions. I have also met with the Australian Steel Institute. Ms M.M. Quirk : FMG? Mr C.J. BARNETT : Fortescue Metals Group Ltd is bringing in its railcars. That was something that was concluded quite some time ago. It is entitled to do that under its agreement. Most of the major companies are importing railcars; that is the reality. That may not be the sort of work that gets done here, but there is a lot more work that can be done here, with some exceptions. Some are looking at railcar construction here, but most of that work has gone offshore. The Labor Party says that I am the only Premier to have signed an agreement to send work offshore; that is factually incorrect. If the opposition is referring in such claims to the Oakajee state development agreement—which is not a formal state agreement, but will come into this place as a state agreement—everyone will have an opportunity to scrutinise that agreement act. Ms M.M. Quirk : When? Mr C.J. BARNETT : When we have the project underway—something the Labor Party did not do too much about. Ms M.M. Quirk : The cheque’s in the mail, is it? Mr C.J. BARNETT : This is the party that would not even pick up the phone for Inpex. As I have said before, I can accept that we might lose an LNG project to Qatar, or a mining project to Canada, but the Labor Party managed to get knocked off by Darwin! Mr C.J. Tallentire : Tell the truth about Inpex, Premier. Mr C.J. BARNETT : Your minister would not pick up the telephone because he was going into an election. Mr E.S. Ripper : You wouldn’t give them the site they wanted, either! Mr C.J. BARNETT : To return to the Oakajee issue, the state development agreement requires the partners to Oakajee Port and Rail—that is, Mitsubishi Corporation and Murchison Metals Ltd—to use their best endeavours to get Chinese participation in the project. By “Chinese participation”, I mean the joint venture and the development and raising of finance for the project. Yes, there will be fabrication of parts and perhaps railcars in China; China is the customer for iron ore. It is all very well to criticise me and the government for what we are doing with Oakajee, but as I tried to say to the demonstration outside, the first job of any government or any Premier or Minister for State Development is to secure the project; otherwise, we will just be arguing in a vacuum. Unless we can get the project — Ms M.M. Quirk : For China! The SPEAKER : Member for Girrawheen! Mr C.J. BARNETT : Unless we can get the project, there is nothing to argue over. I am doing all I can to secure Oakajee for this state, and I am being supported by the Minister for Regional Development and others. We secured Gorgon; Gorgon was in an absolute stalemate. Several members interjected. Mr C.J. BARNETT : It was going nowhere. Remember the banded iron formations? Because the former government would not deal with the issues that mattered to Chevron and Gorgon and the banded iron formations in the Mid West, Oakajee went nowhere. And it lost Inpex. I am happy to debate any public policy issue. I agree that local content and work in the fabrication shops is critically important, but it is a bit rich when this crowd opposite try to claim some credibility on industrial development in the state.
(3) What did the Premier actually do to stop this work going overseas and to secure at least some of it for WA businesses? Mr C.J. BARNETT replied: I thank the Leader of the Opposition for the question. (1)–(3) If my memory serves me correctly, the Pilbara infrastructure agreement was put through Parliament under the Labor government. Mr E.S. Ripper : I’m asking you what you did and asking whether you implemented it or not. Mr C.J. BARNETT : It is just a little bit rich that the projects that seem to attract attention were ones that were in a sense, if we like, the agreement acts, the final stage of which were negotiated under the previous government—Gorgon and TPI being two examples. Mr E.S. Ripper : Did you enforce the agreements? Mr C.J. BARNETT : Yes, I think I am doing a lot more than members opposite ever did in government to try to increase the level of local content. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Mr C.J. BARNETT : What did members opposite do? Did they do anything? They did not. Mr E.S. Ripper : Why don’t you answer the question about what you did? You’ve got an agreement; did you enforce it? Mr C.J. BARNETT : There is an issue, and as I made clear to the gathering outside—for those who wanted to listen, and most did—I recognise that there is a serious issue of local content and activity in the fabrication shops. I happen to believe that that will change fairly quickly as projects move beyond the conceptual stage and beyond civil groundwork construction into actual steel fabrication. However, that stage is probably at least six months away. As I also outlined outside, I have twice over the past month been down to visit the major steel fabrication yards, first with Hon Simon O’Brien, the Minister for Commerce — Mr E.S. Ripper : You’ve had a month to get briefed on the railcars, but you can’t answer the question. Mr C.J. BARNETT : I have also taken down there the heads of Woodside Petroleum Ltd, Chevron Corporation, BHP Billiton Ltd and Rio Tinto Ltd, and that was the first time that that had ever happened. Also, during my visit to Japan and Korea last week, I got personal commitments from major companies that they would send groups down to inspect those workshops with a view to working with them in alliance on major construction projects. The response by the Liberal–National government to this genuine and serious issue is to roll our sleeves up and get involved. The Labor Party’s solution is to bring in a bill that, even if it were properly drafted and passed, would have absolutely no impact for two to three years, given the time cycle on projects. The Labor Party has no solution for the current situation. It has no solution at all. Mr M. McGowan : So it would work? Mr C.J. BARNETT : Even if it did work, it would only impact in about three years’ time. We have to deal now with the lack of work in the workshops, and we have to deal with both the construction companies and the unions. I have also met with the Australian Steel Institute. Ms M.M. Quirk : FMG? Mr C.J. BARNETT : Fortescue Metals Group Ltd is bringing in its railcars. That was something that was concluded quite some time ago. It is entitled to do that under its agreement. Most of the major companies are importing railcars; that is the reality. That may not be the sort of work that gets done here, but there is a lot more work that can be done here, with some exceptions. Some are looking at railcar construction here, but most of that work has gone offshore. The Labor Party says that I am the only Premier to have signed an agreement to send work offshore; that is factually incorrect. If the opposition is referring in such claims to the Oakajee state development agreement—which is not a formal state agreement, but will come into this place as a state agreement—everyone will have an opportunity to scrutinise that agreement act. Ms M.M. Quirk : When? Mr C.J. BARNETT : When we have the project underway—something the Labor Party did not do too much about. Ms M.M. Quirk : The cheque’s in the mail, is it? Mr C.J. BARNETT : This is the party that would not even pick up the phone for Inpex. As I have said before, I can accept that we might lose an LNG project to Qatar, or a mining project to Canada, but the Labor Party managed to get knocked off by Darwin! Mr C.J. Tallentire : Tell the truth about Inpex, Premier. Mr C.J. BARNETT : Your minister would not pick up the telephone because he was going into an election. Mr E.S. Ripper : You wouldn’t give them the site they wanted, either! Mr C.J. BARNETT : To return to the Oakajee issue, the state development agreement requires the partners to Oakajee Port and Rail—that is, Mitsubishi Corporation and Murchison Metals Ltd—to use their best endeavours to get Chinese participation in the project. By “Chinese participation”, I mean the joint venture and the development and raising of finance for the project. Yes, there will be fabrication of parts and perhaps railcars in China; China is the customer for iron ore. It is all very well to criticise me and the government for what we are doing with Oakajee, but as I tried to say to the demonstration outside, the first job of any government or any Premier or Minister for State Development is to secure the project; otherwise, we will just be arguing in a vacuum. Unless we can get the project — Ms M.M. Quirk : For China! The SPEAKER : Member for Girrawheen! Mr C.J. BARNETT : Unless we can get the project, there is nothing to argue over. I am doing all I can to secure Oakajee for this state, and I am being supported by the Minister for Regional Development and others. We secured Gorgon; Gorgon was in an absolute stalemate. Several members interjected. Mr C.J. BARNETT : It was going nowhere. Remember the banded iron formations? Because the former government would not deal with the issues that mattered to Chevron and Gorgon and the banded iron formations in the Mid West, Oakajee went nowhere. And it lost Inpex. I am happy to debate any public policy issue. I agree that local content and work in the fabrication shops is critically important, but it is a bit rich when this crowd opposite try to claim some credibility on industrial development in the state.
Mr C.J. BARNETT replied: I thank the Leader of the Opposition for the question. (1)–(3) If my memory serves me correctly, the Pilbara infrastructure agreement was put through Parliament under the Labor government. Mr E.S. Ripper : I’m asking you what you did and asking whether you implemented it or not. Mr C.J. BARNETT : It is just a little bit rich that the projects that seem to attract attention were ones that were in a sense, if we like, the agreement acts, the final stage of which were negotiated under the previous government—Gorgon and TPI being two examples. Mr E.S. Ripper : Did you enforce the agreements? Mr C.J. BARNETT : Yes, I think I am doing a lot more than members opposite ever did in government to try to increase the level of local content. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Mr C.J. BARNETT : What did members opposite do? Did they do anything? They did not. Mr E.S. Ripper : Why don’t you answer the question about what you did? You’ve got an agreement; did you enforce it? Mr C.J. BARNETT : There is an issue, and as I made clear to the gathering outside—for those who wanted to listen, and most did—I recognise that there is a serious issue of local content and activity in the fabrication shops. I happen to believe that that will change fairly quickly as projects move beyond the conceptual stage and beyond civil groundwork construction into actual steel fabrication. However, that stage is probably at least six months away. As I also outlined outside, I have twice over the past month been down to visit the major steel fabrication yards, first with Hon Simon O’Brien, the Minister for Commerce — Mr E.S. Ripper : You’ve had a month to get briefed on the railcars, but you can’t answer the question. Mr C.J. BARNETT : I have also taken down there the heads of Woodside Petroleum Ltd, Chevron Corporation, BHP Billiton Ltd and Rio Tinto Ltd, and that was the first time that that had ever happened. Also, during my visit to Japan and Korea last week, I got personal commitments from major companies that they would send groups down to inspect those workshops with a view to working with them in alliance on major construction projects. The response by the Liberal–National government to this genuine and serious issue is to roll our sleeves up and get involved. The Labor Party’s solution is to bring in a bill that, even if it were properly drafted and passed, would have absolutely no impact for two to three years, given the time cycle on projects. The Labor Party has no solution for the current situation. It has no solution at all. Mr M. McGowan : So it would work? Mr C.J. BARNETT : Even if it did work, it would only impact in about three years’ time. We have to deal now with the lack of work in the workshops, and we have to deal with both the construction companies and the unions. I have also met with the Australian Steel Institute. Ms M.M. Quirk : FMG? Mr C.J. BARNETT : Fortescue Metals Group Ltd is bringing in its railcars. That was something that was concluded quite some time ago. It is entitled to do that under its agreement. Most of the major companies are importing railcars; that is the reality. That may not be the sort of work that gets done here, but there is a lot more work that can be done here, with some exceptions. Some are looking at railcar construction here, but most of that work has gone offshore. The Labor Party says that I am the only Premier to have signed an agreement to send work offshore; that is factually incorrect. If the opposition is referring in such claims to the Oakajee state development agreement—which is not a formal state agreement, but will come into this place as a state agreement—everyone will have an opportunity to scrutinise that agreement act. Ms M.M. Quirk : When? Mr C.J. BARNETT : When we have the project underway—something the Labor Party did not do too much about. Ms M.M. Quirk : The cheque’s in the mail, is it? Mr C.J. BARNETT : This is the party that would not even pick up the phone for Inpex. As I have said before, I can accept that we might lose an LNG project to Qatar, or a mining project to Canada, but the Labor Party managed to get knocked off by Darwin! Mr C.J. Tallentire : Tell the truth about Inpex, Premier. Mr C.J. BARNETT : Your minister would not pick up the telephone because he was going into an election. Mr E.S. Ripper : You wouldn’t give them the site they wanted, either! Mr C.J. BARNETT : To return to the Oakajee issue, the state development agreement requires the partners to Oakajee Port and Rail—that is, Mitsubishi Corporation and Murchison Metals Ltd—to use their best endeavours to get Chinese participation in the project. By “Chinese participation”, I mean the joint venture and the development and raising of finance for the project. Yes, there will be fabrication of parts and perhaps railcars in China; China is the customer for iron ore. It is all very well to criticise me and the government for what we are doing with Oakajee, but as I tried to say to the demonstration outside, the first job of any government or any Premier or Minister for State Development is to secure the project; otherwise, we will just be arguing in a vacuum. Unless we can get the project — Ms M.M. Quirk : For China! The SPEAKER : Member for Girrawheen! Mr C.J. BARNETT : Unless we can get the project, there is nothing to argue over. I am doing all I can to secure Oakajee for this state, and I am being supported by the Minister for Regional Development and others. We secured Gorgon; Gorgon was in an absolute stalemate. Several members interjected. Mr C.J. BARNETT : It was going nowhere. Remember the banded iron formations? Because the former government would not deal with the issues that mattered to Chevron and Gorgon and the banded iron formations in the Mid West, Oakajee went nowhere. And it lost Inpex. I am happy to debate any public policy issue. I agree that local content and work in the fabrication shops is critically important, but it is a bit rich when this crowd opposite try to claim some credibility on industrial development in the state.
I thank the Leader of the Opposition for the question. (1)–(3) If my memory serves me correctly, the Pilbara infrastructure agreement was put through Parliament under the Labor government. Mr E.S. Ripper : I’m asking you what you did and asking whether you implemented it or not. Mr C.J. BARNETT : It is just a little bit rich that the projects that seem to attract attention were ones that were in a sense, if we like, the agreement acts, the final stage of which were negotiated under the previous government—Gorgon and TPI being two examples. Mr E.S. Ripper : Did you enforce the agreements? Mr C.J. BARNETT : Yes, I think I am doing a lot more than members opposite ever did in government to try to increase the level of local content. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Mr C.J. BARNETT : What did members opposite do? Did they do anything? They did not. Mr E.S. Ripper : Why don’t you answer the question about what you did? You’ve got an agreement; did you enforce it? Mr C.J. BARNETT : There is an issue, and as I made clear to the gathering outside—for those who wanted to listen, and most did—I recognise that there is a serious issue of local content and activity in the fabrication shops. I happen to believe that that will change fairly quickly as projects move beyond the conceptual stage and beyond civil groundwork construction into actual steel fabrication. However, that stage is probably at least six months away. As I also outlined outside, I have twice over the past month been down to visit the major steel fabrication yards, first with Hon Simon O’Brien, the Minister for Commerce — Mr E.S. Ripper : You’ve had a month to get briefed on the railcars, but you can’t answer the question. Mr C.J. BARNETT : I have also taken down there the heads of Woodside Petroleum Ltd, Chevron Corporation, BHP Billiton Ltd and Rio Tinto Ltd, and that was the first time that that had ever happened. Also, during my visit to Japan and Korea last week, I got personal commitments from major companies that they would send groups down to inspect those workshops with a view to working with them in alliance on major construction projects. The response by the Liberal–National government to this genuine and serious issue is to roll our sleeves up and get involved. The Labor Party’s solution is to bring in a bill that, even if it were properly drafted and passed, would have absolutely no impact for two to three years, given the time cycle on projects. The Labor Party has no solution for the current situation. It has no solution at all. Mr M. McGowan : So it would work? Mr C.J. BARNETT : Even if it did work, it would only impact in about three years’ time. We have to deal now with the lack of work in the workshops, and we have to deal with both the construction companies and the unions. I have also met with the Australian Steel Institute. Ms M.M. Quirk : FMG? Mr C.J. BARNETT : Fortescue Metals Group Ltd is bringing in its railcars. That was something that was concluded quite some time ago. It is entitled to do that under its agreement. Most of the major companies are importing railcars; that is the reality. That may not be the sort of work that gets done here, but there is a lot more work that can be done here, with some exceptions. Some are looking at railcar construction here, but most of that work has gone offshore. The Labor Party says that I am the only Premier to have signed an agreement to send work offshore; that is factually incorrect. If the opposition is referring in such claims to the Oakajee state development agreement—which is not a formal state agreement, but will come into this place as a state agreement—everyone will have an opportunity to scrutinise that agreement act. Ms M.M. Quirk : When? Mr C.J. BARNETT : When we have the project underway—something the Labor Party did not do too much about. Ms M.M. Quirk : The cheque’s in the mail, is it? Mr C.J. BARNETT : This is the party that would not even pick up the phone for Inpex. As I have said before, I can accept that we might lose an LNG project to Qatar, or a mining project to Canada, but the Labor Party managed to get knocked off by Darwin! Mr C.J. Tallentire : Tell the truth about Inpex, Premier. Mr C.J. BARNETT : Your minister would not pick up the telephone because he was going into an election. Mr E.S. Ripper : You wouldn’t give them the site they wanted, either! Mr C.J. BARNETT : To return to the Oakajee issue, the state development agreement requires the partners to Oakajee Port and Rail—that is, Mitsubishi Corporation and Murchison Metals Ltd—to use their best endeavours to get Chinese participation in the project. By “Chinese participation”, I mean the joint venture and the development and raising of finance for the project. Yes, there will be fabrication of parts and perhaps railcars in China; China is the customer for iron ore. It is all very well to criticise me and the government for what we are doing with Oakajee, but as I tried to say to the demonstration outside, the first job of any government or any Premier or Minister for State Development is to secure the project; otherwise, we will just be arguing in a vacuum. Unless we can get the project — Ms M.M. Quirk : For China! The SPEAKER : Member for Girrawheen! Mr C.J. BARNETT : Unless we can get the project, there is nothing to argue over. I am doing all I can to secure Oakajee for this state, and I am being supported by the Minister for Regional Development and others. We secured Gorgon; Gorgon was in an absolute stalemate. Several members interjected. Mr C.J. BARNETT : It was going nowhere. Remember the banded iron formations? Because the former government would not deal with the issues that mattered to Chevron and Gorgon and the banded iron formations in the Mid West, Oakajee went nowhere. And it lost Inpex. I am happy to debate any public policy issue. I agree that local content and work in the fabrication shops is critically important, but it is a bit rich when this crowd opposite try to claim some credibility on industrial development in the state.
(1)–(3) If my memory serves me correctly, the Pilbara infrastructure agreement was put through Parliament under the Labor government. Mr E.S. Ripper : I’m asking you what you did and asking whether you implemented it or not. Mr C.J. BARNETT : It is just a little bit rich that the projects that seem to attract attention were ones that were in a sense, if we like, the agreement acts, the final stage of which were negotiated under the previous government—Gorgon and TPI being two examples. Mr E.S. Ripper : Did you enforce the agreements? Mr C.J. BARNETT : Yes, I think I am doing a lot more than members opposite ever did in government to try to increase the level of local content. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Mr C.J. BARNETT : What did members opposite do? Did they do anything? They did not. Mr E.S. Ripper : Why don’t you answer the question about what you did? You’ve got an agreement; did you enforce it? Mr C.J. BARNETT : There is an issue, and as I made clear to the gathering outside—for those who wanted to listen, and most did—I recognise that there is a serious issue of local content and activity in the fabrication shops. I happen to believe that that will change fairly quickly as projects move beyond the conceptual stage and beyond civil groundwork construction into actual steel fabrication. However, that stage is probably at least six months away. As I also outlined outside, I have twice over the past month been down to visit the major steel fabrication yards, first with Hon Simon O’Brien, the Minister for Commerce — Mr E.S. Ripper : You’ve had a month to get briefed on the railcars, but you can’t answer the question. Mr C.J. BARNETT : I have also taken down there the heads of Woodside Petroleum Ltd, Chevron Corporation, BHP Billiton Ltd and Rio Tinto Ltd, and that was the first time that that had ever happened. Also, during my visit to Japan and Korea last week, I got personal commitments from major companies that they would send groups down to inspect those workshops with a view to working with them in alliance on major construction projects. The response by the Liberal–National government to this genuine and serious issue is to roll our sleeves up and get involved. The Labor Party’s solution is to bring in a bill that, even if it were properly drafted and passed, would have absolutely no impact for two to three years, given the time cycle on projects. The Labor Party has no solution for the current situation. It has no solution at all. Mr M. McGowan : So it would work? Mr C.J. BARNETT : Even if it did work, it would only impact in about three years’ time. We have to deal now with the lack of work in the workshops, and we have to deal with both the construction companies and the unions. I have also met with the Australian Steel Institute. Ms M.M. Quirk : FMG? Mr C.J. BARNETT : Fortescue Metals Group Ltd is bringing in its railcars. That was something that was concluded quite some time ago. It is entitled to do that under its agreement. Most of the major companies are importing railcars; that is the reality. That may not be the sort of work that gets done here, but there is a lot more work that can be done here, with some exceptions. Some are looking at railcar construction here, but most of that work has gone offshore. The Labor Party says that I am the only Premier to have signed an agreement to send work offshore; that is factually incorrect. If the opposition is referring in such claims to the Oakajee state development agreement—which is not a formal state agreement, but will come into this place as a state agreement—everyone will have an opportunity to scrutinise that agreement act. Ms M.M. Quirk : When? Mr C.J. BARNETT : When we have the project underway—something the Labor Party did not do too much about. Ms M.M. Quirk : The cheque’s in the mail, is it? Mr C.J. BARNETT : This is the party that would not even pick up the phone for Inpex. As I have said before, I can accept that we might lose an LNG project to Qatar, or a mining project to Canada, but the Labor Party managed to get knocked off by Darwin! Mr C.J. Tallentire : Tell the truth about Inpex, Premier. Mr C.J. BARNETT : Your minister would not pick up the telephone because he was going into an election. Mr E.S. Ripper : You wouldn’t give them the site they wanted, either! Mr C.J. BARNETT : To return to the Oakajee issue, the state development agreement requires the partners to Oakajee Port and Rail—that is, Mitsubishi Corporation and Murchison Metals Ltd—to use their best endeavours to get Chinese participation in the project. By “Chinese participation”, I mean the joint venture and the development and raising of finance for the project. Yes, there will be fabrication of parts and perhaps railcars in China; China is the customer for iron ore. It is all very well to criticise me and the government for what we are doing with Oakajee, but as I tried to say to the demonstration outside, the first job of any government or any Premier or Minister for State Development is to secure the project; otherwise, we will just be arguing in a vacuum. Unless we can get the project — Ms M.M. Quirk : For China! The SPEAKER : Member for Girrawheen! Mr C.J. BARNETT : Unless we can get the project, there is nothing to argue over. I am doing all I can to secure Oakajee for this state, and I am being supported by the Minister for Regional Development and others. We secured Gorgon; Gorgon was in an absolute stalemate. Several members interjected. Mr C.J. BARNETT : It was going nowhere. Remember the banded iron formations? Because the former government would not deal with the issues that mattered to Chevron and Gorgon and the banded iron formations in the Mid West, Oakajee went nowhere. And it lost Inpex. I am happy to debate any public policy issue. I agree that local content and work in the fabrication shops is critically important, but it is a bit rich when this crowd opposite try to claim some credibility on industrial development in the state.
Mr E.S. Ripper : I’m asking you what you did and asking whether you implemented it or not. Mr C.J. BARNETT : It is just a little bit rich that the projects that seem to attract attention were ones that were in a sense, if we like, the agreement acts, the final stage of which were negotiated under the previous government—Gorgon and TPI being two examples. Mr E.S. Ripper : Did you enforce the agreements? Mr C.J. BARNETT : Yes, I think I am doing a lot more than members opposite ever did in government to try to increase the level of local content. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Mr C.J. BARNETT : What did members opposite do? Did they do anything? They did not. Mr E.S. Ripper : Why don’t you answer the question about what you did? You’ve got an agreement; did you enforce it? Mr C.J. BARNETT : There is an issue, and as I made clear to the gathering outside—for those who wanted to listen, and most did—I recognise that there is a serious issue of local content and activity in the fabrication shops. I happen to believe that that will change fairly quickly as projects move beyond the conceptual stage and beyond civil groundwork construction into actual steel fabrication. However, that stage is probably at least six months away. As I also outlined outside, I have twice over the past month been down to visit the major steel fabrication yards, first with Hon Simon O’Brien, the Minister for Commerce — Mr E.S. Ripper : You’ve had a month to get briefed on the railcars, but you can’t answer the question. Mr C.J. BARNETT : I have also taken down there the heads of Woodside Petroleum Ltd, Chevron Corporation, BHP Billiton Ltd and Rio Tinto Ltd, and that was the first time that that had ever happened. Also, during my visit to Japan and Korea last week, I got personal commitments from major companies that they would send groups down to inspect those workshops with a view to working with them in alliance on major construction projects. The response by the Liberal–National government to this genuine and serious issue is to roll our sleeves up and get involved. The Labor Party’s solution is to bring in a bill that, even if it were properly drafted and passed, would have absolutely no impact for two to three years, given the time cycle on projects. The Labor Party has no solution for the current situation. It has no solution at all. Mr M. McGowan : So it would work? Mr C.J. BARNETT : Even if it did work, it would only impact in about three years’ time. We have to deal now with the lack of work in the workshops, and we have to deal with both the construction companies and the unions. I have also met with the Australian Steel Institute. Ms M.M. Quirk : FMG? Mr C.J. BARNETT : Fortescue Metals Group Ltd is bringing in its railcars. That was something that was concluded quite some time ago. It is entitled to do that under its agreement. Most of the major companies are importing railcars; that is the reality. That may not be the sort of work that gets done here, but there is a lot more work that can be done here, with some exceptions. Some are looking at railcar construction here, but most of that work has gone offshore. The Labor Party says that I am the only Premier to have signed an agreement to send work offshore; that is factually incorrect. If the opposition is referring in such claims to the Oakajee state development agreement—which is not a formal state agreement, but will come into this place as a state agreement—everyone will have an opportunity to scrutinise that agreement act. Ms M.M. Quirk : When? Mr C.J. BARNETT : When we have the project underway—something the Labor Party did not do too much about. Ms M.M. Quirk : The cheque’s in the mail, is it? Mr C.J. BARNETT : This is the party that would not even pick up the phone for Inpex. As I have said before, I can accept that we might lose an LNG project to Qatar, or a mining project to Canada, but the Labor Party managed to get knocked off by Darwin! Mr C.J. Tallentire : Tell the truth about Inpex, Premier. Mr C.J. BARNETT : Your minister would not pick up the telephone because he was going into an election. Mr E.S. Ripper : You wouldn’t give them the site they wanted, either! Mr C.J. BARNETT : To return to the Oakajee issue, the state development agreement requires the partners to Oakajee Port and Rail—that is, Mitsubishi Corporation and Murchison Metals Ltd—to use their best endeavours to get Chinese participation in the project. By “Chinese participation”, I mean the joint venture and the development and raising of finance for the project. Yes, there will be fabrication of parts and perhaps railcars in China; China is the customer for iron ore. It is all very well to criticise me and the government for what we are doing with Oakajee, but as I tried to say to the demonstration outside, the first job of any government or any Premier or Minister for State Development is to secure the project; otherwise, we will just be arguing in a vacuum. Unless we can get the project — Ms M.M. Quirk : For China! The SPEAKER : Member for Girrawheen! Mr C.J. BARNETT : Unless we can get the project, there is nothing to argue over. I am doing all I can to secure Oakajee for this state, and I am being supported by the Minister for Regional Development and others. We secured Gorgon; Gorgon was in an absolute stalemate. Several members interjected. Mr C.J. BARNETT : It was going nowhere. Remember the banded iron formations? Because the former government would not deal with the issues that mattered to Chevron and Gorgon and the banded iron formations in the Mid West, Oakajee went nowhere. And it lost Inpex. I am happy to debate any public policy issue. I agree that local content and work in the fabrication shops is critically important, but it is a bit rich when this crowd opposite try to claim some credibility on industrial development in the state.
Mr C.J. BARNETT : It is just a little bit rich that the projects that seem to attract attention were ones that were in a sense, if we like, the agreement acts, the final stage of which were negotiated under the previous government—Gorgon and TPI being two examples. Mr E.S. Ripper : Did you enforce the agreements? Mr C.J. BARNETT : Yes, I think I am doing a lot more than members opposite ever did in government to try to increase the level of local content. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Mr C.J. BARNETT : What did members opposite do? Did they do anything? They did not. Mr E.S. Ripper : Why don’t you answer the question about what you did? You’ve got an agreement; did you enforce it? Mr C.J. BARNETT : There is an issue, and as I made clear to the gathering outside—for those who wanted to listen, and most did—I recognise that there is a serious issue of local content and activity in the fabrication shops. I happen to believe that that will change fairly quickly as projects move beyond the conceptual stage and beyond civil groundwork construction into actual steel fabrication. However, that stage is probably at least six months away. As I also outlined outside, I have twice over the past month been down to visit the major steel fabrication yards, first with Hon Simon O’Brien, the Minister for Commerce — Mr E.S. Ripper : You’ve had a month to get briefed on the railcars, but you can’t answer the question. Mr C.J. BARNETT : I have also taken down there the heads of Woodside Petroleum Ltd, Chevron Corporation, BHP Billiton Ltd and Rio Tinto Ltd, and that was the first time that that had ever happened. Also, during my visit to Japan and Korea last week, I got personal commitments from major companies that they would send groups down to inspect those workshops with a view to working with them in alliance on major construction projects. The response by the Liberal–National government to this genuine and serious issue is to roll our sleeves up and get involved. The Labor Party’s solution is to bring in a bill that, even if it were properly drafted and passed, would have absolutely no impact for two to three years, given the time cycle on projects. The Labor Party has no solution for the current situation. It has no solution at all. Mr M. McGowan : So it would work? Mr C.J. BARNETT : Even if it did work, it would only impact in about three years’ time. We have to deal now with the lack of work in the workshops, and we have to deal with both the construction companies and the unions. I have also met with the Australian Steel Institute. Ms M.M. Quirk : FMG? Mr C.J. BARNETT : Fortescue Metals Group Ltd is bringing in its railcars. That was something that was concluded quite some time ago. It is entitled to do that under its agreement. Most of the major companies are importing railcars; that is the reality. That may not be the sort of work that gets done here, but there is a lot more work that can be done here, with some exceptions. Some are looking at railcar construction here, but most of that work has gone offshore. The Labor Party says that I am the only Premier to have signed an agreement to send work offshore; that is factually incorrect. If the opposition is referring in such claims to the Oakajee state development agreement—which is not a formal state agreement, but will come into this place as a state agreement—everyone will have an opportunity to scrutinise that agreement act. Ms M.M. Quirk : When? Mr C.J. BARNETT : When we have the project underway—something the Labor Party did not do too much about. Ms M.M. Quirk : The cheque’s in the mail, is it? Mr C.J. BARNETT : This is the party that would not even pick up the phone for Inpex. As I have said before, I can accept that we might lose an LNG project to Qatar, or a mining project to Canada, but the Labor Party managed to get knocked off by Darwin! Mr C.J. Tallentire : Tell the truth about Inpex, Premier. Mr C.J. BARNETT : Your minister would not pick up the telephone because he was going into an election. Mr E.S. Ripper : You wouldn’t give them the site they wanted, either! Mr C.J. BARNETT : To return to the Oakajee issue, the state development agreement requires the partners to Oakajee Port and Rail—that is, Mitsubishi Corporation and Murchison Metals Ltd—to use their best endeavours to get Chinese participation in the project. By “Chinese participation”, I mean the joint venture and the development and raising of finance for the project. Yes, there will be fabrication of parts and perhaps railcars in China; China is the customer for iron ore. It is all very well to criticise me and the government for what we are doing with Oakajee, but as I tried to say to the demonstration outside, the first job of any government or any Premier or Minister for State Development is to secure the project; otherwise, we will just be arguing in a vacuum. Unless we can get the project — Ms M.M. Quirk : For China! The SPEAKER : Member for Girrawheen! Mr C.J. BARNETT : Unless we can get the project, there is nothing to argue over. I am doing all I can to secure Oakajee for this state, and I am being supported by the Minister for Regional Development and others. We secured Gorgon; Gorgon was in an absolute stalemate. Several members interjected. Mr C.J. BARNETT : It was going nowhere. Remember the banded iron formations? Because the former government would not deal with the issues that mattered to Chevron and Gorgon and the banded iron formations in the Mid West, Oakajee went nowhere. And it lost Inpex. I am happy to debate any public policy issue. I agree that local content and work in the fabrication shops is critically important, but it is a bit rich when this crowd opposite try to claim some credibility on industrial development in the state.
Mr E.S. Ripper : Did you enforce the agreements? Mr C.J. BARNETT : Yes, I think I am doing a lot more than members opposite ever did in government to try to increase the level of local content. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Mr C.J. BARNETT : What did members opposite do? Did they do anything? They did not. Mr E.S. Ripper : Why don’t you answer the question about what you did? You’ve got an agreement; did you enforce it? Mr C.J. BARNETT : There is an issue, and as I made clear to the gathering outside—for those who wanted to listen, and most did—I recognise that there is a serious issue of local content and activity in the fabrication shops. I happen to believe that that will change fairly quickly as projects move beyond the conceptual stage and beyond civil groundwork construction into actual steel fabrication. However, that stage is probably at least six months away. As I also outlined outside, I have twice over the past month been down to visit the major steel fabrication yards, first with Hon Simon O’Brien, the Minister for Commerce — Mr E.S. Ripper : You’ve had a month to get briefed on the railcars, but you can’t answer the question. Mr C.J. BARNETT : I have also taken down there the heads of Woodside Petroleum Ltd, Chevron Corporation, BHP Billiton Ltd and Rio Tinto Ltd, and that was the first time that that had ever happened. Also, during my visit to Japan and Korea last week, I got personal commitments from major companies that they would send groups down to inspect those workshops with a view to working with them in alliance on major construction projects. The response by the Liberal–National government to this genuine and serious issue is to roll our sleeves up and get involved. The Labor Party’s solution is to bring in a bill that, even if it were properly drafted and passed, would have absolutely no impact for two to three years, given the time cycle on projects. The Labor Party has no solution for the current situation. It has no solution at all. Mr M. McGowan : So it would work? Mr C.J. BARNETT : Even if it did work, it would only impact in about three years’ time. We have to deal now with the lack of work in the workshops, and we have to deal with both the construction companies and the unions. I have also met with the Australian Steel Institute. Ms M.M. Quirk : FMG? Mr C.J. BARNETT : Fortescue Metals Group Ltd is bringing in its railcars. That was something that was concluded quite some time ago. It is entitled to do that under its agreement. Most of the major companies are importing railcars; that is the reality. That may not be the sort of work that gets done here, but there is a lot more work that can be done here, with some exceptions. Some are looking at railcar construction here, but most of that work has gone offshore. The Labor Party says that I am the only Premier to have signed an agreement to send work offshore; that is factually incorrect. If the opposition is referring in such claims to the Oakajee state development agreement—which is not a formal state agreement, but will come into this place as a state agreement—everyone will have an opportunity to scrutinise that agreement act. Ms M.M. Quirk : When? Mr C.J. BARNETT : When we have the project underway—something the Labor Party did not do too much about. Ms M.M. Quirk : The cheque’s in the mail, is it? Mr C.J. BARNETT : This is the party that would not even pick up the phone for Inpex. As I have said before, I can accept that we might lose an LNG project to Qatar, or a mining project to Canada, but the Labor Party managed to get knocked off by Darwin! Mr C.J. Tallentire : Tell the truth about Inpex, Premier. Mr C.J. BARNETT : Your minister would not pick up the telephone because he was going into an election. Mr E.S. Ripper : You wouldn’t give them the site they wanted, either! Mr C.J. BARNETT : To return to the Oakajee issue, the state development agreement requires the partners to Oakajee Port and Rail—that is, Mitsubishi Corporation and Murchison Metals Ltd—to use their best endeavours to get Chinese participation in the project. By “Chinese participation”, I mean the joint venture and the development and raising of finance for the project. Yes, there will be fabrication of parts and perhaps railcars in China; China is the customer for iron ore. It is all very well to criticise me and the government for what we are doing with Oakajee, but as I tried to say to the demonstration outside, the first job of any government or any Premier or Minister for State Development is to secure the project; otherwise, we will just be arguing in a vacuum. Unless we can get the project — Ms M.M. Quirk : For China! The SPEAKER : Member for Girrawheen! Mr C.J. BARNETT : Unless we can get the project, there is nothing to argue over. I am doing all I can to secure Oakajee for this state, and I am being supported by the Minister for Regional Development and others. We secured Gorgon; Gorgon was in an absolute stalemate. Several members interjected. Mr C.J. BARNETT : It was going nowhere. Remember the banded iron formations? Because the former government would not deal with the issues that mattered to Chevron and Gorgon and the banded iron formations in the Mid West, Oakajee went nowhere. And it lost Inpex. I am happy to debate any public policy issue. I agree that local content and work in the fabrication shops is critically important, but it is a bit rich when this crowd opposite try to claim some credibility on industrial development in the state.
Mr C.J. BARNETT : Yes, I think I am doing a lot more than members opposite ever did in government to try to increase the level of local content. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Mr C.J. BARNETT : What did members opposite do? Did they do anything? They did not. Mr E.S. Ripper : Why don’t you answer the question about what you did? You’ve got an agreement; did you enforce it? Mr C.J. BARNETT : There is an issue, and as I made clear to the gathering outside—for those who wanted to listen, and most did—I recognise that there is a serious issue of local content and activity in the fabrication shops. I happen to believe that that will change fairly quickly as projects move beyond the conceptual stage and beyond civil groundwork construction into actual steel fabrication. However, that stage is probably at least six months away. As I also outlined outside, I have twice over the past month been down to visit the major steel fabrication yards, first with Hon Simon O’Brien, the Minister for Commerce — Mr E.S. Ripper : You’ve had a month to get briefed on the railcars, but you can’t answer the question. Mr C.J. BARNETT : I have also taken down there the heads of Woodside Petroleum Ltd, Chevron Corporation, BHP Billiton Ltd and Rio Tinto Ltd, and that was the first time that that had ever happened. Also, during my visit to Japan and Korea last week, I got personal commitments from major companies that they would send groups down to inspect those workshops with a view to working with them in alliance on major construction projects. The response by the Liberal–National government to this genuine and serious issue is to roll our sleeves up and get involved. The Labor Party’s solution is to bring in a bill that, even if it were properly drafted and passed, would have absolutely no impact for two to three years, given the time cycle on projects. The Labor Party has no solution for the current situation. It has no solution at all. Mr M. McGowan : So it would work? Mr C.J. BARNETT : Even if it did work, it would only impact in about three years’ time. We have to deal now with the lack of work in the workshops, and we have to deal with both the construction companies and the unions. I have also met with the Australian Steel Institute. Ms M.M. Quirk : FMG? Mr C.J. BARNETT : Fortescue Metals Group Ltd is bringing in its railcars. That was something that was concluded quite some time ago. It is entitled to do that under its agreement. Most of the major companies are importing railcars; that is the reality. That may not be the sort of work that gets done here, but there is a lot more work that can be done here, with some exceptions. Some are looking at railcar construction here, but most of that work has gone offshore. The Labor Party says that I am the only Premier to have signed an agreement to send work offshore; that is factually incorrect. If the opposition is referring in such claims to the Oakajee state development agreement—which is not a formal state agreement, but will come into this place as a state agreement—everyone will have an opportunity to scrutinise that agreement act. Ms M.M. Quirk : When? Mr C.J. BARNETT : When we have the project underway—something the Labor Party did not do too much about. Ms M.M. Quirk : The cheque’s in the mail, is it? Mr C.J. BARNETT : This is the party that would not even pick up the phone for Inpex. As I have said before, I can accept that we might lose an LNG project to Qatar, or a mining project to Canada, but the Labor Party managed to get knocked off by Darwin! Mr C.J. Tallentire : Tell the truth about Inpex, Premier. Mr C.J. BARNETT : Your minister would not pick up the telephone because he was going into an election. Mr E.S. Ripper : You wouldn’t give them the site they wanted, either! Mr C.J. BARNETT : To return to the Oakajee issue, the state development agreement requires the partners to Oakajee Port and Rail—that is, Mitsubishi Corporation and Murchison Metals Ltd—to use their best endeavours to get Chinese participation in the project. By “Chinese participation”, I mean the joint venture and the development and raising of finance for the project. Yes, there will be fabrication of parts and perhaps railcars in China; China is the customer for iron ore. It is all very well to criticise me and the government for what we are doing with Oakajee, but as I tried to say to the demonstration outside, the first job of any government or any Premier or Minister for State Development is to secure the project; otherwise, we will just be arguing in a vacuum. Unless we can get the project — Ms M.M. Quirk : For China! The SPEAKER : Member for Girrawheen! Mr C.J. BARNETT : Unless we can get the project, there is nothing to argue over. I am doing all I can to secure Oakajee for this state, and I am being supported by the Minister for Regional Development and others. We secured Gorgon; Gorgon was in an absolute stalemate. Several members interjected. Mr C.J. BARNETT : It was going nowhere. Remember the banded iron formations? Because the former government would not deal with the issues that mattered to Chevron and Gorgon and the banded iron formations in the Mid West, Oakajee went nowhere. And it lost Inpex. I am happy to debate any public policy issue. I agree that local content and work in the fabrication shops is critically important, but it is a bit rich when this crowd opposite try to claim some credibility on industrial development in the state.
Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Mr C.J. BARNETT : What did members opposite do? Did they do anything? They did not. Mr E.S. Ripper : Why don’t you answer the question about what you did? You’ve got an agreement; did you enforce it? Mr C.J. BARNETT : There is an issue, and as I made clear to the gathering outside—for those who wanted to listen, and most did—I recognise that there is a serious issue of local content and activity in the fabrication shops. I happen to believe that that will change fairly quickly as projects move beyond the conceptual stage and beyond civil groundwork construction into actual steel fabrication. However, that stage is probably at least six months away. As I also outlined outside, I have twice over the past month been down to visit the major steel fabrication yards, first with Hon Simon O’Brien, the Minister for Commerce — Mr E.S. Ripper : You’ve had a month to get briefed on the railcars, but you can’t answer the question. Mr C.J. BARNETT : I have also taken down there the heads of Woodside Petroleum Ltd, Chevron Corporation, BHP Billiton Ltd and Rio Tinto Ltd, and that was the first time that that had ever happened. Also, during my visit to Japan and Korea last week, I got personal commitments from major companies that they would send groups down to inspect those workshops with a view to working with them in alliance on major construction projects. The response by the Liberal–National government to this genuine and serious issue is to roll our sleeves up and get involved. The Labor Party’s solution is to bring in a bill that, even if it were properly drafted and passed, would have absolutely no impact for two to three years, given the time cycle on projects. The Labor Party has no solution for the current situation. It has no solution at all. Mr M. McGowan : So it would work? Mr C.J. BARNETT : Even if it did work, it would only impact in about three years’ time. We have to deal now with the lack of work in the workshops, and we have to deal with both the construction companies and the unions. I have also met with the Australian Steel Institute. Ms M.M. Quirk : FMG? Mr C.J. BARNETT : Fortescue Metals Group Ltd is bringing in its railcars. That was something that was concluded quite some time ago. It is entitled to do that under its agreement. Most of the major companies are importing railcars; that is the reality. That may not be the sort of work that gets done here, but there is a lot more work that can be done here, with some exceptions. Some are looking at railcar construction here, but most of that work has gone offshore. The Labor Party says that I am the only Premier to have signed an agreement to send work offshore; that is factually incorrect. If the opposition is referring in such claims to the Oakajee state development agreement—which is not a formal state agreement, but will come into this place as a state agreement—everyone will have an opportunity to scrutinise that agreement act. Ms M.M. Quirk : When? Mr C.J. BARNETT : When we have the project underway—something the Labor Party did not do too much about. Ms M.M. Quirk : The cheque’s in the mail, is it? Mr C.J. BARNETT : This is the party that would not even pick up the phone for Inpex. As I have said before, I can accept that we might lose an LNG project to Qatar, or a mining project to Canada, but the Labor Party managed to get knocked off by Darwin! Mr C.J. Tallentire : Tell the truth about Inpex, Premier. Mr C.J. BARNETT : Your minister would not pick up the telephone because he was going into an election. Mr E.S. Ripper : You wouldn’t give them the site they wanted, either! Mr C.J. BARNETT : To return to the Oakajee issue, the state development agreement requires the partners to Oakajee Port and Rail—that is, Mitsubishi Corporation and Murchison Metals Ltd—to use their best endeavours to get Chinese participation in the project. By “Chinese participation”, I mean the joint venture and the development and raising of finance for the project. Yes, there will be fabrication of parts and perhaps railcars in China; China is the customer for iron ore. It is all very well to criticise me and the government for what we are doing with Oakajee, but as I tried to say to the demonstration outside, the first job of any government or any Premier or Minister for State Development is to secure the project; otherwise, we will just be arguing in a vacuum. Unless we can get the project — Ms M.M. Quirk : For China! The SPEAKER : Member for Girrawheen! Mr C.J. BARNETT : Unless we can get the project, there is nothing to argue over. I am doing all I can to secure Oakajee for this state, and I am being supported by the Minister for Regional Development and others. We secured Gorgon; Gorgon was in an absolute stalemate. Several members interjected. Mr C.J. BARNETT : It was going nowhere. Remember the banded iron formations? Because the former government would not deal with the issues that mattered to Chevron and Gorgon and the banded iron formations in the Mid West, Oakajee went nowhere. And it lost Inpex. I am happy to debate any public policy issue. I agree that local content and work in the fabrication shops is critically important, but it is a bit rich when this crowd opposite try to claim some credibility on industrial development in the state.
The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Mr C.J. BARNETT : What did members opposite do? Did they do anything? They did not. Mr E.S. Ripper : Why don’t you answer the question about what you did? You’ve got an agreement; did you enforce it? Mr C.J. BARNETT : There is an issue, and as I made clear to the gathering outside—for those who wanted to listen, and most did—I recognise that there is a serious issue of local content and activity in the fabrication shops. I happen to believe that that will change fairly quickly as projects move beyond the conceptual stage and beyond civil groundwork construction into actual steel fabrication. However, that stage is probably at least six months away. As I also outlined outside, I have twice over the past month been down to visit the major steel fabrication yards, first with Hon Simon O’Brien, the Minister for Commerce — Mr E.S. Ripper : You’ve had a month to get briefed on the railcars, but you can’t answer the question. Mr C.J. BARNETT : I have also taken down there the heads of Woodside Petroleum Ltd, Chevron Corporation, BHP Billiton Ltd and Rio Tinto Ltd, and that was the first time that that had ever happened. Also, during my visit to Japan and Korea last week, I got personal commitments from major companies that they would send groups down to inspect those workshops with a view to working with them in alliance on major construction projects. The response by the Liberal–National government to this genuine and serious issue is to roll our sleeves up and get involved. The Labor Party’s solution is to bring in a bill that, even if it were properly drafted and passed, would have absolutely no impact for two to three years, given the time cycle on projects. The Labor Party has no solution for the current situation. It has no solution at all. Mr M. McGowan : So it would work? Mr C.J. BARNETT : Even if it did work, it would only impact in about three years’ time. We have to deal now with the lack of work in the workshops, and we have to deal with both the construction companies and the unions. I have also met with the Australian Steel Institute. Ms M.M. Quirk : FMG? Mr C.J. BARNETT : Fortescue Metals Group Ltd is bringing in its railcars. That was something that was concluded quite some time ago. It is entitled to do that under its agreement. Most of the major companies are importing railcars; that is the reality. That may not be the sort of work that gets done here, but there is a lot more work that can be done here, with some exceptions. Some are looking at railcar construction here, but most of that work has gone offshore. The Labor Party says that I am the only Premier to have signed an agreement to send work offshore; that is factually incorrect. If the opposition is referring in such claims to the Oakajee state development agreement—which is not a formal state agreement, but will come into this place as a state agreement—everyone will have an opportunity to scrutinise that agreement act. Ms M.M. Quirk : When? Mr C.J. BARNETT : When we have the project underway—something the Labor Party did not do too much about. Ms M.M. Quirk : The cheque’s in the mail, is it? Mr C.J. BARNETT : This is the party that would not even pick up the phone for Inpex. As I have said before, I can accept that we might lose an LNG project to Qatar, or a mining project to Canada, but the Labor Party managed to get knocked off by Darwin! Mr C.J. Tallentire : Tell the truth about Inpex, Premier. Mr C.J. BARNETT : Your minister would not pick up the telephone because he was going into an election. Mr E.S. Ripper : You wouldn’t give them the site they wanted, either! Mr C.J. BARNETT : To return to the Oakajee issue, the state development agreement requires the partners to Oakajee Port and Rail—that is, Mitsubishi Corporation and Murchison Metals Ltd—to use their best endeavours to get Chinese participation in the project. By “Chinese participation”, I mean the joint venture and the development and raising of finance for the project. Yes, there will be fabrication of parts and perhaps railcars in China; China is the customer for iron ore. It is all very well to criticise me and the government for what we are doing with Oakajee, but as I tried to say to the demonstration outside, the first job of any government or any Premier or Minister for State Development is to secure the project; otherwise, we will just be arguing in a vacuum. Unless we can get the project — Ms M.M. Quirk : For China! The SPEAKER : Member for Girrawheen! Mr C.J. BARNETT : Unless we can get the project, there is nothing to argue over. I am doing all I can to secure Oakajee for this state, and I am being supported by the Minister for Regional Development and others. We secured Gorgon; Gorgon was in an absolute stalemate. Several members interjected. Mr C.J. BARNETT : It was going nowhere. Remember the banded iron formations? Because the former government would not deal with the issues that mattered to Chevron and Gorgon and the banded iron formations in the Mid West, Oakajee went nowhere. And it lost Inpex. I am happy to debate any public policy issue. I agree that local content and work in the fabrication shops is critically important, but it is a bit rich when this crowd opposite try to claim some credibility on industrial development in the state.
Mr C.J. BARNETT : What did members opposite do? Did they do anything? They did not. Mr E.S. Ripper : Why don’t you answer the question about what you did? You’ve got an agreement; did you enforce it? Mr C.J. BARNETT : There is an issue, and as I made clear to the gathering outside—for those who wanted to listen, and most did—I recognise that there is a serious issue of local content and activity in the fabrication shops. I happen to believe that that will change fairly quickly as projects move beyond the conceptual stage and beyond civil groundwork construction into actual steel fabrication. However, that stage is probably at least six months away. As I also outlined outside, I have twice over the past month been down to visit the major steel fabrication yards, first with Hon Simon O’Brien, the Minister for Commerce — Mr E.S. Ripper : You’ve had a month to get briefed on the railcars, but you can’t answer the question. Mr C.J. BARNETT : I have also taken down there the heads of Woodside Petroleum Ltd, Chevron Corporation, BHP Billiton Ltd and Rio Tinto Ltd, and that was the first time that that had ever happened. Also, during my visit to Japan and Korea last week, I got personal commitments from major companies that they would send groups down to inspect those workshops with a view to working with them in alliance on major construction projects. The response by the Liberal–National government to this genuine and serious issue is to roll our sleeves up and get involved. The Labor Party’s solution is to bring in a bill that, even if it were properly drafted and passed, would have absolutely no impact for two to three years, given the time cycle on projects. The Labor Party has no solution for the current situation. It has no solution at all. Mr M. McGowan : So it would work? Mr C.J. BARNETT : Even if it did work, it would only impact in about three years’ time. We have to deal now with the lack of work in the workshops, and we have to deal with both the construction companies and the unions. I have also met with the Australian Steel Institute. Ms M.M. Quirk : FMG? Mr C.J. BARNETT : Fortescue Metals Group Ltd is bringing in its railcars. That was something that was concluded quite some time ago. It is entitled to do that under its agreement. Most of the major companies are importing railcars; that is the reality. That may not be the sort of work that gets done here, but there is a lot more work that can be done here, with some exceptions. Some are looking at railcar construction here, but most of that work has gone offshore. The Labor Party says that I am the only Premier to have signed an agreement to send work offshore; that is factually incorrect. If the opposition is referring in such claims to the Oakajee state development agreement—which is not a formal state agreement, but will come into this place as a state agreement—everyone will have an opportunity to scrutinise that agreement act. Ms M.M. Quirk : When? Mr C.J. BARNETT : When we have the project underway—something the Labor Party did not do too much about. Ms M.M. Quirk : The cheque’s in the mail, is it? Mr C.J. BARNETT : This is the party that would not even pick up the phone for Inpex. As I have said before, I can accept that we might lose an LNG project to Qatar, or a mining project to Canada, but the Labor Party managed to get knocked off by Darwin! Mr C.J. Tallentire : Tell the truth about Inpex, Premier. Mr C.J. BARNETT : Your minister would not pick up the telephone because he was going into an election. Mr E.S. Ripper : You wouldn’t give them the site they wanted, either! Mr C.J. BARNETT : To return to the Oakajee issue, the state development agreement requires the partners to Oakajee Port and Rail—that is, Mitsubishi Corporation and Murchison Metals Ltd—to use their best endeavours to get Chinese participation in the project. By “Chinese participation”, I mean the joint venture and the development and raising of finance for the project. Yes, there will be fabrication of parts and perhaps railcars in China; China is the customer for iron ore. It is all very well to criticise me and the government for what we are doing with Oakajee, but as I tried to say to the demonstration outside, the first job of any government or any Premier or Minister for State Development is to secure the project; otherwise, we will just be arguing in a vacuum. Unless we can get the project — Ms M.M. Quirk : For China! The SPEAKER : Member for Girrawheen! Mr C.J. BARNETT : Unless we can get the project, there is nothing to argue over. I am doing all I can to secure Oakajee for this state, and I am being supported by the Minister for Regional Development and others. We secured Gorgon; Gorgon was in an absolute stalemate. Several members interjected. Mr C.J. BARNETT : It was going nowhere. Remember the banded iron formations? Because the former government would not deal with the issues that mattered to Chevron and Gorgon and the banded iron formations in the Mid West, Oakajee went nowhere. And it lost Inpex. I am happy to debate any public policy issue. I agree that local content and work in the fabrication shops is critically important, but it is a bit rich when this crowd opposite try to claim some credibility on industrial development in the state.
Mr E.S. Ripper : Why don’t you answer the question about what you did? You’ve got an agreement; did you enforce it? Mr C.J. BARNETT : There is an issue, and as I made clear to the gathering outside—for those who wanted to listen, and most did—I recognise that there is a serious issue of local content and activity in the fabrication shops. I happen to believe that that will change fairly quickly as projects move beyond the conceptual stage and beyond civil groundwork construction into actual steel fabrication. However, that stage is probably at least six months away. As I also outlined outside, I have twice over the past month been down to visit the major steel fabrication yards, first with Hon Simon O’Brien, the Minister for Commerce — Mr E.S. Ripper : You’ve had a month to get briefed on the railcars, but you can’t answer the question. Mr C.J. BARNETT : I have also taken down there the heads of Woodside Petroleum Ltd, Chevron Corporation, BHP Billiton Ltd and Rio Tinto Ltd, and that was the first time that that had ever happened. Also, during my visit to Japan and Korea last week, I got personal commitments from major companies that they would send groups down to inspect those workshops with a view to working with them in alliance on major construction projects. The response by the Liberal–National government to this genuine and serious issue is to roll our sleeves up and get involved. The Labor Party’s solution is to bring in a bill that, even if it were properly drafted and passed, would have absolutely no impact for two to three years, given the time cycle on projects. The Labor Party has no solution for the current situation. It has no solution at all. Mr M. McGowan : So it would work? Mr C.J. BARNETT : Even if it did work, it would only impact in about three years’ time. We have to deal now with the lack of work in the workshops, and we have to deal with both the construction companies and the unions. I have also met with the Australian Steel Institute. Ms M.M. Quirk : FMG? Mr C.J. BARNETT : Fortescue Metals Group Ltd is bringing in its railcars. That was something that was concluded quite some time ago. It is entitled to do that under its agreement. Most of the major companies are importing railcars; that is the reality. That may not be the sort of work that gets done here, but there is a lot more work that can be done here, with some exceptions. Some are looking at railcar construction here, but most of that work has gone offshore. The Labor Party says that I am the only Premier to have signed an agreement to send work offshore; that is factually incorrect. If the opposition is referring in such claims to the Oakajee state development agreement—which is not a formal state agreement, but will come into this place as a state agreement—everyone will have an opportunity to scrutinise that agreement act. Ms M.M. Quirk : When? Mr C.J. BARNETT : When we have the project underway—something the Labor Party did not do too much about. Ms M.M. Quirk : The cheque’s in the mail, is it? Mr C.J. BARNETT : This is the party that would not even pick up the phone for Inpex. As I have said before, I can accept that we might lose an LNG project to Qatar, or a mining project to Canada, but the Labor Party managed to get knocked off by Darwin! Mr C.J. Tallentire : Tell the truth about Inpex, Premier. Mr C.J. BARNETT : Your minister would not pick up the telephone because he was going into an election. Mr E.S. Ripper : You wouldn’t give them the site they wanted, either! Mr C.J. BARNETT : To return to the Oakajee issue, the state development agreement requires the partners to Oakajee Port and Rail—that is, Mitsubishi Corporation and Murchison Metals Ltd—to use their best endeavours to get Chinese participation in the project. By “Chinese participation”, I mean the joint venture and the development and raising of finance for the project. Yes, there will be fabrication of parts and perhaps railcars in China; China is the customer for iron ore. It is all very well to criticise me and the government for what we are doing with Oakajee, but as I tried to say to the demonstration outside, the first job of any government or any Premier or Minister for State Development is to secure the project; otherwise, we will just be arguing in a vacuum. Unless we can get the project — Ms M.M. Quirk : For China! The SPEAKER : Member for Girrawheen! Mr C.J. BARNETT : Unless we can get the project, there is nothing to argue over. I am doing all I can to secure Oakajee for this state, and I am being supported by the Minister for Regional Development and others. We secured Gorgon; Gorgon was in an absolute stalemate. Several members interjected. Mr C.J. BARNETT : It was going nowhere. Remember the banded iron formations? Because the former government would not deal with the issues that mattered to Chevron and Gorgon and the banded iron formations in the Mid West, Oakajee went nowhere. And it lost Inpex. I am happy to debate any public policy issue. I agree that local content and work in the fabrication shops is critically important, but it is a bit rich when this crowd opposite try to claim some credibility on industrial development in the state.
Mr C.J. BARNETT : There is an issue, and as I made clear to the gathering outside—for those who wanted to listen, and most did—I recognise that there is a serious issue of local content and activity in the fabrication shops. I happen to believe that that will change fairly quickly as projects move beyond the conceptual stage and beyond civil groundwork construction into actual steel fabrication. However, that stage is probably at least six months away. As I also outlined outside, I have twice over the past month been down to visit the major steel fabrication yards, first with Hon Simon O’Brien, the Minister for Commerce — Mr E.S. Ripper : You’ve had a month to get briefed on the railcars, but you can’t answer the question. Mr C.J. BARNETT : I have also taken down there the heads of Woodside Petroleum Ltd, Chevron Corporation, BHP Billiton Ltd and Rio Tinto Ltd, and that was the first time that that had ever happened. Also, during my visit to Japan and Korea last week, I got personal commitments from major companies that they would send groups down to inspect those workshops with a view to working with them in alliance on major construction projects. The response by the Liberal–National government to this genuine and serious issue is to roll our sleeves up and get involved. The Labor Party’s solution is to bring in a bill that, even if it were properly drafted and passed, would have absolutely no impact for two to three years, given the time cycle on projects. The Labor Party has no solution for the current situation. It has no solution at all. Mr M. McGowan : So it would work? Mr C.J. BARNETT : Even if it did work, it would only impact in about three years’ time. We have to deal now with the lack of work in the workshops, and we have to deal with both the construction companies and the unions. I have also met with the Australian Steel Institute. Ms M.M. Quirk : FMG? Mr C.J. BARNETT : Fortescue Metals Group Ltd is bringing in its railcars. That was something that was concluded quite some time ago. It is entitled to do that under its agreement. Most of the major companies are importing railcars; that is the reality. That may not be the sort of work that gets done here, but there is a lot more work that can be done here, with some exceptions. Some are looking at railcar construction here, but most of that work has gone offshore. The Labor Party says that I am the only Premier to have signed an agreement to send work offshore; that is factually incorrect. If the opposition is referring in such claims to the Oakajee state development agreement—which is not a formal state agreement, but will come into this place as a state agreement—everyone will have an opportunity to scrutinise that agreement act. Ms M.M. Quirk : When? Mr C.J. BARNETT : When we have the project underway—something the Labor Party did not do too much about. Ms M.M. Quirk : The cheque’s in the mail, is it? Mr C.J. BARNETT : This is the party that would not even pick up the phone for Inpex. As I have said before, I can accept that we might lose an LNG project to Qatar, or a mining project to Canada, but the Labor Party managed to get knocked off by Darwin! Mr C.J. Tallentire : Tell the truth about Inpex, Premier. Mr C.J. BARNETT : Your minister would not pick up the telephone because he was going into an election. Mr E.S. Ripper : You wouldn’t give them the site they wanted, either! Mr C.J. BARNETT : To return to the Oakajee issue, the state development agreement requires the partners to Oakajee Port and Rail—that is, Mitsubishi Corporation and Murchison Metals Ltd—to use their best endeavours to get Chinese participation in the project. By “Chinese participation”, I mean the joint venture and the development and raising of finance for the project. Yes, there will be fabrication of parts and perhaps railcars in China; China is the customer for iron ore. It is all very well to criticise me and the government for what we are doing with Oakajee, but as I tried to say to the demonstration outside, the first job of any government or any Premier or Minister for State Development is to secure the project; otherwise, we will just be arguing in a vacuum. Unless we can get the project — Ms M.M. Quirk : For China! The SPEAKER : Member for Girrawheen! Mr C.J. BARNETT : Unless we can get the project, there is nothing to argue over. I am doing all I can to secure Oakajee for this state, and I am being supported by the Minister for Regional Development and others. We secured Gorgon; Gorgon was in an absolute stalemate. Several members interjected. Mr C.J. BARNETT : It was going nowhere. Remember the banded iron formations? Because the former government would not deal with the issues that mattered to Chevron and Gorgon and the banded iron formations in the Mid West, Oakajee went nowhere. And it lost Inpex. I am happy to debate any public policy issue. I agree that local content and work in the fabrication shops is critically important, but it is a bit rich when this crowd opposite try to claim some credibility on industrial development in the state.
Mr E.S. Ripper : You’ve had a month to get briefed on the railcars, but you can’t answer the question. Mr C.J. BARNETT : I have also taken down there the heads of Woodside Petroleum Ltd, Chevron Corporation, BHP Billiton Ltd and Rio Tinto Ltd, and that was the first time that that had ever happened. Also, during my visit to Japan and Korea last week, I got personal commitments from major companies that they would send groups down to inspect those workshops with a view to working with them in alliance on major construction projects. The response by the Liberal–National government to this genuine and serious issue is to roll our sleeves up and get involved. The Labor Party’s solution is to bring in a bill that, even if it were properly drafted and passed, would have absolutely no impact for two to three years, given the time cycle on projects. The Labor Party has no solution for the current situation. It has no solution at all. Mr M. McGowan : So it would work? Mr C.J. BARNETT : Even if it did work, it would only impact in about three years’ time. We have to deal now with the lack of work in the workshops, and we have to deal with both the construction companies and the unions. I have also met with the Australian Steel Institute. Ms M.M. Quirk : FMG? Mr C.J. BARNETT : Fortescue Metals Group Ltd is bringing in its railcars. That was something that was concluded quite some time ago. It is entitled to do that under its agreement. Most of the major companies are importing railcars; that is the reality. That may not be the sort of work that gets done here, but there is a lot more work that can be done here, with some exceptions. Some are looking at railcar construction here, but most of that work has gone offshore. The Labor Party says that I am the only Premier to have signed an agreement to send work offshore; that is factually incorrect. If the opposition is referring in such claims to the Oakajee state development agreement—which is not a formal state agreement, but will come into this place as a state agreement—everyone will have an opportunity to scrutinise that agreement act. Ms M.M. Quirk : When? Mr C.J. BARNETT : When we have the project underway—something the Labor Party did not do too much about. Ms M.M. Quirk : The cheque’s in the mail, is it? Mr C.J. BARNETT : This is the party that would not even pick up the phone for Inpex. As I have said before, I can accept that we might lose an LNG project to Qatar, or a mining project to Canada, but the Labor Party managed to get knocked off by Darwin! Mr C.J. Tallentire : Tell the truth about Inpex, Premier. Mr C.J. BARNETT : Your minister would not pick up the telephone because he was going into an election. Mr E.S. Ripper : You wouldn’t give them the site they wanted, either! Mr C.J. BARNETT : To return to the Oakajee issue, the state development agreement requires the partners to Oakajee Port and Rail—that is, Mitsubishi Corporation and Murchison Metals Ltd—to use their best endeavours to get Chinese participation in the project. By “Chinese participation”, I mean the joint venture and the development and raising of finance for the project. Yes, there will be fabrication of parts and perhaps railcars in China; China is the customer for iron ore. It is all very well to criticise me and the government for what we are doing with Oakajee, but as I tried to say to the demonstration outside, the first job of any government or any Premier or Minister for State Development is to secure the project; otherwise, we will just be arguing in a vacuum. Unless we can get the project — Ms M.M. Quirk : For China! The SPEAKER : Member for Girrawheen! Mr C.J. BARNETT : Unless we can get the project, there is nothing to argue over. I am doing all I can to secure Oakajee for this state, and I am being supported by the Minister for Regional Development and others. We secured Gorgon; Gorgon was in an absolute stalemate. Several members interjected. Mr C.J. BARNETT : It was going nowhere. Remember the banded iron formations? Because the former government would not deal with the issues that mattered to Chevron and Gorgon and the banded iron formations in the Mid West, Oakajee went nowhere. And it lost Inpex. I am happy to debate any public policy issue. I agree that local content and work in the fabrication shops is critically important, but it is a bit rich when this crowd opposite try to claim some credibility on industrial development in the state.
Mr C.J. BARNETT : I have also taken down there the heads of Woodside Petroleum Ltd, Chevron Corporation, BHP Billiton Ltd and Rio Tinto Ltd, and that was the first time that that had ever happened. Also, during my visit to Japan and Korea last week, I got personal commitments from major companies that they would send groups down to inspect those workshops with a view to working with them in alliance on major construction projects. The response by the Liberal–National government to this genuine and serious issue is to roll our sleeves up and get involved. The Labor Party’s solution is to bring in a bill that, even if it were properly drafted and passed, would have absolutely no impact for two to three years, given the time cycle on projects. The Labor Party has no solution for the current situation. It has no solution at all. Mr M. McGowan : So it would work? Mr C.J. BARNETT : Even if it did work, it would only impact in about three years’ time. We have to deal now with the lack of work in the workshops, and we have to deal with both the construction companies and the unions. I have also met with the Australian Steel Institute. Ms M.M. Quirk : FMG? Mr C.J. BARNETT : Fortescue Metals Group Ltd is bringing in its railcars. That was something that was concluded quite some time ago. It is entitled to do that under its agreement. Most of the major companies are importing railcars; that is the reality. That may not be the sort of work that gets done here, but there is a lot more work that can be done here, with some exceptions. Some are looking at railcar construction here, but most of that work has gone offshore. The Labor Party says that I am the only Premier to have signed an agreement to send work offshore; that is factually incorrect. If the opposition is referring in such claims to the Oakajee state development agreement—which is not a formal state agreement, but will come into this place as a state agreement—everyone will have an opportunity to scrutinise that agreement act. Ms M.M. Quirk : When? Mr C.J. BARNETT : When we have the project underway—something the Labor Party did not do too much about. Ms M.M. Quirk : The cheque’s in the mail, is it? Mr C.J. BARNETT : This is the party that would not even pick up the phone for Inpex. As I have said before, I can accept that we might lose an LNG project to Qatar, or a mining project to Canada, but the Labor Party managed to get knocked off by Darwin! Mr C.J. Tallentire : Tell the truth about Inpex, Premier. Mr C.J. BARNETT : Your minister would not pick up the telephone because he was going into an election. Mr E.S. Ripper : You wouldn’t give them the site they wanted, either! Mr C.J. BARNETT : To return to the Oakajee issue, the state development agreement requires the partners to Oakajee Port and Rail—that is, Mitsubishi Corporation and Murchison Metals Ltd—to use their best endeavours to get Chinese participation in the project. By “Chinese participation”, I mean the joint venture and the development and raising of finance for the project. Yes, there will be fabrication of parts and perhaps railcars in China; China is the customer for iron ore. It is all very well to criticise me and the government for what we are doing with Oakajee, but as I tried to say to the demonstration outside, the first job of any government or any Premier or Minister for State Development is to secure the project; otherwise, we will just be arguing in a vacuum. Unless we can get the project — Ms M.M. Quirk : For China! The SPEAKER : Member for Girrawheen! Mr C.J. BARNETT : Unless we can get the project, there is nothing to argue over. I am doing all I can to secure Oakajee for this state, and I am being supported by the Minister for Regional Development and others. We secured Gorgon; Gorgon was in an absolute stalemate. Several members interjected. Mr C.J. BARNETT : It was going nowhere. Remember the banded iron formations? Because the former government would not deal with the issues that mattered to Chevron and Gorgon and the banded iron formations in the Mid West, Oakajee went nowhere. And it lost Inpex. I am happy to debate any public policy issue. I agree that local content and work in the fabrication shops is critically important, but it is a bit rich when this crowd opposite try to claim some credibility on industrial development in the state.
Mr M. McGowan : So it would work? Mr C.J. BARNETT : Even if it did work, it would only impact in about three years’ time. We have to deal now with the lack of work in the workshops, and we have to deal with both the construction companies and the unions. I have also met with the Australian Steel Institute. Ms M.M. Quirk : FMG? Mr C.J. BARNETT : Fortescue Metals Group Ltd is bringing in its railcars. That was something that was concluded quite some time ago. It is entitled to do that under its agreement. Most of the major companies are importing railcars; that is the reality. That may not be the sort of work that gets done here, but there is a lot more work that can be done here, with some exceptions. Some are looking at railcar construction here, but most of that work has gone offshore. The Labor Party says that I am the only Premier to have signed an agreement to send work offshore; that is factually incorrect. If the opposition is referring in such claims to the Oakajee state development agreement—which is not a formal state agreement, but will come into this place as a state agreement—everyone will have an opportunity to scrutinise that agreement act. Ms M.M. Quirk : When? Mr C.J. BARNETT : When we have the project underway—something the Labor Party did not do too much about. Ms M.M. Quirk : The cheque’s in the mail, is it? Mr C.J. BARNETT : This is the party that would not even pick up the phone for Inpex. As I have said before, I can accept that we might lose an LNG project to Qatar, or a mining project to Canada, but the Labor Party managed to get knocked off by Darwin! Mr C.J. Tallentire : Tell the truth about Inpex, Premier. Mr C.J. BARNETT : Your minister would not pick up the telephone because he was going into an election. Mr E.S. Ripper : You wouldn’t give them the site they wanted, either! Mr C.J. BARNETT : To return to the Oakajee issue, the state development agreement requires the partners to Oakajee Port and Rail—that is, Mitsubishi Corporation and Murchison Metals Ltd—to use their best endeavours to get Chinese participation in the project. By “Chinese participation”, I mean the joint venture and the development and raising of finance for the project. Yes, there will be fabrication of parts and perhaps railcars in China; China is the customer for iron ore. It is all very well to criticise me and the government for what we are doing with Oakajee, but as I tried to say to the demonstration outside, the first job of any government or any Premier or Minister for State Development is to secure the project; otherwise, we will just be arguing in a vacuum. Unless we can get the project — Ms M.M. Quirk : For China! The SPEAKER : Member for Girrawheen! Mr C.J. BARNETT : Unless we can get the project, there is nothing to argue over. I am doing all I can to secure Oakajee for this state, and I am being supported by the Minister for Regional Development and others. We secured Gorgon; Gorgon was in an absolute stalemate. Several members interjected. Mr C.J. BARNETT : It was going nowhere. Remember the banded iron formations? Because the former government would not deal with the issues that mattered to Chevron and Gorgon and the banded iron formations in the Mid West, Oakajee went nowhere. And it lost Inpex. I am happy to debate any public policy issue. I agree that local content and work in the fabrication shops is critically important, but it is a bit rich when this crowd opposite try to claim some credibility on industrial development in the state.
Mr C.J. BARNETT : Even if it did work, it would only impact in about three years’ time. We have to deal now with the lack of work in the workshops, and we have to deal with both the construction companies and the unions. I have also met with the Australian Steel Institute. Ms M.M. Quirk : FMG? Mr C.J. BARNETT : Fortescue Metals Group Ltd is bringing in its railcars. That was something that was concluded quite some time ago. It is entitled to do that under its agreement. Most of the major companies are importing railcars; that is the reality. That may not be the sort of work that gets done here, but there is a lot more work that can be done here, with some exceptions. Some are looking at railcar construction here, but most of that work has gone offshore. The Labor Party says that I am the only Premier to have signed an agreement to send work offshore; that is factually incorrect. If the opposition is referring in such claims to the Oakajee state development agreement—which is not a formal state agreement, but will come into this place as a state agreement—everyone will have an opportunity to scrutinise that agreement act. Ms M.M. Quirk : When? Mr C.J. BARNETT : When we have the project underway—something the Labor Party did not do too much about. Ms M.M. Quirk : The cheque’s in the mail, is it? Mr C.J. BARNETT : This is the party that would not even pick up the phone for Inpex. As I have said before, I can accept that we might lose an LNG project to Qatar, or a mining project to Canada, but the Labor Party managed to get knocked off by Darwin! Mr C.J. Tallentire : Tell the truth about Inpex, Premier. Mr C.J. BARNETT : Your minister would not pick up the telephone because he was going into an election. Mr E.S. Ripper : You wouldn’t give them the site they wanted, either! Mr C.J. BARNETT : To return to the Oakajee issue, the state development agreement requires the partners to Oakajee Port and Rail—that is, Mitsubishi Corporation and Murchison Metals Ltd—to use their best endeavours to get Chinese participation in the project. By “Chinese participation”, I mean the joint venture and the development and raising of finance for the project. Yes, there will be fabrication of parts and perhaps railcars in China; China is the customer for iron ore. It is all very well to criticise me and the government for what we are doing with Oakajee, but as I tried to say to the demonstration outside, the first job of any government or any Premier or Minister for State Development is to secure the project; otherwise, we will just be arguing in a vacuum. Unless we can get the project — Ms M.M. Quirk : For China! The SPEAKER : Member for Girrawheen! Mr C.J. BARNETT : Unless we can get the project, there is nothing to argue over. I am doing all I can to secure Oakajee for this state, and I am being supported by the Minister for Regional Development and others. We secured Gorgon; Gorgon was in an absolute stalemate. Several members interjected. Mr C.J. BARNETT : It was going nowhere. Remember the banded iron formations? Because the former government would not deal with the issues that mattered to Chevron and Gorgon and the banded iron formations in the Mid West, Oakajee went nowhere. And it lost Inpex. I am happy to debate any public policy issue. I agree that local content and work in the fabrication shops is critically important, but it is a bit rich when this crowd opposite try to claim some credibility on industrial development in the state.
Ms M.M. Quirk : FMG? Mr C.J. BARNETT : Fortescue Metals Group Ltd is bringing in its railcars. That was something that was concluded quite some time ago. It is entitled to do that under its agreement. Most of the major companies are importing railcars; that is the reality. That may not be the sort of work that gets done here, but there is a lot more work that can be done here, with some exceptions. Some are looking at railcar construction here, but most of that work has gone offshore. The Labor Party says that I am the only Premier to have signed an agreement to send work offshore; that is factually incorrect. If the opposition is referring in such claims to the Oakajee state development agreement—which is not a formal state agreement, but will come into this place as a state agreement—everyone will have an opportunity to scrutinise that agreement act. Ms M.M. Quirk : When? Mr C.J. BARNETT : When we have the project underway—something the Labor Party did not do too much about. Ms M.M. Quirk : The cheque’s in the mail, is it? Mr C.J. BARNETT : This is the party that would not even pick up the phone for Inpex. As I have said before, I can accept that we might lose an LNG project to Qatar, or a mining project to Canada, but the Labor Party managed to get knocked off by Darwin! Mr C.J. Tallentire : Tell the truth about Inpex, Premier. Mr C.J. BARNETT : Your minister would not pick up the telephone because he was going into an election. Mr E.S. Ripper : You wouldn’t give them the site they wanted, either! Mr C.J. BARNETT : To return to the Oakajee issue, the state development agreement requires the partners to Oakajee Port and Rail—that is, Mitsubishi Corporation and Murchison Metals Ltd—to use their best endeavours to get Chinese participation in the project. By “Chinese participation”, I mean the joint venture and the development and raising of finance for the project. Yes, there will be fabrication of parts and perhaps railcars in China; China is the customer for iron ore. It is all very well to criticise me and the government for what we are doing with Oakajee, but as I tried to say to the demonstration outside, the first job of any government or any Premier or Minister for State Development is to secure the project; otherwise, we will just be arguing in a vacuum. Unless we can get the project — Ms M.M. Quirk : For China! The SPEAKER : Member for Girrawheen! Mr C.J. BARNETT : Unless we can get the project, there is nothing to argue over. I am doing all I can to secure Oakajee for this state, and I am being supported by the Minister for Regional Development and others. We secured Gorgon; Gorgon was in an absolute stalemate. Several members interjected. Mr C.J. BARNETT : It was going nowhere. Remember the banded iron formations? Because the former government would not deal with the issues that mattered to Chevron and Gorgon and the banded iron formations in the Mid West, Oakajee went nowhere. And it lost Inpex. I am happy to debate any public policy issue. I agree that local content and work in the fabrication shops is critically important, but it is a bit rich when this crowd opposite try to claim some credibility on industrial development in the state.
Mr C.J. BARNETT : Fortescue Metals Group Ltd is bringing in its railcars. That was something that was concluded quite some time ago. It is entitled to do that under its agreement. Most of the major companies are importing railcars; that is the reality. That may not be the sort of work that gets done here, but there is a lot more work that can be done here, with some exceptions. Some are looking at railcar construction here, but most of that work has gone offshore. The Labor Party says that I am the only Premier to have signed an agreement to send work offshore; that is factually incorrect. If the opposition is referring in such claims to the Oakajee state development agreement—which is not a formal state agreement, but will come into this place as a state agreement—everyone will have an opportunity to scrutinise that agreement act. Ms M.M. Quirk : When? Mr C.J. BARNETT : When we have the project underway—something the Labor Party did not do too much about. Ms M.M. Quirk : The cheque’s in the mail, is it? Mr C.J. BARNETT : This is the party that would not even pick up the phone for Inpex. As I have said before, I can accept that we might lose an LNG project to Qatar, or a mining project to Canada, but the Labor Party managed to get knocked off by Darwin! Mr C.J. Tallentire : Tell the truth about Inpex, Premier. Mr C.J. BARNETT : Your minister would not pick up the telephone because he was going into an election. Mr E.S. Ripper : You wouldn’t give them the site they wanted, either! Mr C.J. BARNETT : To return to the Oakajee issue, the state development agreement requires the partners to Oakajee Port and Rail—that is, Mitsubishi Corporation and Murchison Metals Ltd—to use their best endeavours to get Chinese participation in the project. By “Chinese participation”, I mean the joint venture and the development and raising of finance for the project. Yes, there will be fabrication of parts and perhaps railcars in China; China is the customer for iron ore. It is all very well to criticise me and the government for what we are doing with Oakajee, but as I tried to say to the demonstration outside, the first job of any government or any Premier or Minister for State Development is to secure the project; otherwise, we will just be arguing in a vacuum. Unless we can get the project — Ms M.M. Quirk : For China! The SPEAKER : Member for Girrawheen! Mr C.J. BARNETT : Unless we can get the project, there is nothing to argue over. I am doing all I can to secure Oakajee for this state, and I am being supported by the Minister for Regional Development and others. We secured Gorgon; Gorgon was in an absolute stalemate. Several members interjected. Mr C.J. BARNETT : It was going nowhere. Remember the banded iron formations? Because the former government would not deal with the issues that mattered to Chevron and Gorgon and the banded iron formations in the Mid West, Oakajee went nowhere. And it lost Inpex. I am happy to debate any public policy issue. I agree that local content and work in the fabrication shops is critically important, but it is a bit rich when this crowd opposite try to claim some credibility on industrial development in the state.
Ms M.M. Quirk : When? Mr C.J. BARNETT : When we have the project underway—something the Labor Party did not do too much about. Ms M.M. Quirk : The cheque’s in the mail, is it? Mr C.J. BARNETT : This is the party that would not even pick up the phone for Inpex. As I have said before, I can accept that we might lose an LNG project to Qatar, or a mining project to Canada, but the Labor Party managed to get knocked off by Darwin! Mr C.J. Tallentire : Tell the truth about Inpex, Premier. Mr C.J. BARNETT : Your minister would not pick up the telephone because he was going into an election. Mr E.S. Ripper : You wouldn’t give them the site they wanted, either! Mr C.J. BARNETT : To return to the Oakajee issue, the state development agreement requires the partners to Oakajee Port and Rail—that is, Mitsubishi Corporation and Murchison Metals Ltd—to use their best endeavours to get Chinese participation in the project. By “Chinese participation”, I mean the joint venture and the development and raising of finance for the project. Yes, there will be fabrication of parts and perhaps railcars in China; China is the customer for iron ore. It is all very well to criticise me and the government for what we are doing with Oakajee, but as I tried to say to the demonstration outside, the first job of any government or any Premier or Minister for State Development is to secure the project; otherwise, we will just be arguing in a vacuum. Unless we can get the project — Ms M.M. Quirk : For China! The SPEAKER : Member for Girrawheen! Mr C.J. BARNETT : Unless we can get the project, there is nothing to argue over. I am doing all I can to secure Oakajee for this state, and I am being supported by the Minister for Regional Development and others. We secured Gorgon; Gorgon was in an absolute stalemate. Several members interjected. Mr C.J. BARNETT : It was going nowhere. Remember the banded iron formations? Because the former government would not deal with the issues that mattered to Chevron and Gorgon and the banded iron formations in the Mid West, Oakajee went nowhere. And it lost Inpex. I am happy to debate any public policy issue. I agree that local content and work in the fabrication shops is critically important, but it is a bit rich when this crowd opposite try to claim some credibility on industrial development in the state.
Mr C.J. BARNETT : When we have the project underway—something the Labor Party did not do too much about. Ms M.M. Quirk : The cheque’s in the mail, is it? Mr C.J. BARNETT : This is the party that would not even pick up the phone for Inpex. As I have said before, I can accept that we might lose an LNG project to Qatar, or a mining project to Canada, but the Labor Party managed to get knocked off by Darwin! Mr C.J. Tallentire : Tell the truth about Inpex, Premier. Mr C.J. BARNETT : Your minister would not pick up the telephone because he was going into an election. Mr E.S. Ripper : You wouldn’t give them the site they wanted, either! Mr C.J. BARNETT : To return to the Oakajee issue, the state development agreement requires the partners to Oakajee Port and Rail—that is, Mitsubishi Corporation and Murchison Metals Ltd—to use their best endeavours to get Chinese participation in the project. By “Chinese participation”, I mean the joint venture and the development and raising of finance for the project. Yes, there will be fabrication of parts and perhaps railcars in China; China is the customer for iron ore. It is all very well to criticise me and the government for what we are doing with Oakajee, but as I tried to say to the demonstration outside, the first job of any government or any Premier or Minister for State Development is to secure the project; otherwise, we will just be arguing in a vacuum. Unless we can get the project — Ms M.M. Quirk : For China! The SPEAKER : Member for Girrawheen! Mr C.J. BARNETT : Unless we can get the project, there is nothing to argue over. I am doing all I can to secure Oakajee for this state, and I am being supported by the Minister for Regional Development and others. We secured Gorgon; Gorgon was in an absolute stalemate. Several members interjected. Mr C.J. BARNETT : It was going nowhere. Remember the banded iron formations? Because the former government would not deal with the issues that mattered to Chevron and Gorgon and the banded iron formations in the Mid West, Oakajee went nowhere. And it lost Inpex. I am happy to debate any public policy issue. I agree that local content and work in the fabrication shops is critically important, but it is a bit rich when this crowd opposite try to claim some credibility on industrial development in the state.
Ms M.M. Quirk : The cheque’s in the mail, is it? Mr C.J. BARNETT : This is the party that would not even pick up the phone for Inpex. As I have said before, I can accept that we might lose an LNG project to Qatar, or a mining project to Canada, but the Labor Party managed to get knocked off by Darwin! Mr C.J. Tallentire : Tell the truth about Inpex, Premier. Mr C.J. BARNETT : Your minister would not pick up the telephone because he was going into an election. Mr E.S. Ripper : You wouldn’t give them the site they wanted, either! Mr C.J. BARNETT : To return to the Oakajee issue, the state development agreement requires the partners to Oakajee Port and Rail—that is, Mitsubishi Corporation and Murchison Metals Ltd—to use their best endeavours to get Chinese participation in the project. By “Chinese participation”, I mean the joint venture and the development and raising of finance for the project. Yes, there will be fabrication of parts and perhaps railcars in China; China is the customer for iron ore. It is all very well to criticise me and the government for what we are doing with Oakajee, but as I tried to say to the demonstration outside, the first job of any government or any Premier or Minister for State Development is to secure the project; otherwise, we will just be arguing in a vacuum. Unless we can get the project — Ms M.M. Quirk : For China! The SPEAKER : Member for Girrawheen! Mr C.J. BARNETT : Unless we can get the project, there is nothing to argue over. I am doing all I can to secure Oakajee for this state, and I am being supported by the Minister for Regional Development and others. We secured Gorgon; Gorgon was in an absolute stalemate. Several members interjected. Mr C.J. BARNETT : It was going nowhere. Remember the banded iron formations? Because the former government would not deal with the issues that mattered to Chevron and Gorgon and the banded iron formations in the Mid West, Oakajee went nowhere. And it lost Inpex. I am happy to debate any public policy issue. I agree that local content and work in the fabrication shops is critically important, but it is a bit rich when this crowd opposite try to claim some credibility on industrial development in the state.
Mr C.J. BARNETT : This is the party that would not even pick up the phone for Inpex. As I have said before, I can accept that we might lose an LNG project to Qatar, or a mining project to Canada, but the Labor Party managed to get knocked off by Darwin! Mr C.J. Tallentire : Tell the truth about Inpex, Premier. Mr C.J. BARNETT : Your minister would not pick up the telephone because he was going into an election. Mr E.S. Ripper : You wouldn’t give them the site they wanted, either! Mr C.J. BARNETT : To return to the Oakajee issue, the state development agreement requires the partners to Oakajee Port and Rail—that is, Mitsubishi Corporation and Murchison Metals Ltd—to use their best endeavours to get Chinese participation in the project. By “Chinese participation”, I mean the joint venture and the development and raising of finance for the project. Yes, there will be fabrication of parts and perhaps railcars in China; China is the customer for iron ore. It is all very well to criticise me and the government for what we are doing with Oakajee, but as I tried to say to the demonstration outside, the first job of any government or any Premier or Minister for State Development is to secure the project; otherwise, we will just be arguing in a vacuum. Unless we can get the project — Ms M.M. Quirk : For China! The SPEAKER : Member for Girrawheen! Mr C.J. BARNETT : Unless we can get the project, there is nothing to argue over. I am doing all I can to secure Oakajee for this state, and I am being supported by the Minister for Regional Development and others. We secured Gorgon; Gorgon was in an absolute stalemate. Several members interjected. Mr C.J. BARNETT : It was going nowhere. Remember the banded iron formations? Because the former government would not deal with the issues that mattered to Chevron and Gorgon and the banded iron formations in the Mid West, Oakajee went nowhere. And it lost Inpex. I am happy to debate any public policy issue. I agree that local content and work in the fabrication shops is critically important, but it is a bit rich when this crowd opposite try to claim some credibility on industrial development in the state.
Mr C.J. Tallentire : Tell the truth about Inpex, Premier. Mr C.J. BARNETT : Your minister would not pick up the telephone because he was going into an election. Mr E.S. Ripper : You wouldn’t give them the site they wanted, either! Mr C.J. BARNETT : To return to the Oakajee issue, the state development agreement requires the partners to Oakajee Port and Rail—that is, Mitsubishi Corporation and Murchison Metals Ltd—to use their best endeavours to get Chinese participation in the project. By “Chinese participation”, I mean the joint venture and the development and raising of finance for the project. Yes, there will be fabrication of parts and perhaps railcars in China; China is the customer for iron ore. It is all very well to criticise me and the government for what we are doing with Oakajee, but as I tried to say to the demonstration outside, the first job of any government or any Premier or Minister for State Development is to secure the project; otherwise, we will just be arguing in a vacuum. Unless we can get the project — Ms M.M. Quirk : For China! The SPEAKER : Member for Girrawheen! Mr C.J. BARNETT : Unless we can get the project, there is nothing to argue over. I am doing all I can to secure Oakajee for this state, and I am being supported by the Minister for Regional Development and others. We secured Gorgon; Gorgon was in an absolute stalemate. Several members interjected. Mr C.J. BARNETT : It was going nowhere. Remember the banded iron formations? Because the former government would not deal with the issues that mattered to Chevron and Gorgon and the banded iron formations in the Mid West, Oakajee went nowhere. And it lost Inpex. I am happy to debate any public policy issue. I agree that local content and work in the fabrication shops is critically important, but it is a bit rich when this crowd opposite try to claim some credibility on industrial development in the state.
Mr C.J. BARNETT : Your minister would not pick up the telephone because he was going into an election. Mr E.S. Ripper : You wouldn’t give them the site they wanted, either! Mr C.J. BARNETT : To return to the Oakajee issue, the state development agreement requires the partners to Oakajee Port and Rail—that is, Mitsubishi Corporation and Murchison Metals Ltd—to use their best endeavours to get Chinese participation in the project. By “Chinese participation”, I mean the joint venture and the development and raising of finance for the project. Yes, there will be fabrication of parts and perhaps railcars in China; China is the customer for iron ore. It is all very well to criticise me and the government for what we are doing with Oakajee, but as I tried to say to the demonstration outside, the first job of any government or any Premier or Minister for State Development is to secure the project; otherwise, we will just be arguing in a vacuum. Unless we can get the project — Ms M.M. Quirk : For China! The SPEAKER : Member for Girrawheen! Mr C.J. BARNETT : Unless we can get the project, there is nothing to argue over. I am doing all I can to secure Oakajee for this state, and I am being supported by the Minister for Regional Development and others. We secured Gorgon; Gorgon was in an absolute stalemate. Several members interjected. Mr C.J. BARNETT : It was going nowhere. Remember the banded iron formations? Because the former government would not deal with the issues that mattered to Chevron and Gorgon and the banded iron formations in the Mid West, Oakajee went nowhere. And it lost Inpex. I am happy to debate any public policy issue. I agree that local content and work in the fabrication shops is critically important, but it is a bit rich when this crowd opposite try to claim some credibility on industrial development in the state.
Mr E.S. Ripper : You wouldn’t give them the site they wanted, either! Mr C.J. BARNETT : To return to the Oakajee issue, the state development agreement requires the partners to Oakajee Port and Rail—that is, Mitsubishi Corporation and Murchison Metals Ltd—to use their best endeavours to get Chinese participation in the project. By “Chinese participation”, I mean the joint venture and the development and raising of finance for the project. Yes, there will be fabrication of parts and perhaps railcars in China; China is the customer for iron ore. It is all very well to criticise me and the government for what we are doing with Oakajee, but as I tried to say to the demonstration outside, the first job of any government or any Premier or Minister for State Development is to secure the project; otherwise, we will just be arguing in a vacuum. Unless we can get the project — Ms M.M. Quirk : For China! The SPEAKER : Member for Girrawheen! Mr C.J. BARNETT : Unless we can get the project, there is nothing to argue over. I am doing all I can to secure Oakajee for this state, and I am being supported by the Minister for Regional Development and others. We secured Gorgon; Gorgon was in an absolute stalemate. Several members interjected. Mr C.J. BARNETT : It was going nowhere. Remember the banded iron formations? Because the former government would not deal with the issues that mattered to Chevron and Gorgon and the banded iron formations in the Mid West, Oakajee went nowhere. And it lost Inpex. I am happy to debate any public policy issue. I agree that local content and work in the fabrication shops is critically important, but it is a bit rich when this crowd opposite try to claim some credibility on industrial development in the state.
Mr C.J. BARNETT : To return to the Oakajee issue, the state development agreement requires the partners to Oakajee Port and Rail—that is, Mitsubishi Corporation and Murchison Metals Ltd—to use their best endeavours to get Chinese participation in the project. By “Chinese participation”, I mean the joint venture and the development and raising of finance for the project. Yes, there will be fabrication of parts and perhaps railcars in China; China is the customer for iron ore. It is all very well to criticise me and the government for what we are doing with Oakajee, but as I tried to say to the demonstration outside, the first job of any government or any Premier or Minister for State Development is to secure the project; otherwise, we will just be arguing in a vacuum. Unless we can get the project — Ms M.M. Quirk : For China! The SPEAKER : Member for Girrawheen! Mr C.J. BARNETT : Unless we can get the project, there is nothing to argue over. I am doing all I can to secure Oakajee for this state, and I am being supported by the Minister for Regional Development and others. We secured Gorgon; Gorgon was in an absolute stalemate. Several members interjected. Mr C.J. BARNETT : It was going nowhere. Remember the banded iron formations? Because the former government would not deal with the issues that mattered to Chevron and Gorgon and the banded iron formations in the Mid West, Oakajee went nowhere. And it lost Inpex. I am happy to debate any public policy issue. I agree that local content and work in the fabrication shops is critically important, but it is a bit rich when this crowd opposite try to claim some credibility on industrial development in the state.
Ms M.M. Quirk : For China! The SPEAKER : Member for Girrawheen! Mr C.J. BARNETT : Unless we can get the project, there is nothing to argue over. I am doing all I can to secure Oakajee for this state, and I am being supported by the Minister for Regional Development and others. We secured Gorgon; Gorgon was in an absolute stalemate. Several members interjected. Mr C.J. BARNETT : It was going nowhere. Remember the banded iron formations? Because the former government would not deal with the issues that mattered to Chevron and Gorgon and the banded iron formations in the Mid West, Oakajee went nowhere. And it lost Inpex. I am happy to debate any public policy issue. I agree that local content and work in the fabrication shops is critically important, but it is a bit rich when this crowd opposite try to claim some credibility on industrial development in the state.
The SPEAKER : Member for Girrawheen! Mr C.J. BARNETT : Unless we can get the project, there is nothing to argue over. I am doing all I can to secure Oakajee for this state, and I am being supported by the Minister for Regional Development and others. We secured Gorgon; Gorgon was in an absolute stalemate. Several members interjected. Mr C.J. BARNETT : It was going nowhere. Remember the banded iron formations? Because the former government would not deal with the issues that mattered to Chevron and Gorgon and the banded iron formations in the Mid West, Oakajee went nowhere. And it lost Inpex. I am happy to debate any public policy issue. I agree that local content and work in the fabrication shops is critically important, but it is a bit rich when this crowd opposite try to claim some credibility on industrial development in the state.
Mr C.J. BARNETT : Unless we can get the project, there is nothing to argue over. I am doing all I can to secure Oakajee for this state, and I am being supported by the Minister for Regional Development and others. We secured Gorgon; Gorgon was in an absolute stalemate. Several members interjected. Mr C.J. BARNETT : It was going nowhere. Remember the banded iron formations? Because the former government would not deal with the issues that mattered to Chevron and Gorgon and the banded iron formations in the Mid West, Oakajee went nowhere. And it lost Inpex. I am happy to debate any public policy issue. I agree that local content and work in the fabrication shops is critically important, but it is a bit rich when this crowd opposite try to claim some credibility on industrial development in the state.
Several members interjected. Mr C.J. BARNETT : It was going nowhere. Remember the banded iron formations? Because the former government would not deal with the issues that mattered to Chevron and Gorgon and the banded iron formations in the Mid West, Oakajee went nowhere. And it lost Inpex. I am happy to debate any public policy issue. I agree that local content and work in the fabrication shops is critically important, but it is a bit rich when this crowd opposite try to claim some credibility on industrial development in the state.
Mr C.J. BARNETT : It was going nowhere. Remember the banded iron formations? Because the former government would not deal with the issues that mattered to Chevron and Gorgon and the banded iron formations in the Mid West, Oakajee went nowhere. And it lost Inpex. I am happy to debate any public policy issue. I agree that local content and work in the fabrication shops is critically important, but it is a bit rich when this crowd opposite try to claim some credibility on industrial development in the state.
Mr F.M. Logan : Would anybody like to be the Premier for the day? The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Mr E.S. RIPPER : Yes, member—I volunteer! I note that this is the first Premier in the history of this state to sign a development agreement preferencing foreign jobs over local jobs. Last month I asked the Premier about the decision by Fortescue Metals Group to manufacture all 260 of its 40-tonne railcars overseas despite Western Australia’s rail fabrication industry having the capacity to perform some of this work. Given that the Premier has now had a month to be briefed on this issue, I ask — (1) Is the Premier aware that FMG is required to notify him as the Minister for State Development when it is considering sourcing a plant or equipment or materials from overseas? (2) When exactly did the Premier become aware that FMG was proposing this course of action with regard to these railcars? (3) What did the Premier actually do to stop this work going overseas and to secure at least some of it for WA businesses? Mr C.J. BARNETT replied: I thank the Leader of the Opposition for the question. (1)–(3) If my memory serves me correctly, the Pilbara infrastructure agreement was put through Parliament under the Labor government. Mr E.S. Ripper : I’m asking you what you did and asking whether you implemented it or not. Mr C.J. BARNETT : It is just a little bit rich that the projects that seem to attract attention were ones that were in a sense, if we like, the agreement acts, the final stage of which were negotiated under the previous government—Gorgon and TPI being two examples. Mr E.S. Ripper : Did you enforce the agreements? Mr C.J. BARNETT : Yes, I think I am doing a lot more than members opposite ever did in government to try to increase the level of local content. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Mr C.J. BARNETT : What did members opposite do? Did they do anything? They did not. Mr E.S. Ripper : Why don’t you answer the question about what you did? You’ve got an agreement; did you enforce it? Mr C.J. BARNETT : There is an issue, and as I made clear to the gathering outside—for those who wanted to listen, and most did—I recognise that there is a serious issue of local content and activity in the fabrication shops. I happen to believe that that will change fairly quickly as projects move beyond the conceptual stage and beyond civil groundwork construction into actual steel fabrication. However, that stage is probably at least six months away. As I also outlined outside, I have twice over the past month been down to visit the major steel fabrication yards, first with Hon Simon O’Brien, the Minister for Commerce — Mr E.S. Ripper : You’ve had a month to get briefed on the railcars, but you can’t answer the question. Mr C.J. BARNETT : I have also taken down there the heads of Woodside Petroleum Ltd, Chevron Corporation, BHP Billiton Ltd and Rio Tinto Ltd, and that was the first time that that had ever happened. Also, during my visit to Japan and Korea last week, I got personal commitments from major companies that they would send groups down to inspect those workshops with a view to working with them in alliance on major construction projects. The response by the Liberal–National government to this genuine and serious issue is to roll our sleeves up and get involved. The Labor Party’s solution is to bring in a bill that, even if it were properly drafted and passed, would have absolutely no impact for two to three years, given the time cycle on projects. The Labor Party has no solution for the current situation. It has no solution at all. Mr M. McGowan : So it would work? Mr C.J. BARNETT : Even if it did work, it would only impact in about three years’ time. We have to deal now with the lack of work in the workshops, and we have to deal with both the construction companies and the unions. I have also met with the Australian Steel Institute. Ms M.M. Quirk : FMG? Mr C.J. BARNETT : Fortescue Metals Group Ltd is bringing in its railcars. That was something that was concluded quite some time ago. It is entitled to do that under its agreement. Most of the major companies are importing railcars; that is the reality. That may not be the sort of work that gets done here, but there is a lot more work that can be done here, with some exceptions. Some are looking at railcar construction here, but most of that work has gone offshore. The Labor Party says that I am the only Premier to have signed an agreement to send work offshore; that is factually incorrect. If the opposition is referring in such claims to the Oakajee state development agreement—which is not a formal state agreement, but will come into this place as a state agreement—everyone will have an opportunity to scrutinise that agreement act. Ms M.M. Quirk : When? Mr C.J. BARNETT : When we have the project underway—something the Labor Party did not do too much about. Ms M.M. Quirk : The cheque’s in the mail, is it? Mr C.J. BARNETT : This is the party that would not even pick up the phone for Inpex. As I have said before, I can accept that we might lose an LNG project to Qatar, or a mining project to Canada, but the Labor Party managed to get knocked off by Darwin! Mr C.J. Tallentire : Tell the truth about Inpex, Premier. Mr C.J. BARNETT : Your minister would not pick up the telephone because he was going into an election. Mr E.S. Ripper : You wouldn’t give them the site they wanted, either! Mr C.J. BARNETT : To return to the Oakajee issue, the state development agreement requires the partners to Oakajee Port and Rail—that is, Mitsubishi Corporation and Murchison Metals Ltd—to use their best endeavours to get Chinese participation in the project. By “Chinese participation”, I mean the joint venture and the development and raising of finance for the project. Yes, there will be fabrication of parts and perhaps railcars in China; China is the customer for iron ore. It is all very well to criticise me and the government for what we are doing with Oakajee, but as I tried to say to the demonstration outside, the first job of any government or any Premier or Minister for State Development is to secure the project; otherwise, we will just be arguing in a vacuum. Unless we can get the project — Ms M.M. Quirk : For China! The SPEAKER : Member for Girrawheen! Mr C.J. BARNETT : Unless we can get the project, there is nothing to argue over. I am doing all I can to secure Oakajee for this state, and I am being supported by the Minister for Regional Development and others. We secured Gorgon; Gorgon was in an absolute stalemate. Several members interjected. Mr C.J. BARNETT : It was going nowhere. Remember the banded iron formations? Because the former government would not deal with the issues that mattered to Chevron and Gorgon and the banded iron formations in the Mid West, Oakajee went nowhere. And it lost Inpex. I am happy to debate any public policy issue. I agree that local content and work in the fabrication shops is critically important, but it is a bit rich when this crowd opposite try to claim some credibility on industrial development in the state.
The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Mr E.S. RIPPER : Yes, member—I volunteer! I note that this is the first Premier in the history of this state to sign a development agreement preferencing foreign jobs over local jobs. Last month I asked the Premier about the decision by Fortescue Metals Group to manufacture all 260 of its 40-tonne railcars overseas despite Western Australia’s rail fabrication industry having the capacity to perform some of this work. Given that the Premier has now had a month to be briefed on this issue, I ask — (1) Is the Premier aware that FMG is required to notify him as the Minister for State Development when it is considering sourcing a plant or equipment or materials from overseas? (2) When exactly did the Premier become aware that FMG was proposing this course of action with regard to these railcars? (3) What did the Premier actually do to stop this work going overseas and to secure at least some of it for WA businesses? Mr C.J. BARNETT replied: I thank the Leader of the Opposition for the question. (1)–(3) If my memory serves me correctly, the Pilbara infrastructure agreement was put through Parliament under the Labor government. Mr E.S. Ripper : I’m asking you what you did and asking whether you implemented it or not. Mr C.J. BARNETT : It is just a little bit rich that the projects that seem to attract attention were ones that were in a sense, if we like, the agreement acts, the final stage of which were negotiated under the previous government—Gorgon and TPI being two examples. Mr E.S. Ripper : Did you enforce the agreements? Mr C.J. BARNETT : Yes, I think I am doing a lot more than members opposite ever did in government to try to increase the level of local content. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Mr C.J. BARNETT : What did members opposite do? Did they do anything? They did not. Mr E.S. Ripper : Why don’t you answer the question about what you did? You’ve got an agreement; did you enforce it? Mr C.J. BARNETT : There is an issue, and as I made clear to the gathering outside—for those who wanted to listen, and most did—I recognise that there is a serious issue of local content and activity in the fabrication shops. I happen to believe that that will change fairly quickly as projects move beyond the conceptual stage and beyond civil groundwork construction into actual steel fabrication. However, that stage is probably at least six months away. As I also outlined outside, I have twice over the past month been down to visit the major steel fabrication yards, first with Hon Simon O’Brien, the Minister for Commerce — Mr E.S. Ripper : You’ve had a month to get briefed on the railcars, but you can’t answer the question. Mr C.J. BARNETT : I have also taken down there the heads of Woodside Petroleum Ltd, Chevron Corporation, BHP Billiton Ltd and Rio Tinto Ltd, and that was the first time that that had ever happened. Also, during my visit to Japan and Korea last week, I got personal commitments from major companies that they would send groups down to inspect those workshops with a view to working with them in alliance on major construction projects. The response by the Liberal–National government to this genuine and serious issue is to roll our sleeves up and get involved. The Labor Party’s solution is to bring in a bill that, even if it were properly drafted and passed, would have absolutely no impact for two to three years, given the time cycle on projects. The Labor Party has no solution for the current situation. It has no solution at all. Mr M. McGowan : So it would work? Mr C.J. BARNETT : Even if it did work, it would only impact in about three years’ time. We have to deal now with the lack of work in the workshops, and we have to deal with both the construction companies and the unions. I have also met with the Australian Steel Institute. Ms M.M. Quirk : FMG? Mr C.J. BARNETT : Fortescue Metals Group Ltd is bringing in its railcars. That was something that was concluded quite some time ago. It is entitled to do that under its agreement. Most of the major companies are importing railcars; that is the reality. That may not be the sort of work that gets done here, but there is a lot more work that can be done here, with some exceptions. Some are looking at railcar construction here, but most of that work has gone offshore. The Labor Party says that I am the only Premier to have signed an agreement to send work offshore; that is factually incorrect. If the opposition is referring in such claims to the Oakajee state development agreement—which is not a formal state agreement, but will come into this place as a state agreement—everyone will have an opportunity to scrutinise that agreement act. Ms M.M. Quirk : When? Mr C.J. BARNETT : When we have the project underway—something the Labor Party did not do too much about. Ms M.M. Quirk : The cheque’s in the mail, is it? Mr C.J. BARNETT : This is the party that would not even pick up the phone for Inpex. As I have said before, I can accept that we might lose an LNG project to Qatar, or a mining project to Canada, but the Labor Party managed to get knocked off by Darwin! Mr C.J. Tallentire : Tell the truth about Inpex, Premier. Mr C.J. BARNETT : Your minister would not pick up the telephone because he was going into an election. Mr E.S. Ripper : You wouldn’t give them the site they wanted, either! Mr C.J. BARNETT : To return to the Oakajee issue, the state development agreement requires the partners to Oakajee Port and Rail—that is, Mitsubishi Corporation and Murchison Metals Ltd—to use their best endeavours to get Chinese participation in the project. By “Chinese participation”, I mean the joint venture and the development and raising of finance for the project. Yes, there will be fabrication of parts and perhaps railcars in China; China is the customer for iron ore. It is all very well to criticise me and the government for what we are doing with Oakajee, but as I tried to say to the demonstration outside, the first job of any government or any Premier or Minister for State Development is to secure the project; otherwise, we will just be arguing in a vacuum. Unless we can get the project — Ms M.M. Quirk : For China! The SPEAKER : Member for Girrawheen! Mr C.J. BARNETT : Unless we can get the project, there is nothing to argue over. I am doing all I can to secure Oakajee for this state, and I am being supported by the Minister for Regional Development and others. We secured Gorgon; Gorgon was in an absolute stalemate. Several members interjected. Mr C.J. BARNETT : It was going nowhere. Remember the banded iron formations? Because the former government would not deal with the issues that mattered to Chevron and Gorgon and the banded iron formations in the Mid West, Oakajee went nowhere. And it lost Inpex. I am happy to debate any public policy issue. I agree that local content and work in the fabrication shops is critically important, but it is a bit rich when this crowd opposite try to claim some credibility on industrial development in the state.
Mr E.S. RIPPER : Yes, member—I volunteer! I note that this is the first Premier in the history of this state to sign a development agreement preferencing foreign jobs over local jobs. Last month I asked the Premier about the decision by Fortescue Metals Group to manufacture all 260 of its 40-tonne railcars overseas despite Western Australia’s rail fabrication industry having the capacity to perform some of this work. Given that the Premier has now had a month to be briefed on this issue, I ask — (1) Is the Premier aware that FMG is required to notify him as the Minister for State Development when it is considering sourcing a plant or equipment or materials from overseas? (2) When exactly did the Premier become aware that FMG was proposing this course of action with regard to these railcars? (3) What did the Premier actually do to stop this work going overseas and to secure at least some of it for WA businesses? Mr C.J. BARNETT replied: I thank the Leader of the Opposition for the question. (1)–(3) If my memory serves me correctly, the Pilbara infrastructure agreement was put through Parliament under the Labor government. Mr E.S. Ripper : I’m asking you what you did and asking whether you implemented it or not. Mr C.J. BARNETT : It is just a little bit rich that the projects that seem to attract attention were ones that were in a sense, if we like, the agreement acts, the final stage of which were negotiated under the previous government—Gorgon and TPI being two examples. Mr E.S. Ripper : Did you enforce the agreements? Mr C.J. BARNETT : Yes, I think I am doing a lot more than members opposite ever did in government to try to increase the level of local content. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Mr C.J. BARNETT : What did members opposite do? Did they do anything? They did not. Mr E.S. Ripper : Why don’t you answer the question about what you did? You’ve got an agreement; did you enforce it? Mr C.J. BARNETT : There is an issue, and as I made clear to the gathering outside—for those who wanted to listen, and most did—I recognise that there is a serious issue of local content and activity in the fabrication shops. I happen to believe that that will change fairly quickly as projects move beyond the conceptual stage and beyond civil groundwork construction into actual steel fabrication. However, that stage is probably at least six months away. As I also outlined outside, I have twice over the past month been down to visit the major steel fabrication yards, first with Hon Simon O’Brien, the Minister for Commerce — Mr E.S. Ripper : You’ve had a month to get briefed on the railcars, but you can’t answer the question. Mr C.J. BARNETT : I have also taken down there the heads of Woodside Petroleum Ltd, Chevron Corporation, BHP Billiton Ltd and Rio Tinto Ltd, and that was the first time that that had ever happened. Also, during my visit to Japan and Korea last week, I got personal commitments from major companies that they would send groups down to inspect those workshops with a view to working with them in alliance on major construction projects. The response by the Liberal–National government to this genuine and serious issue is to roll our sleeves up and get involved. The Labor Party’s solution is to bring in a bill that, even if it were properly drafted and passed, would have absolutely no impact for two to three years, given the time cycle on projects. The Labor Party has no solution for the current situation. It has no solution at all. Mr M. McGowan : So it would work? Mr C.J. BARNETT : Even if it did work, it would only impact in about three years’ time. We have to deal now with the lack of work in the workshops, and we have to deal with both the construction companies and the unions. I have also met with the Australian Steel Institute. Ms M.M. Quirk : FMG? Mr C.J. BARNETT : Fortescue Metals Group Ltd is bringing in its railcars. That was something that was concluded quite some time ago. It is entitled to do that under its agreement. Most of the major companies are importing railcars; that is the reality. That may not be the sort of work that gets done here, but there is a lot more work that can be done here, with some exceptions. Some are looking at railcar construction here, but most of that work has gone offshore. The Labor Party says that I am the only Premier to have signed an agreement to send work offshore; that is factually incorrect. If the opposition is referring in such claims to the Oakajee state development agreement—which is not a formal state agreement, but will come into this place as a state agreement—everyone will have an opportunity to scrutinise that agreement act. Ms M.M. Quirk : When? Mr C.J. BARNETT : When we have the project underway—something the Labor Party did not do too much about. Ms M.M. Quirk : The cheque’s in the mail, is it? Mr C.J. BARNETT : This is the party that would not even pick up the phone for Inpex. As I have said before, I can accept that we might lose an LNG project to Qatar, or a mining project to Canada, but the Labor Party managed to get knocked off by Darwin! Mr C.J. Tallentire : Tell the truth about Inpex, Premier. Mr C.J. BARNETT : Your minister would not pick up the telephone because he was going into an election. Mr E.S. Ripper : You wouldn’t give them the site they wanted, either! Mr C.J. BARNETT : To return to the Oakajee issue, the state development agreement requires the partners to Oakajee Port and Rail—that is, Mitsubishi Corporation and Murchison Metals Ltd—to use their best endeavours to get Chinese participation in the project. By “Chinese participation”, I mean the joint venture and the development and raising of finance for the project. Yes, there will be fabrication of parts and perhaps railcars in China; China is the customer for iron ore. It is all very well to criticise me and the government for what we are doing with Oakajee, but as I tried to say to the demonstration outside, the first job of any government or any Premier or Minister for State Development is to secure the project; otherwise, we will just be arguing in a vacuum. Unless we can get the project — Ms M.M. Quirk : For China! The SPEAKER : Member for Girrawheen! Mr C.J. BARNETT : Unless we can get the project, there is nothing to argue over. I am doing all I can to secure Oakajee for this state, and I am being supported by the Minister for Regional Development and others. We secured Gorgon; Gorgon was in an absolute stalemate. Several members interjected. Mr C.J. BARNETT : It was going nowhere. Remember the banded iron formations? Because the former government would not deal with the issues that mattered to Chevron and Gorgon and the banded iron formations in the Mid West, Oakajee went nowhere. And it lost Inpex. I am happy to debate any public policy issue. I agree that local content and work in the fabrication shops is critically important, but it is a bit rich when this crowd opposite try to claim some credibility on industrial development in the state.
I note that this is the first Premier in the history of this state to sign a development agreement preferencing foreign jobs over local jobs. Last month I asked the Premier about the decision by Fortescue Metals Group to manufacture all 260 of its 40-tonne railcars overseas despite Western Australia’s rail fabrication industry having the capacity to perform some of this work. Given that the Premier has now had a month to be briefed on this issue, I ask — (1) Is the Premier aware that FMG is required to notify him as the Minister for State Development when it is considering sourcing a plant or equipment or materials from overseas? (2) When exactly did the Premier become aware that FMG was proposing this course of action with regard to these railcars? (3) What did the Premier actually do to stop this work going overseas and to secure at least some of it for WA businesses? Mr C.J. BARNETT replied: I thank the Leader of the Opposition for the question. (1)–(3) If my memory serves me correctly, the Pilbara infrastructure agreement was put through Parliament under the Labor government. Mr E.S. Ripper : I’m asking you what you did and asking whether you implemented it or not. Mr C.J. BARNETT : It is just a little bit rich that the projects that seem to attract attention were ones that were in a sense, if we like, the agreement acts, the final stage of which were negotiated under the previous government—Gorgon and TPI being two examples. Mr E.S. Ripper : Did you enforce the agreements? Mr C.J. BARNETT : Yes, I think I am doing a lot more than members opposite ever did in government to try to increase the level of local content. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Mr C.J. BARNETT : What did members opposite do? Did they do anything? They did not. Mr E.S. Ripper : Why don’t you answer the question about what you did? You’ve got an agreement; did you enforce it? Mr C.J. BARNETT : There is an issue, and as I made clear to the gathering outside—for those who wanted to listen, and most did—I recognise that there is a serious issue of local content and activity in the fabrication shops. I happen to believe that that will change fairly quickly as projects move beyond the conceptual stage and beyond civil groundwork construction into actual steel fabrication. However, that stage is probably at least six months away. As I also outlined outside, I have twice over the past month been down to visit the major steel fabrication yards, first with Hon Simon O’Brien, the Minister for Commerce — Mr E.S. Ripper : You’ve had a month to get briefed on the railcars, but you can’t answer the question. Mr C.J. BARNETT : I have also taken down there the heads of Woodside Petroleum Ltd, Chevron Corporation, BHP Billiton Ltd and Rio Tinto Ltd, and that was the first time that that had ever happened. Also, during my visit to Japan and Korea last week, I got personal commitments from major companies that they would send groups down to inspect those workshops with a view to working with them in alliance on major construction projects. The response by the Liberal–National government to this genuine and serious issue is to roll our sleeves up and get involved. The Labor Party’s solution is to bring in a bill that, even if it were properly drafted and passed, would have absolutely no impact for two to three years, given the time cycle on projects. The Labor Party has no solution for the current situation. It has no solution at all. Mr M. McGowan : So it would work? Mr C.J. BARNETT : Even if it did work, it would only impact in about three years’ time. We have to deal now with the lack of work in the workshops, and we have to deal with both the construction companies and the unions. I have also met with the Australian Steel Institute. Ms M.M. Quirk : FMG? Mr C.J. BARNETT : Fortescue Metals Group Ltd is bringing in its railcars. That was something that was concluded quite some time ago. It is entitled to do that under its agreement. Most of the major companies are importing railcars; that is the reality. That may not be the sort of work that gets done here, but there is a lot more work that can be done here, with some exceptions. Some are looking at railcar construction here, but most of that work has gone offshore. The Labor Party says that I am the only Premier to have signed an agreement to send work offshore; that is factually incorrect. If the opposition is referring in such claims to the Oakajee state development agreement—which is not a formal state agreement, but will come into this place as a state agreement—everyone will have an opportunity to scrutinise that agreement act. Ms M.M. Quirk : When? Mr C.J. BARNETT : When we have the project underway—something the Labor Party did not do too much about. Ms M.M. Quirk : The cheque’s in the mail, is it? Mr C.J. BARNETT : This is the party that would not even pick up the phone for Inpex. As I have said before, I can accept that we might lose an LNG project to Qatar, or a mining project to Canada, but the Labor Party managed to get knocked off by Darwin! Mr C.J. Tallentire : Tell the truth about Inpex, Premier. Mr C.J. BARNETT : Your minister would not pick up the telephone because he was going into an election. Mr E.S. Ripper : You wouldn’t give them the site they wanted, either! Mr C.J. BARNETT : To return to the Oakajee issue, the state development agreement requires the partners to Oakajee Port and Rail—that is, Mitsubishi Corporation and Murchison Metals Ltd—to use their best endeavours to get Chinese participation in the project. By “Chinese participation”, I mean the joint venture and the development and raising of finance for the project. Yes, there will be fabrication of parts and perhaps railcars in China; China is the customer for iron ore. It is all very well to criticise me and the government for what we are doing with Oakajee, but as I tried to say to the demonstration outside, the first job of any government or any Premier or Minister for State Development is to secure the project; otherwise, we will just be arguing in a vacuum. Unless we can get the project — Ms M.M. Quirk : For China! The SPEAKER : Member for Girrawheen! Mr C.J. BARNETT : Unless we can get the project, there is nothing to argue over. I am doing all I can to secure Oakajee for this state, and I am being supported by the Minister for Regional Development and others. We secured Gorgon; Gorgon was in an absolute stalemate. Several members interjected. Mr C.J. BARNETT : It was going nowhere. Remember the banded iron formations? Because the former government would not deal with the issues that mattered to Chevron and Gorgon and the banded iron formations in the Mid West, Oakajee went nowhere. And it lost Inpex. I am happy to debate any public policy issue. I agree that local content and work in the fabrication shops is critically important, but it is a bit rich when this crowd opposite try to claim some credibility on industrial development in the state.
(1) Is the Premier aware that FMG is required to notify him as the Minister for State Development when it is considering sourcing a plant or equipment or materials from overseas? (2) When exactly did the Premier become aware that FMG was proposing this course of action with regard to these railcars? (3) What did the Premier actually do to stop this work going overseas and to secure at least some of it for WA businesses? Mr C.J. BARNETT replied: I thank the Leader of the Opposition for the question. (1)–(3) If my memory serves me correctly, the Pilbara infrastructure agreement was put through Parliament under the Labor government. Mr E.S. Ripper : I’m asking you what you did and asking whether you implemented it or not. Mr C.J. BARNETT : It is just a little bit rich that the projects that seem to attract attention were ones that were in a sense, if we like, the agreement acts, the final stage of which were negotiated under the previous government—Gorgon and TPI being two examples. Mr E.S. Ripper : Did you enforce the agreements? Mr C.J. BARNETT : Yes, I think I am doing a lot more than members opposite ever did in government to try to increase the level of local content. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Mr C.J. BARNETT : What did members opposite do? Did they do anything? They did not. Mr E.S. Ripper : Why don’t you answer the question about what you did? You’ve got an agreement; did you enforce it? Mr C.J. BARNETT : There is an issue, and as I made clear to the gathering outside—for those who wanted to listen, and most did—I recognise that there is a serious issue of local content and activity in the fabrication shops. I happen to believe that that will change fairly quickly as projects move beyond the conceptual stage and beyond civil groundwork construction into actual steel fabrication. However, that stage is probably at least six months away. As I also outlined outside, I have twice over the past month been down to visit the major steel fabrication yards, first with Hon Simon O’Brien, the Minister for Commerce — Mr E.S. Ripper : You’ve had a month to get briefed on the railcars, but you can’t answer the question. Mr C.J. BARNETT : I have also taken down there the heads of Woodside Petroleum Ltd, Chevron Corporation, BHP Billiton Ltd and Rio Tinto Ltd, and that was the first time that that had ever happened. Also, during my visit to Japan and Korea last week, I got personal commitments from major companies that they would send groups down to inspect those workshops with a view to working with them in alliance on major construction projects. The response by the Liberal–National government to this genuine and serious issue is to roll our sleeves up and get involved. The Labor Party’s solution is to bring in a bill that, even if it were properly drafted and passed, would have absolutely no impact for two to three years, given the time cycle on projects. The Labor Party has no solution for the current situation. It has no solution at all. Mr M. McGowan : So it would work? Mr C.J. BARNETT : Even if it did work, it would only impact in about three years’ time. We have to deal now with the lack of work in the workshops, and we have to deal with both the construction companies and the unions. I have also met with the Australian Steel Institute. Ms M.M. Quirk : FMG? Mr C.J. BARNETT : Fortescue Metals Group Ltd is bringing in its railcars. That was something that was concluded quite some time ago. It is entitled to do that under its agreement. Most of the major companies are importing railcars; that is the reality. That may not be the sort of work that gets done here, but there is a lot more work that can be done here, with some exceptions. Some are looking at railcar construction here, but most of that work has gone offshore. The Labor Party says that I am the only Premier to have signed an agreement to send work offshore; that is factually incorrect. If the opposition is referring in such claims to the Oakajee state development agreement—which is not a formal state agreement, but will come into this place as a state agreement—everyone will have an opportunity to scrutinise that agreement act. Ms M.M. Quirk : When? Mr C.J. BARNETT : When we have the project underway—something the Labor Party did not do too much about. Ms M.M. Quirk : The cheque’s in the mail, is it? Mr C.J. BARNETT : This is the party that would not even pick up the phone for Inpex. As I have said before, I can accept that we might lose an LNG project to Qatar, or a mining project to Canada, but the Labor Party managed to get knocked off by Darwin! Mr C.J. Tallentire : Tell the truth about Inpex, Premier. Mr C.J. BARNETT : Your minister would not pick up the telephone because he was going into an election. Mr E.S. Ripper : You wouldn’t give them the site they wanted, either! Mr C.J. BARNETT : To return to the Oakajee issue, the state development agreement requires the partners to Oakajee Port and Rail—that is, Mitsubishi Corporation and Murchison Metals Ltd—to use their best endeavours to get Chinese participation in the project. By “Chinese participation”, I mean the joint venture and the development and raising of finance for the project. Yes, there will be fabrication of parts and perhaps railcars in China; China is the customer for iron ore. It is all very well to criticise me and the government for what we are doing with Oakajee, but as I tried to say to the demonstration outside, the first job of any government or any Premier or Minister for State Development is to secure the project; otherwise, we will just be arguing in a vacuum. Unless we can get the project — Ms M.M. Quirk : For China! The SPEAKER : Member for Girrawheen! Mr C.J. BARNETT : Unless we can get the project, there is nothing to argue over. I am doing all I can to secure Oakajee for this state, and I am being supported by the Minister for Regional Development and others. We secured Gorgon; Gorgon was in an absolute stalemate. Several members interjected. Mr C.J. BARNETT : It was going nowhere. Remember the banded iron formations? Because the former government would not deal with the issues that mattered to Chevron and Gorgon and the banded iron formations in the Mid West, Oakajee went nowhere. And it lost Inpex. I am happy to debate any public policy issue. I agree that local content and work in the fabrication shops is critically important, but it is a bit rich when this crowd opposite try to claim some credibility on industrial development in the state.
(2) When exactly did the Premier become aware that FMG was proposing this course of action with regard to these railcars? (3) What did the Premier actually do to stop this work going overseas and to secure at least some of it for WA businesses? Mr C.J. BARNETT replied: I thank the Leader of the Opposition for the question. (1)–(3) If my memory serves me correctly, the Pilbara infrastructure agreement was put through Parliament under the Labor government. Mr E.S. Ripper : I’m asking you what you did and asking whether you implemented it or not. Mr C.J. BARNETT : It is just a little bit rich that the projects that seem to attract attention were ones that were in a sense, if we like, the agreement acts, the final stage of which were negotiated under the previous government—Gorgon and TPI being two examples. Mr E.S. Ripper : Did you enforce the agreements? Mr C.J. BARNETT : Yes, I think I am doing a lot more than members opposite ever did in government to try to increase the level of local content. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Mr C.J. BARNETT : What did members opposite do? Did they do anything? They did not. Mr E.S. Ripper : Why don’t you answer the question about what you did? You’ve got an agreement; did you enforce it? Mr C.J. BARNETT : There is an issue, and as I made clear to the gathering outside—for those who wanted to listen, and most did—I recognise that there is a serious issue of local content and activity in the fabrication shops. I happen to believe that that will change fairly quickly as projects move beyond the conceptual stage and beyond civil groundwork construction into actual steel fabrication. However, that stage is probably at least six months away. As I also outlined outside, I have twice over the past month been down to visit the major steel fabrication yards, first with Hon Simon O’Brien, the Minister for Commerce — Mr E.S. Ripper : You’ve had a month to get briefed on the railcars, but you can’t answer the question. Mr C.J. BARNETT : I have also taken down there the heads of Woodside Petroleum Ltd, Chevron Corporation, BHP Billiton Ltd and Rio Tinto Ltd, and that was the first time that that had ever happened. Also, during my visit to Japan and Korea last week, I got personal commitments from major companies that they would send groups down to inspect those workshops with a view to working with them in alliance on major construction projects. The response by the Liberal–National government to this genuine and serious issue is to roll our sleeves up and get involved. The Labor Party’s solution is to bring in a bill that, even if it were properly drafted and passed, would have absolutely no impact for two to three years, given the time cycle on projects. The Labor Party has no solution for the current situation. It has no solution at all. Mr M. McGowan : So it would work? Mr C.J. BARNETT : Even if it did work, it would only impact in about three years’ time. We have to deal now with the lack of work in the workshops, and we have to deal with both the construction companies and the unions. I have also met with the Australian Steel Institute. Ms M.M. Quirk : FMG? Mr C.J. BARNETT : Fortescue Metals Group Ltd is bringing in its railcars. That was something that was concluded quite some time ago. It is entitled to do that under its agreement. Most of the major companies are importing railcars; that is the reality. That may not be the sort of work that gets done here, but there is a lot more work that can be done here, with some exceptions. Some are looking at railcar construction here, but most of that work has gone offshore. The Labor Party says that I am the only Premier to have signed an agreement to send work offshore; that is factually incorrect. If the opposition is referring in such claims to the Oakajee state development agreement—which is not a formal state agreement, but will come into this place as a state agreement—everyone will have an opportunity to scrutinise that agreement act. Ms M.M. Quirk : When? Mr C.J. BARNETT : When we have the project underway—something the Labor Party did not do too much about. Ms M.M. Quirk : The cheque’s in the mail, is it? Mr C.J. BARNETT : This is the party that would not even pick up the phone for Inpex. As I have said before, I can accept that we might lose an LNG project to Qatar, or a mining project to Canada, but the Labor Party managed to get knocked off by Darwin! Mr C.J. Tallentire : Tell the truth about Inpex, Premier. Mr C.J. BARNETT : Your minister would not pick up the telephone because he was going into an election. Mr E.S. Ripper : You wouldn’t give them the site they wanted, either! Mr C.J. BARNETT : To return to the Oakajee issue, the state development agreement requires the partners to Oakajee Port and Rail—that is, Mitsubishi Corporation and Murchison Metals Ltd—to use their best endeavours to get Chinese participation in the project. By “Chinese participation”, I mean the joint venture and the development and raising of finance for the project. Yes, there will be fabrication of parts and perhaps railcars in China; China is the customer for iron ore. It is all very well to criticise me and the government for what we are doing with Oakajee, but as I tried to say to the demonstration outside, the first job of any government or any Premier or Minister for State Development is to secure the project; otherwise, we will just be arguing in a vacuum. Unless we can get the project — Ms M.M. Quirk : For China! The SPEAKER : Member for Girrawheen! Mr C.J. BARNETT : Unless we can get the project, there is nothing to argue over. I am doing all I can to secure Oakajee for this state, and I am being supported by the Minister for Regional Development and others. We secured Gorgon; Gorgon was in an absolute stalemate. Several members interjected. Mr C.J. BARNETT : It was going nowhere. Remember the banded iron formations? Because the former government would not deal with the issues that mattered to Chevron and Gorgon and the banded iron formations in the Mid West, Oakajee went nowhere. And it lost Inpex. I am happy to debate any public policy issue. I agree that local content and work in the fabrication shops is critically important, but it is a bit rich when this crowd opposite try to claim some credibility on industrial development in the state.
(3) What did the Premier actually do to stop this work going overseas and to secure at least some of it for WA businesses? Mr C.J. BARNETT replied: I thank the Leader of the Opposition for the question. (1)–(3) If my memory serves me correctly, the Pilbara infrastructure agreement was put through Parliament under the Labor government. Mr E.S. Ripper : I’m asking you what you did and asking whether you implemented it or not. Mr C.J. BARNETT : It is just a little bit rich that the projects that seem to attract attention were ones that were in a sense, if we like, the agreement acts, the final stage of which were negotiated under the previous government—Gorgon and TPI being two examples. Mr E.S. Ripper : Did you enforce the agreements? Mr C.J. BARNETT : Yes, I think I am doing a lot more than members opposite ever did in government to try to increase the level of local content. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Mr C.J. BARNETT : What did members opposite do? Did they do anything? They did not. Mr E.S. Ripper : Why don’t you answer the question about what you did? You’ve got an agreement; did you enforce it? Mr C.J. BARNETT : There is an issue, and as I made clear to the gathering outside—for those who wanted to listen, and most did—I recognise that there is a serious issue of local content and activity in the fabrication shops. I happen to believe that that will change fairly quickly as projects move beyond the conceptual stage and beyond civil groundwork construction into actual steel fabrication. However, that stage is probably at least six months away. As I also outlined outside, I have twice over the past month been down to visit the major steel fabrication yards, first with Hon Simon O’Brien, the Minister for Commerce — Mr E.S. Ripper : You’ve had a month to get briefed on the railcars, but you can’t answer the question. Mr C.J. BARNETT : I have also taken down there the heads of Woodside Petroleum Ltd, Chevron Corporation, BHP Billiton Ltd and Rio Tinto Ltd, and that was the first time that that had ever happened. Also, during my visit to Japan and Korea last week, I got personal commitments from major companies that they would send groups down to inspect those workshops with a view to working with them in alliance on major construction projects. The response by the Liberal–National government to this genuine and serious issue is to roll our sleeves up and get involved. The Labor Party’s solution is to bring in a bill that, even if it were properly drafted and passed, would have absolutely no impact for two to three years, given the time cycle on projects. The Labor Party has no solution for the current situation. It has no solution at all. Mr M. McGowan : So it would work? Mr C.J. BARNETT : Even if it did work, it would only impact in about three years’ time. We have to deal now with the lack of work in the workshops, and we have to deal with both the construction companies and the unions. I have also met with the Australian Steel Institute. Ms M.M. Quirk : FMG? Mr C.J. BARNETT : Fortescue Metals Group Ltd is bringing in its railcars. That was something that was concluded quite some time ago. It is entitled to do that under its agreement. Most of the major companies are importing railcars; that is the reality. That may not be the sort of work that gets done here, but there is a lot more work that can be done here, with some exceptions. Some are looking at railcar construction here, but most of that work has gone offshore. The Labor Party says that I am the only Premier to have signed an agreement to send work offshore; that is factually incorrect. If the opposition is referring in such claims to the Oakajee state development agreement—which is not a formal state agreement, but will come into this place as a state agreement—everyone will have an opportunity to scrutinise that agreement act. Ms M.M. Quirk : When? Mr C.J. BARNETT : When we have the project underway—something the Labor Party did not do too much about. Ms M.M. Quirk : The cheque’s in the mail, is it? Mr C.J. BARNETT : This is the party that would not even pick up the phone for Inpex. As I have said before, I can accept that we might lose an LNG project to Qatar, or a mining project to Canada, but the Labor Party managed to get knocked off by Darwin! Mr C.J. Tallentire : Tell the truth about Inpex, Premier. Mr C.J. BARNETT : Your minister would not pick up the telephone because he was going into an election. Mr E.S. Ripper : You wouldn’t give them the site they wanted, either! Mr C.J. BARNETT : To return to the Oakajee issue, the state development agreement requires the partners to Oakajee Port and Rail—that is, Mitsubishi Corporation and Murchison Metals Ltd—to use their best endeavours to get Chinese participation in the project. By “Chinese participation”, I mean the joint venture and the development and raising of finance for the project. Yes, there will be fabrication of parts and perhaps railcars in China; China is the customer for iron ore. It is all very well to criticise me and the government for what we are doing with Oakajee, but as I tried to say to the demonstration outside, the first job of any government or any Premier or Minister for State Development is to secure the project; otherwise, we will just be arguing in a vacuum. Unless we can get the project — Ms M.M. Quirk : For China! The SPEAKER : Member for Girrawheen! Mr C.J. BARNETT : Unless we can get the project, there is nothing to argue over. I am doing all I can to secure Oakajee for this state, and I am being supported by the Minister for Regional Development and others. We secured Gorgon; Gorgon was in an absolute stalemate. Several members interjected. Mr C.J. BARNETT : It was going nowhere. Remember the banded iron formations? Because the former government would not deal with the issues that mattered to Chevron and Gorgon and the banded iron formations in the Mid West, Oakajee went nowhere. And it lost Inpex. I am happy to debate any public policy issue. I agree that local content and work in the fabrication shops is critically important, but it is a bit rich when this crowd opposite try to claim some credibility on industrial development in the state.
Mr C.J. BARNETT replied: I thank the Leader of the Opposition for the question. (1)–(3) If my memory serves me correctly, the Pilbara infrastructure agreement was put through Parliament under the Labor government. Mr E.S. Ripper : I’m asking you what you did and asking whether you implemented it or not. Mr C.J. BARNETT : It is just a little bit rich that the projects that seem to attract attention were ones that were in a sense, if we like, the agreement acts, the final stage of which were negotiated under the previous government—Gorgon and TPI being two examples. Mr E.S. Ripper : Did you enforce the agreements? Mr C.J. BARNETT : Yes, I think I am doing a lot more than members opposite ever did in government to try to increase the level of local content. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Mr C.J. BARNETT : What did members opposite do? Did they do anything? They did not. Mr E.S. Ripper : Why don’t you answer the question about what you did? You’ve got an agreement; did you enforce it? Mr C.J. BARNETT : There is an issue, and as I made clear to the gathering outside—for those who wanted to listen, and most did—I recognise that there is a serious issue of local content and activity in the fabrication shops. I happen to believe that that will change fairly quickly as projects move beyond the conceptual stage and beyond civil groundwork construction into actual steel fabrication. However, that stage is probably at least six months away. As I also outlined outside, I have twice over the past month been down to visit the major steel fabrication yards, first with Hon Simon O’Brien, the Minister for Commerce — Mr E.S. Ripper : You’ve had a month to get briefed on the railcars, but you can’t answer the question. Mr C.J. BARNETT : I have also taken down there the heads of Woodside Petroleum Ltd, Chevron Corporation, BHP Billiton Ltd and Rio Tinto Ltd, and that was the first time that that had ever happened. Also, during my visit to Japan and Korea last week, I got personal commitments from major companies that they would send groups down to inspect those workshops with a view to working with them in alliance on major construction projects. The response by the Liberal–National government to this genuine and serious issue is to roll our sleeves up and get involved. The Labor Party’s solution is to bring in a bill that, even if it were properly drafted and passed, would have absolutely no impact for two to three years, given the time cycle on projects. The Labor Party has no solution for the current situation. It has no solution at all. Mr M. McGowan : So it would work? Mr C.J. BARNETT : Even if it did work, it would only impact in about three years’ time. We have to deal now with the lack of work in the workshops, and we have to deal with both the construction companies and the unions. I have also met with the Australian Steel Institute. Ms M.M. Quirk : FMG? Mr C.J. BARNETT : Fortescue Metals Group Ltd is bringing in its railcars. That was something that was concluded quite some time ago. It is entitled to do that under its agreement. Most of the major companies are importing railcars; that is the reality. That may not be the sort of work that gets done here, but there is a lot more work that can be done here, with some exceptions. Some are looking at railcar construction here, but most of that work has gone offshore. The Labor Party says that I am the only Premier to have signed an agreement to send work offshore; that is factually incorrect. If the opposition is referring in such claims to the Oakajee state development agreement—which is not a formal state agreement, but will come into this place as a state agreement—everyone will have an opportunity to scrutinise that agreement act. Ms M.M. Quirk : When? Mr C.J. BARNETT : When we have the project underway—something the Labor Party did not do too much about. Ms M.M. Quirk : The cheque’s in the mail, is it? Mr C.J. BARNETT : This is the party that would not even pick up the phone for Inpex. As I have said before, I can accept that we might lose an LNG project to Qatar, or a mining project to Canada, but the Labor Party managed to get knocked off by Darwin! Mr C.J. Tallentire : Tell the truth about Inpex, Premier. Mr C.J. BARNETT : Your minister would not pick up the telephone because he was going into an election. Mr E.S. Ripper : You wouldn’t give them the site they wanted, either! Mr C.J. BARNETT : To return to the Oakajee issue, the state development agreement requires the partners to Oakajee Port and Rail—that is, Mitsubishi Corporation and Murchison Metals Ltd—to use their best endeavours to get Chinese participation in the project. By “Chinese participation”, I mean the joint venture and the development and raising of finance for the project. Yes, there will be fabrication of parts and perhaps railcars in China; China is the customer for iron ore. It is all very well to criticise me and the government for what we are doing with Oakajee, but as I tried to say to the demonstration outside, the first job of any government or any Premier or Minister for State Development is to secure the project; otherwise, we will just be arguing in a vacuum. Unless we can get the project — Ms M.M. Quirk : For China! The SPEAKER : Member for Girrawheen! Mr C.J. BARNETT : Unless we can get the project, there is nothing to argue over. I am doing all I can to secure Oakajee for this state, and I am being supported by the Minister for Regional Development and others. We secured Gorgon; Gorgon was in an absolute stalemate. Several members interjected. Mr C.J. BARNETT : It was going nowhere. Remember the banded iron formations? Because the former government would not deal with the issues that mattered to Chevron and Gorgon and the banded iron formations in the Mid West, Oakajee went nowhere. And it lost Inpex. I am happy to debate any public policy issue. I agree that local content and work in the fabrication shops is critically important, but it is a bit rich when this crowd opposite try to claim some credibility on industrial development in the state.
I thank the Leader of the Opposition for the question. (1)–(3) If my memory serves me correctly, the Pilbara infrastructure agreement was put through Parliament under the Labor government. Mr E.S. Ripper : I’m asking you what you did and asking whether you implemented it or not. Mr C.J. BARNETT : It is just a little bit rich that the projects that seem to attract attention were ones that were in a sense, if we like, the agreement acts, the final stage of which were negotiated under the previous government—Gorgon and TPI being two examples. Mr E.S. Ripper : Did you enforce the agreements? Mr C.J. BARNETT : Yes, I think I am doing a lot more than members opposite ever did in government to try to increase the level of local content. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Mr C.J. BARNETT : What did members opposite do? Did they do anything? They did not. Mr E.S. Ripper : Why don’t you answer the question about what you did? You’ve got an agreement; did you enforce it? Mr C.J. BARNETT : There is an issue, and as I made clear to the gathering outside—for those who wanted to listen, and most did—I recognise that there is a serious issue of local content and activity in the fabrication shops. I happen to believe that that will change fairly quickly as projects move beyond the conceptual stage and beyond civil groundwork construction into actual steel fabrication. However, that stage is probably at least six months away. As I also outlined outside, I have twice over the past month been down to visit the major steel fabrication yards, first with Hon Simon O’Brien, the Minister for Commerce — Mr E.S. Ripper : You’ve had a month to get briefed on the railcars, but you can’t answer the question. Mr C.J. BARNETT : I have also taken down there the heads of Woodside Petroleum Ltd, Chevron Corporation, BHP Billiton Ltd and Rio Tinto Ltd, and that was the first time that that had ever happened. Also, during my visit to Japan and Korea last week, I got personal commitments from major companies that they would send groups down to inspect those workshops with a view to working with them in alliance on major construction projects. The response by the Liberal–National government to this genuine and serious issue is to roll our sleeves up and get involved. The Labor Party’s solution is to bring in a bill that, even if it were properly drafted and passed, would have absolutely no impact for two to three years, given the time cycle on projects. The Labor Party has no solution for the current situation. It has no solution at all. Mr M. McGowan : So it would work? Mr C.J. BARNETT : Even if it did work, it would only impact in about three years’ time. We have to deal now with the lack of work in the workshops, and we have to deal with both the construction companies and the unions. I have also met with the Australian Steel Institute. Ms M.M. Quirk : FMG? Mr C.J. BARNETT : Fortescue Metals Group Ltd is bringing in its railcars. That was something that was concluded quite some time ago. It is entitled to do that under its agreement. Most of the major companies are importing railcars; that is the reality. That may not be the sort of work that gets done here, but there is a lot more work that can be done here, with some exceptions. Some are looking at railcar construction here, but most of that work has gone offshore. The Labor Party says that I am the only Premier to have signed an agreement to send work offshore; that is factually incorrect. If the opposition is referring in such claims to the Oakajee state development agreement—which is not a formal state agreement, but will come into this place as a state agreement—everyone will have an opportunity to scrutinise that agreement act. Ms M.M. Quirk : When? Mr C.J. BARNETT : When we have the project underway—something the Labor Party did not do too much about. Ms M.M. Quirk : The cheque’s in the mail, is it? Mr C.J. BARNETT : This is the party that would not even pick up the phone for Inpex. As I have said before, I can accept that we might lose an LNG project to Qatar, or a mining project to Canada, but the Labor Party managed to get knocked off by Darwin! Mr C.J. Tallentire : Tell the truth about Inpex, Premier. Mr C.J. BARNETT : Your minister would not pick up the telephone because he was going into an election. Mr E.S. Ripper : You wouldn’t give them the site they wanted, either! Mr C.J. BARNETT : To return to the Oakajee issue, the state development agreement requires the partners to Oakajee Port and Rail—that is, Mitsubishi Corporation and Murchison Metals Ltd—to use their best endeavours to get Chinese participation in the project. By “Chinese participation”, I mean the joint venture and the development and raising of finance for the project. Yes, there will be fabrication of parts and perhaps railcars in China; China is the customer for iron ore. It is all very well to criticise me and the government for what we are doing with Oakajee, but as I tried to say to the demonstration outside, the first job of any government or any Premier or Minister for State Development is to secure the project; otherwise, we will just be arguing in a vacuum. Unless we can get the project — Ms M.M. Quirk : For China! The SPEAKER : Member for Girrawheen! Mr C.J. BARNETT : Unless we can get the project, there is nothing to argue over. I am doing all I can to secure Oakajee for this state, and I am being supported by the Minister for Regional Development and others. We secured Gorgon; Gorgon was in an absolute stalemate. Several members interjected. Mr C.J. BARNETT : It was going nowhere. Remember the banded iron formations? Because the former government would not deal with the issues that mattered to Chevron and Gorgon and the banded iron formations in the Mid West, Oakajee went nowhere. And it lost Inpex. I am happy to debate any public policy issue. I agree that local content and work in the fabrication shops is critically important, but it is a bit rich when this crowd opposite try to claim some credibility on industrial development in the state.
(1)–(3) If my memory serves me correctly, the Pilbara infrastructure agreement was put through Parliament under the Labor government. Mr E.S. Ripper : I’m asking you what you did and asking whether you implemented it or not. Mr C.J. BARNETT : It is just a little bit rich that the projects that seem to attract attention were ones that were in a sense, if we like, the agreement acts, the final stage of which were negotiated under the previous government—Gorgon and TPI being two examples. Mr E.S. Ripper : Did you enforce the agreements? Mr C.J. BARNETT : Yes, I think I am doing a lot more than members opposite ever did in government to try to increase the level of local content. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Mr C.J. BARNETT : What did members opposite do? Did they do anything? They did not. Mr E.S. Ripper : Why don’t you answer the question about what you did? You’ve got an agreement; did you enforce it? Mr C.J. BARNETT : There is an issue, and as I made clear to the gathering outside—for those who wanted to listen, and most did—I recognise that there is a serious issue of local content and activity in the fabrication shops. I happen to believe that that will change fairly quickly as projects move beyond the conceptual stage and beyond civil groundwork construction into actual steel fabrication. However, that stage is probably at least six months away. As I also outlined outside, I have twice over the past month been down to visit the major steel fabrication yards, first with Hon Simon O’Brien, the Minister for Commerce — Mr E.S. Ripper : You’ve had a month to get briefed on the railcars, but you can’t answer the question. Mr C.J. BARNETT : I have also taken down there the heads of Woodside Petroleum Ltd, Chevron Corporation, BHP Billiton Ltd and Rio Tinto Ltd, and that was the first time that that had ever happened. Also, during my visit to Japan and Korea last week, I got personal commitments from major companies that they would send groups down to inspect those workshops with a view to working with them in alliance on major construction projects. The response by the Liberal–National government to this genuine and serious issue is to roll our sleeves up and get involved. The Labor Party’s solution is to bring in a bill that, even if it were properly drafted and passed, would have absolutely no impact for two to three years, given the time cycle on projects. The Labor Party has no solution for the current situation. It has no solution at all. Mr M. McGowan : So it would work? Mr C.J. BARNETT : Even if it did work, it would only impact in about three years’ time. We have to deal now with the lack of work in the workshops, and we have to deal with both the construction companies and the unions. I have also met with the Australian Steel Institute. Ms M.M. Quirk : FMG? Mr C.J. BARNETT : Fortescue Metals Group Ltd is bringing in its railcars. That was something that was concluded quite some time ago. It is entitled to do that under its agreement. Most of the major companies are importing railcars; that is the reality. That may not be the sort of work that gets done here, but there is a lot more work that can be done here, with some exceptions. Some are looking at railcar construction here, but most of that work has gone offshore. The Labor Party says that I am the only Premier to have signed an agreement to send work offshore; that is factually incorrect. If the opposition is referring in such claims to the Oakajee state development agreement—which is not a formal state agreement, but will come into this place as a state agreement—everyone will have an opportunity to scrutinise that agreement act. Ms M.M. Quirk : When? Mr C.J. BARNETT : When we have the project underway—something the Labor Party did not do too much about. Ms M.M. Quirk : The cheque’s in the mail, is it? Mr C.J. BARNETT : This is the party that would not even pick up the phone for Inpex. As I have said before, I can accept that we might lose an LNG project to Qatar, or a mining project to Canada, but the Labor Party managed to get knocked off by Darwin! Mr C.J. Tallentire : Tell the truth about Inpex, Premier. Mr C.J. BARNETT : Your minister would not pick up the telephone because he was going into an election. Mr E.S. Ripper : You wouldn’t give them the site they wanted, either! Mr C.J. BARNETT : To return to the Oakajee issue, the state development agreement requires the partners to Oakajee Port and Rail—that is, Mitsubishi Corporation and Murchison Metals Ltd—to use their best endeavours to get Chinese participation in the project. By “Chinese participation”, I mean the joint venture and the development and raising of finance for the project. Yes, there will be fabrication of parts and perhaps railcars in China; China is the customer for iron ore. It is all very well to criticise me and the government for what we are doing with Oakajee, but as I tried to say to the demonstration outside, the first job of any government or any Premier or Minister for State Development is to secure the project; otherwise, we will just be arguing in a vacuum. Unless we can get the project — Ms M.M. Quirk : For China! The SPEAKER : Member for Girrawheen! Mr C.J. BARNETT : Unless we can get the project, there is nothing to argue over. I am doing all I can to secure Oakajee for this state, and I am being supported by the Minister for Regional Development and others. We secured Gorgon; Gorgon was in an absolute stalemate. Several members interjected. Mr C.J. BARNETT : It was going nowhere. Remember the banded iron formations? Because the former government would not deal with the issues that mattered to Chevron and Gorgon and the banded iron formations in the Mid West, Oakajee went nowhere. And it lost Inpex. I am happy to debate any public policy issue. I agree that local content and work in the fabrication shops is critically important, but it is a bit rich when this crowd opposite try to claim some credibility on industrial development in the state.
Mr E.S. Ripper : I’m asking you what you did and asking whether you implemented it or not. Mr C.J. BARNETT : It is just a little bit rich that the projects that seem to attract attention were ones that were in a sense, if we like, the agreement acts, the final stage of which were negotiated under the previous government—Gorgon and TPI being two examples. Mr E.S. Ripper : Did you enforce the agreements? Mr C.J. BARNETT : Yes, I think I am doing a lot more than members opposite ever did in government to try to increase the level of local content. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Mr C.J. BARNETT : What did members opposite do? Did they do anything? They did not. Mr E.S. Ripper : Why don’t you answer the question about what you did? You’ve got an agreement; did you enforce it? Mr C.J. BARNETT : There is an issue, and as I made clear to the gathering outside—for those who wanted to listen, and most did—I recognise that there is a serious issue of local content and activity in the fabrication shops. I happen to believe that that will change fairly quickly as projects move beyond the conceptual stage and beyond civil groundwork construction into actual steel fabrication. However, that stage is probably at least six months away. As I also outlined outside, I have twice over the past month been down to visit the major steel fabrication yards, first with Hon Simon O’Brien, the Minister for Commerce — Mr E.S. Ripper : You’ve had a month to get briefed on the railcars, but you can’t answer the question. Mr C.J. BARNETT : I have also taken down there the heads of Woodside Petroleum Ltd, Chevron Corporation, BHP Billiton Ltd and Rio Tinto Ltd, and that was the first time that that had ever happened. Also, during my visit to Japan and Korea last week, I got personal commitments from major companies that they would send groups down to inspect those workshops with a view to working with them in alliance on major construction projects. The response by the Liberal–National government to this genuine and serious issue is to roll our sleeves up and get involved. The Labor Party’s solution is to bring in a bill that, even if it were properly drafted and passed, would have absolutely no impact for two to three years, given the time cycle on projects. The Labor Party has no solution for the current situation. It has no solution at all. Mr M. McGowan : So it would work? Mr C.J. BARNETT : Even if it did work, it would only impact in about three years’ time. We have to deal now with the lack of work in the workshops, and we have to deal with both the construction companies and the unions. I have also met with the Australian Steel Institute. Ms M.M. Quirk : FMG? Mr C.J. BARNETT : Fortescue Metals Group Ltd is bringing in its railcars. That was something that was concluded quite some time ago. It is entitled to do that under its agreement. Most of the major companies are importing railcars; that is the reality. That may not be the sort of work that gets done here, but there is a lot more work that can be done here, with some exceptions. Some are looking at railcar construction here, but most of that work has gone offshore. The Labor Party says that I am the only Premier to have signed an agreement to send work offshore; that is factually incorrect. If the opposition is referring in such claims to the Oakajee state development agreement—which is not a formal state agreement, but will come into this place as a state agreement—everyone will have an opportunity to scrutinise that agreement act. Ms M.M. Quirk : When? Mr C.J. BARNETT : When we have the project underway—something the Labor Party did not do too much about. Ms M.M. Quirk : The cheque’s in the mail, is it? Mr C.J. BARNETT : This is the party that would not even pick up the phone for Inpex. As I have said before, I can accept that we might lose an LNG project to Qatar, or a mining project to Canada, but the Labor Party managed to get knocked off by Darwin! Mr C.J. Tallentire : Tell the truth about Inpex, Premier. Mr C.J. BARNETT : Your minister would not pick up the telephone because he was going into an election. Mr E.S. Ripper : You wouldn’t give them the site they wanted, either! Mr C.J. BARNETT : To return to the Oakajee issue, the state development agreement requires the partners to Oakajee Port and Rail—that is, Mitsubishi Corporation and Murchison Metals Ltd—to use their best endeavours to get Chinese participation in the project. By “Chinese participation”, I mean the joint venture and the development and raising of finance for the project. Yes, there will be fabrication of parts and perhaps railcars in China; China is the customer for iron ore. It is all very well to criticise me and the government for what we are doing with Oakajee, but as I tried to say to the demonstration outside, the first job of any government or any Premier or Minister for State Development is to secure the project; otherwise, we will just be arguing in a vacuum. Unless we can get the project — Ms M.M. Quirk : For China! The SPEAKER : Member for Girrawheen! Mr C.J. BARNETT : Unless we can get the project, there is nothing to argue over. I am doing all I can to secure Oakajee for this state, and I am being supported by the Minister for Regional Development and others. We secured Gorgon; Gorgon was in an absolute stalemate. Several members interjected. Mr C.J. BARNETT : It was going nowhere. Remember the banded iron formations? Because the former government would not deal with the issues that mattered to Chevron and Gorgon and the banded iron formations in the Mid West, Oakajee went nowhere. And it lost Inpex. I am happy to debate any public policy issue. I agree that local content and work in the fabrication shops is critically important, but it is a bit rich when this crowd opposite try to claim some credibility on industrial development in the state.
Mr C.J. BARNETT : It is just a little bit rich that the projects that seem to attract attention were ones that were in a sense, if we like, the agreement acts, the final stage of which were negotiated under the previous government—Gorgon and TPI being two examples. Mr E.S. Ripper : Did you enforce the agreements? Mr C.J. BARNETT : Yes, I think I am doing a lot more than members opposite ever did in government to try to increase the level of local content. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Mr C.J. BARNETT : What did members opposite do? Did they do anything? They did not. Mr E.S. Ripper : Why don’t you answer the question about what you did? You’ve got an agreement; did you enforce it? Mr C.J. BARNETT : There is an issue, and as I made clear to the gathering outside—for those who wanted to listen, and most did—I recognise that there is a serious issue of local content and activity in the fabrication shops. I happen to believe that that will change fairly quickly as projects move beyond the conceptual stage and beyond civil groundwork construction into actual steel fabrication. However, that stage is probably at least six months away. As I also outlined outside, I have twice over the past month been down to visit the major steel fabrication yards, first with Hon Simon O’Brien, the Minister for Commerce — Mr E.S. Ripper : You’ve had a month to get briefed on the railcars, but you can’t answer the question. Mr C.J. BARNETT : I have also taken down there the heads of Woodside Petroleum Ltd, Chevron Corporation, BHP Billiton Ltd and Rio Tinto Ltd, and that was the first time that that had ever happened. Also, during my visit to Japan and Korea last week, I got personal commitments from major companies that they would send groups down to inspect those workshops with a view to working with them in alliance on major construction projects. The response by the Liberal–National government to this genuine and serious issue is to roll our sleeves up and get involved. The Labor Party’s solution is to bring in a bill that, even if it were properly drafted and passed, would have absolutely no impact for two to three years, given the time cycle on projects. The Labor Party has no solution for the current situation. It has no solution at all. Mr M. McGowan : So it would work? Mr C.J. BARNETT : Even if it did work, it would only impact in about three years’ time. We have to deal now with the lack of work in the workshops, and we have to deal with both the construction companies and the unions. I have also met with the Australian Steel Institute. Ms M.M. Quirk : FMG? Mr C.J. BARNETT : Fortescue Metals Group Ltd is bringing in its railcars. That was something that was concluded quite some time ago. It is entitled to do that under its agreement. Most of the major companies are importing railcars; that is the reality. That may not be the sort of work that gets done here, but there is a lot more work that can be done here, with some exceptions. Some are looking at railcar construction here, but most of that work has gone offshore. The Labor Party says that I am the only Premier to have signed an agreement to send work offshore; that is factually incorrect. If the opposition is referring in such claims to the Oakajee state development agreement—which is not a formal state agreement, but will come into this place as a state agreement—everyone will have an opportunity to scrutinise that agreement act. Ms M.M. Quirk : When? Mr C.J. BARNETT : When we have the project underway—something the Labor Party did not do too much about. Ms M.M. Quirk : The cheque’s in the mail, is it? Mr C.J. BARNETT : This is the party that would not even pick up the phone for Inpex. As I have said before, I can accept that we might lose an LNG project to Qatar, or a mining project to Canada, but the Labor Party managed to get knocked off by Darwin! Mr C.J. Tallentire : Tell the truth about Inpex, Premier. Mr C.J. BARNETT : Your minister would not pick up the telephone because he was going into an election. Mr E.S. Ripper : You wouldn’t give them the site they wanted, either! Mr C.J. BARNETT : To return to the Oakajee issue, the state development agreement requires the partners to Oakajee Port and Rail—that is, Mitsubishi Corporation and Murchison Metals Ltd—to use their best endeavours to get Chinese participation in the project. By “Chinese participation”, I mean the joint venture and the development and raising of finance for the project. Yes, there will be fabrication of parts and perhaps railcars in China; China is the customer for iron ore. It is all very well to criticise me and the government for what we are doing with Oakajee, but as I tried to say to the demonstration outside, the first job of any government or any Premier or Minister for State Development is to secure the project; otherwise, we will just be arguing in a vacuum. Unless we can get the project — Ms M.M. Quirk : For China! The SPEAKER : Member for Girrawheen! Mr C.J. BARNETT : Unless we can get the project, there is nothing to argue over. I am doing all I can to secure Oakajee for this state, and I am being supported by the Minister for Regional Development and others. We secured Gorgon; Gorgon was in an absolute stalemate. Several members interjected. Mr C.J. BARNETT : It was going nowhere. Remember the banded iron formations? Because the former government would not deal with the issues that mattered to Chevron and Gorgon and the banded iron formations in the Mid West, Oakajee went nowhere. And it lost Inpex. I am happy to debate any public policy issue. I agree that local content and work in the fabrication shops is critically important, but it is a bit rich when this crowd opposite try to claim some credibility on industrial development in the state.
Mr E.S. Ripper : Did you enforce the agreements? Mr C.J. BARNETT : Yes, I think I am doing a lot more than members opposite ever did in government to try to increase the level of local content. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Mr C.J. BARNETT : What did members opposite do? Did they do anything? They did not. Mr E.S. Ripper : Why don’t you answer the question about what you did? You’ve got an agreement; did you enforce it? Mr C.J. BARNETT : There is an issue, and as I made clear to the gathering outside—for those who wanted to listen, and most did—I recognise that there is a serious issue of local content and activity in the fabrication shops. I happen to believe that that will change fairly quickly as projects move beyond the conceptual stage and beyond civil groundwork construction into actual steel fabrication. However, that stage is probably at least six months away. As I also outlined outside, I have twice over the past month been down to visit the major steel fabrication yards, first with Hon Simon O’Brien, the Minister for Commerce — Mr E.S. Ripper : You’ve had a month to get briefed on the railcars, but you can’t answer the question. Mr C.J. BARNETT : I have also taken down there the heads of Woodside Petroleum Ltd, Chevron Corporation, BHP Billiton Ltd and Rio Tinto Ltd, and that was the first time that that had ever happened. Also, during my visit to Japan and Korea last week, I got personal commitments from major companies that they would send groups down to inspect those workshops with a view to working with them in alliance on major construction projects. The response by the Liberal–National government to this genuine and serious issue is to roll our sleeves up and get involved. The Labor Party’s solution is to bring in a bill that, even if it were properly drafted and passed, would have absolutely no impact for two to three years, given the time cycle on projects. The Labor Party has no solution for the current situation. It has no solution at all. Mr M. McGowan : So it would work? Mr C.J. BARNETT : Even if it did work, it would only impact in about three years’ time. We have to deal now with the lack of work in the workshops, and we have to deal with both the construction companies and the unions. I have also met with the Australian Steel Institute. Ms M.M. Quirk : FMG? Mr C.J. BARNETT : Fortescue Metals Group Ltd is bringing in its railcars. That was something that was concluded quite some time ago. It is entitled to do that under its agreement. Most of the major companies are importing railcars; that is the reality. That may not be the sort of work that gets done here, but there is a lot more work that can be done here, with some exceptions. Some are looking at railcar construction here, but most of that work has gone offshore. The Labor Party says that I am the only Premier to have signed an agreement to send work offshore; that is factually incorrect. If the opposition is referring in such claims to the Oakajee state development agreement—which is not a formal state agreement, but will come into this place as a state agreement—everyone will have an opportunity to scrutinise that agreement act. Ms M.M. Quirk : When? Mr C.J. BARNETT : When we have the project underway—something the Labor Party did not do too much about. Ms M.M. Quirk : The cheque’s in the mail, is it? Mr C.J. BARNETT : This is the party that would not even pick up the phone for Inpex. As I have said before, I can accept that we might lose an LNG project to Qatar, or a mining project to Canada, but the Labor Party managed to get knocked off by Darwin! Mr C.J. Tallentire : Tell the truth about Inpex, Premier. Mr C.J. BARNETT : Your minister would not pick up the telephone because he was going into an election. Mr E.S. Ripper : You wouldn’t give them the site they wanted, either! Mr C.J. BARNETT : To return to the Oakajee issue, the state development agreement requires the partners to Oakajee Port and Rail—that is, Mitsubishi Corporation and Murchison Metals Ltd—to use their best endeavours to get Chinese participation in the project. By “Chinese participation”, I mean the joint venture and the development and raising of finance for the project. Yes, there will be fabrication of parts and perhaps railcars in China; China is the customer for iron ore. It is all very well to criticise me and the government for what we are doing with Oakajee, but as I tried to say to the demonstration outside, the first job of any government or any Premier or Minister for State Development is to secure the project; otherwise, we will just be arguing in a vacuum. Unless we can get the project — Ms M.M. Quirk : For China! The SPEAKER : Member for Girrawheen! Mr C.J. BARNETT : Unless we can get the project, there is nothing to argue over. I am doing all I can to secure Oakajee for this state, and I am being supported by the Minister for Regional Development and others. We secured Gorgon; Gorgon was in an absolute stalemate. Several members interjected. Mr C.J. BARNETT : It was going nowhere. Remember the banded iron formations? Because the former government would not deal with the issues that mattered to Chevron and Gorgon and the banded iron formations in the Mid West, Oakajee went nowhere. And it lost Inpex. I am happy to debate any public policy issue. I agree that local content and work in the fabrication shops is critically important, but it is a bit rich when this crowd opposite try to claim some credibility on industrial development in the state.
Mr C.J. BARNETT : Yes, I think I am doing a lot more than members opposite ever did in government to try to increase the level of local content. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Mr C.J. BARNETT : What did members opposite do? Did they do anything? They did not. Mr E.S. Ripper : Why don’t you answer the question about what you did? You’ve got an agreement; did you enforce it? Mr C.J. BARNETT : There is an issue, and as I made clear to the gathering outside—for those who wanted to listen, and most did—I recognise that there is a serious issue of local content and activity in the fabrication shops. I happen to believe that that will change fairly quickly as projects move beyond the conceptual stage and beyond civil groundwork construction into actual steel fabrication. However, that stage is probably at least six months away. As I also outlined outside, I have twice over the past month been down to visit the major steel fabrication yards, first with Hon Simon O’Brien, the Minister for Commerce — Mr E.S. Ripper : You’ve had a month to get briefed on the railcars, but you can’t answer the question. Mr C.J. BARNETT : I have also taken down there the heads of Woodside Petroleum Ltd, Chevron Corporation, BHP Billiton Ltd and Rio Tinto Ltd, and that was the first time that that had ever happened. Also, during my visit to Japan and Korea last week, I got personal commitments from major companies that they would send groups down to inspect those workshops with a view to working with them in alliance on major construction projects. The response by the Liberal–National government to this genuine and serious issue is to roll our sleeves up and get involved. The Labor Party’s solution is to bring in a bill that, even if it were properly drafted and passed, would have absolutely no impact for two to three years, given the time cycle on projects. The Labor Party has no solution for the current situation. It has no solution at all. Mr M. McGowan : So it would work? Mr C.J. BARNETT : Even if it did work, it would only impact in about three years’ time. We have to deal now with the lack of work in the workshops, and we have to deal with both the construction companies and the unions. I have also met with the Australian Steel Institute. Ms M.M. Quirk : FMG? Mr C.J. BARNETT : Fortescue Metals Group Ltd is bringing in its railcars. That was something that was concluded quite some time ago. It is entitled to do that under its agreement. Most of the major companies are importing railcars; that is the reality. That may not be the sort of work that gets done here, but there is a lot more work that can be done here, with some exceptions. Some are looking at railcar construction here, but most of that work has gone offshore. The Labor Party says that I am the only Premier to have signed an agreement to send work offshore; that is factually incorrect. If the opposition is referring in such claims to the Oakajee state development agreement—which is not a formal state agreement, but will come into this place as a state agreement—everyone will have an opportunity to scrutinise that agreement act. Ms M.M. Quirk : When? Mr C.J. BARNETT : When we have the project underway—something the Labor Party did not do too much about. Ms M.M. Quirk : The cheque’s in the mail, is it? Mr C.J. BARNETT : This is the party that would not even pick up the phone for Inpex. As I have said before, I can accept that we might lose an LNG project to Qatar, or a mining project to Canada, but the Labor Party managed to get knocked off by Darwin! Mr C.J. Tallentire : Tell the truth about Inpex, Premier. Mr C.J. BARNETT : Your minister would not pick up the telephone because he was going into an election. Mr E.S. Ripper : You wouldn’t give them the site they wanted, either! Mr C.J. BARNETT : To return to the Oakajee issue, the state development agreement requires the partners to Oakajee Port and Rail—that is, Mitsubishi Corporation and Murchison Metals Ltd—to use their best endeavours to get Chinese participation in the project. By “Chinese participation”, I mean the joint venture and the development and raising of finance for the project. Yes, there will be fabrication of parts and perhaps railcars in China; China is the customer for iron ore. It is all very well to criticise me and the government for what we are doing with Oakajee, but as I tried to say to the demonstration outside, the first job of any government or any Premier or Minister for State Development is to secure the project; otherwise, we will just be arguing in a vacuum. Unless we can get the project — Ms M.M. Quirk : For China! The SPEAKER : Member for Girrawheen! Mr C.J. BARNETT : Unless we can get the project, there is nothing to argue over. I am doing all I can to secure Oakajee for this state, and I am being supported by the Minister for Regional Development and others. We secured Gorgon; Gorgon was in an absolute stalemate. Several members interjected. Mr C.J. BARNETT : It was going nowhere. Remember the banded iron formations? Because the former government would not deal with the issues that mattered to Chevron and Gorgon and the banded iron formations in the Mid West, Oakajee went nowhere. And it lost Inpex. I am happy to debate any public policy issue. I agree that local content and work in the fabrication shops is critically important, but it is a bit rich when this crowd opposite try to claim some credibility on industrial development in the state.
Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Mr C.J. BARNETT : What did members opposite do? Did they do anything? They did not. Mr E.S. Ripper : Why don’t you answer the question about what you did? You’ve got an agreement; did you enforce it? Mr C.J. BARNETT : There is an issue, and as I made clear to the gathering outside—for those who wanted to listen, and most did—I recognise that there is a serious issue of local content and activity in the fabrication shops. I happen to believe that that will change fairly quickly as projects move beyond the conceptual stage and beyond civil groundwork construction into actual steel fabrication. However, that stage is probably at least six months away. As I also outlined outside, I have twice over the past month been down to visit the major steel fabrication yards, first with Hon Simon O’Brien, the Minister for Commerce — Mr E.S. Ripper : You’ve had a month to get briefed on the railcars, but you can’t answer the question. Mr C.J. BARNETT : I have also taken down there the heads of Woodside Petroleum Ltd, Chevron Corporation, BHP Billiton Ltd and Rio Tinto Ltd, and that was the first time that that had ever happened. Also, during my visit to Japan and Korea last week, I got personal commitments from major companies that they would send groups down to inspect those workshops with a view to working with them in alliance on major construction projects. The response by the Liberal–National government to this genuine and serious issue is to roll our sleeves up and get involved. The Labor Party’s solution is to bring in a bill that, even if it were properly drafted and passed, would have absolutely no impact for two to three years, given the time cycle on projects. The Labor Party has no solution for the current situation. It has no solution at all. Mr M. McGowan : So it would work? Mr C.J. BARNETT : Even if it did work, it would only impact in about three years’ time. We have to deal now with the lack of work in the workshops, and we have to deal with both the construction companies and the unions. I have also met with the Australian Steel Institute. Ms M.M. Quirk : FMG? Mr C.J. BARNETT : Fortescue Metals Group Ltd is bringing in its railcars. That was something that was concluded quite some time ago. It is entitled to do that under its agreement. Most of the major companies are importing railcars; that is the reality. That may not be the sort of work that gets done here, but there is a lot more work that can be done here, with some exceptions. Some are looking at railcar construction here, but most of that work has gone offshore. The Labor Party says that I am the only Premier to have signed an agreement to send work offshore; that is factually incorrect. If the opposition is referring in such claims to the Oakajee state development agreement—which is not a formal state agreement, but will come into this place as a state agreement—everyone will have an opportunity to scrutinise that agreement act. Ms M.M. Quirk : When? Mr C.J. BARNETT : When we have the project underway—something the Labor Party did not do too much about. Ms M.M. Quirk : The cheque’s in the mail, is it? Mr C.J. BARNETT : This is the party that would not even pick up the phone for Inpex. As I have said before, I can accept that we might lose an LNG project to Qatar, or a mining project to Canada, but the Labor Party managed to get knocked off by Darwin! Mr C.J. Tallentire : Tell the truth about Inpex, Premier. Mr C.J. BARNETT : Your minister would not pick up the telephone because he was going into an election. Mr E.S. Ripper : You wouldn’t give them the site they wanted, either! Mr C.J. BARNETT : To return to the Oakajee issue, the state development agreement requires the partners to Oakajee Port and Rail—that is, Mitsubishi Corporation and Murchison Metals Ltd—to use their best endeavours to get Chinese participation in the project. By “Chinese participation”, I mean the joint venture and the development and raising of finance for the project. Yes, there will be fabrication of parts and perhaps railcars in China; China is the customer for iron ore. It is all very well to criticise me and the government for what we are doing with Oakajee, but as I tried to say to the demonstration outside, the first job of any government or any Premier or Minister for State Development is to secure the project; otherwise, we will just be arguing in a vacuum. Unless we can get the project — Ms M.M. Quirk : For China! The SPEAKER : Member for Girrawheen! Mr C.J. BARNETT : Unless we can get the project, there is nothing to argue over. I am doing all I can to secure Oakajee for this state, and I am being supported by the Minister for Regional Development and others. We secured Gorgon; Gorgon was in an absolute stalemate. Several members interjected. Mr C.J. BARNETT : It was going nowhere. Remember the banded iron formations? Because the former government would not deal with the issues that mattered to Chevron and Gorgon and the banded iron formations in the Mid West, Oakajee went nowhere. And it lost Inpex. I am happy to debate any public policy issue. I agree that local content and work in the fabrication shops is critically important, but it is a bit rich when this crowd opposite try to claim some credibility on industrial development in the state.
The SPEAKER : Thank you, members! Mr C.J. BARNETT : What did members opposite do? Did they do anything? They did not. Mr E.S. Ripper : Why don’t you answer the question about what you did? You’ve got an agreement; did you enforce it? Mr C.J. BARNETT : There is an issue, and as I made clear to the gathering outside—for those who wanted to listen, and most did—I recognise that there is a serious issue of local content and activity in the fabrication shops. I happen to believe that that will change fairly quickly as projects move beyond the conceptual stage and beyond civil groundwork construction into actual steel fabrication. However, that stage is probably at least six months away. As I also outlined outside, I have twice over the past month been down to visit the major steel fabrication yards, first with Hon Simon O’Brien, the Minister for Commerce — Mr E.S. Ripper : You’ve had a month to get briefed on the railcars, but you can’t answer the question. Mr C.J. BARNETT : I have also taken down there the heads of Woodside Petroleum Ltd, Chevron Corporation, BHP Billiton Ltd and Rio Tinto Ltd, and that was the first time that that had ever happened. Also, during my visit to Japan and Korea last week, I got personal commitments from major companies that they would send groups down to inspect those workshops with a view to working with them in alliance on major construction projects. The response by the Liberal–National government to this genuine and serious issue is to roll our sleeves up and get involved. The Labor Party’s solution is to bring in a bill that, even if it were properly drafted and passed, would have absolutely no impact for two to three years, given the time cycle on projects. The Labor Party has no solution for the current situation. It has no solution at all. Mr M. McGowan : So it would work? Mr C.J. BARNETT : Even if it did work, it would only impact in about three years’ time. We have to deal now with the lack of work in the workshops, and we have to deal with both the construction companies and the unions. I have also met with the Australian Steel Institute. Ms M.M. Quirk : FMG? Mr C.J. BARNETT : Fortescue Metals Group Ltd is bringing in its railcars. That was something that was concluded quite some time ago. It is entitled to do that under its agreement. Most of the major companies are importing railcars; that is the reality. That may not be the sort of work that gets done here, but there is a lot more work that can be done here, with some exceptions. Some are looking at railcar construction here, but most of that work has gone offshore. The Labor Party says that I am the only Premier to have signed an agreement to send work offshore; that is factually incorrect. If the opposition is referring in such claims to the Oakajee state development agreement—which is not a formal state agreement, but will come into this place as a state agreement—everyone will have an opportunity to scrutinise that agreement act. Ms M.M. Quirk : When? Mr C.J. BARNETT : When we have the project underway—something the Labor Party did not do too much about. Ms M.M. Quirk : The cheque’s in the mail, is it? Mr C.J. BARNETT : This is the party that would not even pick up the phone for Inpex. As I have said before, I can accept that we might lose an LNG project to Qatar, or a mining project to Canada, but the Labor Party managed to get knocked off by Darwin! Mr C.J. Tallentire : Tell the truth about Inpex, Premier. Mr C.J. BARNETT : Your minister would not pick up the telephone because he was going into an election. Mr E.S. Ripper : You wouldn’t give them the site they wanted, either! Mr C.J. BARNETT : To return to the Oakajee issue, the state development agreement requires the partners to Oakajee Port and Rail—that is, Mitsubishi Corporation and Murchison Metals Ltd—to use their best endeavours to get Chinese participation in the project. By “Chinese participation”, I mean the joint venture and the development and raising of finance for the project. Yes, there will be fabrication of parts and perhaps railcars in China; China is the customer for iron ore. It is all very well to criticise me and the government for what we are doing with Oakajee, but as I tried to say to the demonstration outside, the first job of any government or any Premier or Minister for State Development is to secure the project; otherwise, we will just be arguing in a vacuum. Unless we can get the project — Ms M.M. Quirk : For China! The SPEAKER : Member for Girrawheen! Mr C.J. BARNETT : Unless we can get the project, there is nothing to argue over. I am doing all I can to secure Oakajee for this state, and I am being supported by the Minister for Regional Development and others. We secured Gorgon; Gorgon was in an absolute stalemate. Several members interjected. Mr C.J. BARNETT : It was going nowhere. Remember the banded iron formations? Because the former government would not deal with the issues that mattered to Chevron and Gorgon and the banded iron formations in the Mid West, Oakajee went nowhere. And it lost Inpex. I am happy to debate any public policy issue. I agree that local content and work in the fabrication shops is critically important, but it is a bit rich when this crowd opposite try to claim some credibility on industrial development in the state.
Mr C.J. BARNETT : What did members opposite do? Did they do anything? They did not. Mr E.S. Ripper : Why don’t you answer the question about what you did? You’ve got an agreement; did you enforce it? Mr C.J. BARNETT : There is an issue, and as I made clear to the gathering outside—for those who wanted to listen, and most did—I recognise that there is a serious issue of local content and activity in the fabrication shops. I happen to believe that that will change fairly quickly as projects move beyond the conceptual stage and beyond civil groundwork construction into actual steel fabrication. However, that stage is probably at least six months away. As I also outlined outside, I have twice over the past month been down to visit the major steel fabrication yards, first with Hon Simon O’Brien, the Minister for Commerce — Mr E.S. Ripper : You’ve had a month to get briefed on the railcars, but you can’t answer the question. Mr C.J. BARNETT : I have also taken down there the heads of Woodside Petroleum Ltd, Chevron Corporation, BHP Billiton Ltd and Rio Tinto Ltd, and that was the first time that that had ever happened. Also, during my visit to Japan and Korea last week, I got personal commitments from major companies that they would send groups down to inspect those workshops with a view to working with them in alliance on major construction projects. The response by the Liberal–National government to this genuine and serious issue is to roll our sleeves up and get involved. The Labor Party’s solution is to bring in a bill that, even if it were properly drafted and passed, would have absolutely no impact for two to three years, given the time cycle on projects. The Labor Party has no solution for the current situation. It has no solution at all. Mr M. McGowan : So it would work? Mr C.J. BARNETT : Even if it did work, it would only impact in about three years’ time. We have to deal now with the lack of work in the workshops, and we have to deal with both the construction companies and the unions. I have also met with the Australian Steel Institute. Ms M.M. Quirk : FMG? Mr C.J. BARNETT : Fortescue Metals Group Ltd is bringing in its railcars. That was something that was concluded quite some time ago. It is entitled to do that under its agreement. Most of the major companies are importing railcars; that is the reality. That may not be the sort of work that gets done here, but there is a lot more work that can be done here, with some exceptions. Some are looking at railcar construction here, but most of that work has gone offshore. The Labor Party says that I am the only Premier to have signed an agreement to send work offshore; that is factually incorrect. If the opposition is referring in such claims to the Oakajee state development agreement—which is not a formal state agreement, but will come into this place as a state agreement—everyone will have an opportunity to scrutinise that agreement act. Ms M.M. Quirk : When? Mr C.J. BARNETT : When we have the project underway—something the Labor Party did not do too much about. Ms M.M. Quirk : The cheque’s in the mail, is it? Mr C.J. BARNETT : This is the party that would not even pick up the phone for Inpex. As I have said before, I can accept that we might lose an LNG project to Qatar, or a mining project to Canada, but the Labor Party managed to get knocked off by Darwin! Mr C.J. Tallentire : Tell the truth about Inpex, Premier. Mr C.J. BARNETT : Your minister would not pick up the telephone because he was going into an election. Mr E.S. Ripper : You wouldn’t give them the site they wanted, either! Mr C.J. BARNETT : To return to the Oakajee issue, the state development agreement requires the partners to Oakajee Port and Rail—that is, Mitsubishi Corporation and Murchison Metals Ltd—to use their best endeavours to get Chinese participation in the project. By “Chinese participation”, I mean the joint venture and the development and raising of finance for the project. Yes, there will be fabrication of parts and perhaps railcars in China; China is the customer for iron ore. It is all very well to criticise me and the government for what we are doing with Oakajee, but as I tried to say to the demonstration outside, the first job of any government or any Premier or Minister for State Development is to secure the project; otherwise, we will just be arguing in a vacuum. Unless we can get the project — Ms M.M. Quirk : For China! The SPEAKER : Member for Girrawheen! Mr C.J. BARNETT : Unless we can get the project, there is nothing to argue over. I am doing all I can to secure Oakajee for this state, and I am being supported by the Minister for Regional Development and others. We secured Gorgon; Gorgon was in an absolute stalemate. Several members interjected. Mr C.J. BARNETT : It was going nowhere. Remember the banded iron formations? Because the former government would not deal with the issues that mattered to Chevron and Gorgon and the banded iron formations in the Mid West, Oakajee went nowhere. And it lost Inpex. I am happy to debate any public policy issue. I agree that local content and work in the fabrication shops is critically important, but it is a bit rich when this crowd opposite try to claim some credibility on industrial development in the state.
Mr E.S. Ripper : Why don’t you answer the question about what you did? You’ve got an agreement; did you enforce it? Mr C.J. BARNETT : There is an issue, and as I made clear to the gathering outside—for those who wanted to listen, and most did—I recognise that there is a serious issue of local content and activity in the fabrication shops. I happen to believe that that will change fairly quickly as projects move beyond the conceptual stage and beyond civil groundwork construction into actual steel fabrication. However, that stage is probably at least six months away. As I also outlined outside, I have twice over the past month been down to visit the major steel fabrication yards, first with Hon Simon O’Brien, the Minister for Commerce — Mr E.S. Ripper : You’ve had a month to get briefed on the railcars, but you can’t answer the question. Mr C.J. BARNETT : I have also taken down there the heads of Woodside Petroleum Ltd, Chevron Corporation, BHP Billiton Ltd and Rio Tinto Ltd, and that was the first time that that had ever happened. Also, during my visit to Japan and Korea last week, I got personal commitments from major companies that they would send groups down to inspect those workshops with a view to working with them in alliance on major construction projects. The response by the Liberal–National government to this genuine and serious issue is to roll our sleeves up and get involved. The Labor Party’s solution is to bring in a bill that, even if it were properly drafted and passed, would have absolutely no impact for two to three years, given the time cycle on projects. The Labor Party has no solution for the current situation. It has no solution at all. Mr M. McGowan : So it would work? Mr C.J. BARNETT : Even if it did work, it would only impact in about three years’ time. We have to deal now with the lack of work in the workshops, and we have to deal with both the construction companies and the unions. I have also met with the Australian Steel Institute. Ms M.M. Quirk : FMG? Mr C.J. BARNETT : Fortescue Metals Group Ltd is bringing in its railcars. That was something that was concluded quite some time ago. It is entitled to do that under its agreement. Most of the major companies are importing railcars; that is the reality. That may not be the sort of work that gets done here, but there is a lot more work that can be done here, with some exceptions. Some are looking at railcar construction here, but most of that work has gone offshore. The Labor Party says that I am the only Premier to have signed an agreement to send work offshore; that is factually incorrect. If the opposition is referring in such claims to the Oakajee state development agreement—which is not a formal state agreement, but will come into this place as a state agreement—everyone will have an opportunity to scrutinise that agreement act. Ms M.M. Quirk : When? Mr C.J. BARNETT : When we have the project underway—something the Labor Party did not do too much about. Ms M.M. Quirk : The cheque’s in the mail, is it? Mr C.J. BARNETT : This is the party that would not even pick up the phone for Inpex. As I have said before, I can accept that we might lose an LNG project to Qatar, or a mining project to Canada, but the Labor Party managed to get knocked off by Darwin! Mr C.J. Tallentire : Tell the truth about Inpex, Premier. Mr C.J. BARNETT : Your minister would not pick up the telephone because he was going into an election. Mr E.S. Ripper : You wouldn’t give them the site they wanted, either! Mr C.J. BARNETT : To return to the Oakajee issue, the state development agreement requires the partners to Oakajee Port and Rail—that is, Mitsubishi Corporation and Murchison Metals Ltd—to use their best endeavours to get Chinese participation in the project. By “Chinese participation”, I mean the joint venture and the development and raising of finance for the project. Yes, there will be fabrication of parts and perhaps railcars in China; China is the customer for iron ore. It is all very well to criticise me and the government for what we are doing with Oakajee, but as I tried to say to the demonstration outside, the first job of any government or any Premier or Minister for State Development is to secure the project; otherwise, we will just be arguing in a vacuum. Unless we can get the project — Ms M.M. Quirk : For China! The SPEAKER : Member for Girrawheen! Mr C.J. BARNETT : Unless we can get the project, there is nothing to argue over. I am doing all I can to secure Oakajee for this state, and I am being supported by the Minister for Regional Development and others. We secured Gorgon; Gorgon was in an absolute stalemate. Several members interjected. Mr C.J. BARNETT : It was going nowhere. Remember the banded iron formations? Because the former government would not deal with the issues that mattered to Chevron and Gorgon and the banded iron formations in the Mid West, Oakajee went nowhere. And it lost Inpex. I am happy to debate any public policy issue. I agree that local content and work in the fabrication shops is critically important, but it is a bit rich when this crowd opposite try to claim some credibility on industrial development in the state.
Mr C.J. BARNETT : There is an issue, and as I made clear to the gathering outside—for those who wanted to listen, and most did—I recognise that there is a serious issue of local content and activity in the fabrication shops. I happen to believe that that will change fairly quickly as projects move beyond the conceptual stage and beyond civil groundwork construction into actual steel fabrication. However, that stage is probably at least six months away. As I also outlined outside, I have twice over the past month been down to visit the major steel fabrication yards, first with Hon Simon O’Brien, the Minister for Commerce — Mr E.S. Ripper : You’ve had a month to get briefed on the railcars, but you can’t answer the question. Mr C.J. BARNETT : I have also taken down there the heads of Woodside Petroleum Ltd, Chevron Corporation, BHP Billiton Ltd and Rio Tinto Ltd, and that was the first time that that had ever happened. Also, during my visit to Japan and Korea last week, I got personal commitments from major companies that they would send groups down to inspect those workshops with a view to working with them in alliance on major construction projects. The response by the Liberal–National government to this genuine and serious issue is to roll our sleeves up and get involved. The Labor Party’s solution is to bring in a bill that, even if it were properly drafted and passed, would have absolutely no impact for two to three years, given the time cycle on projects. The Labor Party has no solution for the current situation. It has no solution at all. Mr M. McGowan : So it would work? Mr C.J. BARNETT : Even if it did work, it would only impact in about three years’ time. We have to deal now with the lack of work in the workshops, and we have to deal with both the construction companies and the unions. I have also met with the Australian Steel Institute. Ms M.M. Quirk : FMG? Mr C.J. BARNETT : Fortescue Metals Group Ltd is bringing in its railcars. That was something that was concluded quite some time ago. It is entitled to do that under its agreement. Most of the major companies are importing railcars; that is the reality. That may not be the sort of work that gets done here, but there is a lot more work that can be done here, with some exceptions. Some are looking at railcar construction here, but most of that work has gone offshore. The Labor Party says that I am the only Premier to have signed an agreement to send work offshore; that is factually incorrect. If the opposition is referring in such claims to the Oakajee state development agreement—which is not a formal state agreement, but will come into this place as a state agreement—everyone will have an opportunity to scrutinise that agreement act. Ms M.M. Quirk : When? Mr C.J. BARNETT : When we have the project underway—something the Labor Party did not do too much about. Ms M.M. Quirk : The cheque’s in the mail, is it? Mr C.J. BARNETT : This is the party that would not even pick up the phone for Inpex. As I have said before, I can accept that we might lose an LNG project to Qatar, or a mining project to Canada, but the Labor Party managed to get knocked off by Darwin! Mr C.J. Tallentire : Tell the truth about Inpex, Premier. Mr C.J. BARNETT : Your minister would not pick up the telephone because he was going into an election. Mr E.S. Ripper : You wouldn’t give them the site they wanted, either! Mr C.J. BARNETT : To return to the Oakajee issue, the state development agreement requires the partners to Oakajee Port and Rail—that is, Mitsubishi Corporation and Murchison Metals Ltd—to use their best endeavours to get Chinese participation in the project. By “Chinese participation”, I mean the joint venture and the development and raising of finance for the project. Yes, there will be fabrication of parts and perhaps railcars in China; China is the customer for iron ore. It is all very well to criticise me and the government for what we are doing with Oakajee, but as I tried to say to the demonstration outside, the first job of any government or any Premier or Minister for State Development is to secure the project; otherwise, we will just be arguing in a vacuum. Unless we can get the project — Ms M.M. Quirk : For China! The SPEAKER : Member for Girrawheen! Mr C.J. BARNETT : Unless we can get the project, there is nothing to argue over. I am doing all I can to secure Oakajee for this state, and I am being supported by the Minister for Regional Development and others. We secured Gorgon; Gorgon was in an absolute stalemate. Several members interjected. Mr C.J. BARNETT : It was going nowhere. Remember the banded iron formations? Because the former government would not deal with the issues that mattered to Chevron and Gorgon and the banded iron formations in the Mid West, Oakajee went nowhere. And it lost Inpex. I am happy to debate any public policy issue. I agree that local content and work in the fabrication shops is critically important, but it is a bit rich when this crowd opposite try to claim some credibility on industrial development in the state.
Mr E.S. Ripper : You’ve had a month to get briefed on the railcars, but you can’t answer the question. Mr C.J. BARNETT : I have also taken down there the heads of Woodside Petroleum Ltd, Chevron Corporation, BHP Billiton Ltd and Rio Tinto Ltd, and that was the first time that that had ever happened. Also, during my visit to Japan and Korea last week, I got personal commitments from major companies that they would send groups down to inspect those workshops with a view to working with them in alliance on major construction projects. The response by the Liberal–National government to this genuine and serious issue is to roll our sleeves up and get involved. The Labor Party’s solution is to bring in a bill that, even if it were properly drafted and passed, would have absolutely no impact for two to three years, given the time cycle on projects. The Labor Party has no solution for the current situation. It has no solution at all. Mr M. McGowan : So it would work? Mr C.J. BARNETT : Even if it did work, it would only impact in about three years’ time. We have to deal now with the lack of work in the workshops, and we have to deal with both the construction companies and the unions. I have also met with the Australian Steel Institute. Ms M.M. Quirk : FMG? Mr C.J. BARNETT : Fortescue Metals Group Ltd is bringing in its railcars. That was something that was concluded quite some time ago. It is entitled to do that under its agreement. Most of the major companies are importing railcars; that is the reality. That may not be the sort of work that gets done here, but there is a lot more work that can be done here, with some exceptions. Some are looking at railcar construction here, but most of that work has gone offshore. The Labor Party says that I am the only Premier to have signed an agreement to send work offshore; that is factually incorrect. If the opposition is referring in such claims to the Oakajee state development agreement—which is not a formal state agreement, but will come into this place as a state agreement—everyone will have an opportunity to scrutinise that agreement act. Ms M.M. Quirk : When? Mr C.J. BARNETT : When we have the project underway—something the Labor Party did not do too much about. Ms M.M. Quirk : The cheque’s in the mail, is it? Mr C.J. BARNETT : This is the party that would not even pick up the phone for Inpex. As I have said before, I can accept that we might lose an LNG project to Qatar, or a mining project to Canada, but the Labor Party managed to get knocked off by Darwin! Mr C.J. Tallentire : Tell the truth about Inpex, Premier. Mr C.J. BARNETT : Your minister would not pick up the telephone because he was going into an election. Mr E.S. Ripper : You wouldn’t give them the site they wanted, either! Mr C.J. BARNETT : To return to the Oakajee issue, the state development agreement requires the partners to Oakajee Port and Rail—that is, Mitsubishi Corporation and Murchison Metals Ltd—to use their best endeavours to get Chinese participation in the project. By “Chinese participation”, I mean the joint venture and the development and raising of finance for the project. Yes, there will be fabrication of parts and perhaps railcars in China; China is the customer for iron ore. It is all very well to criticise me and the government for what we are doing with Oakajee, but as I tried to say to the demonstration outside, the first job of any government or any Premier or Minister for State Development is to secure the project; otherwise, we will just be arguing in a vacuum. Unless we can get the project — Ms M.M. Quirk : For China! The SPEAKER : Member for Girrawheen! Mr C.J. BARNETT : Unless we can get the project, there is nothing to argue over. I am doing all I can to secure Oakajee for this state, and I am being supported by the Minister for Regional Development and others. We secured Gorgon; Gorgon was in an absolute stalemate. Several members interjected. Mr C.J. BARNETT : It was going nowhere. Remember the banded iron formations? Because the former government would not deal with the issues that mattered to Chevron and Gorgon and the banded iron formations in the Mid West, Oakajee went nowhere. And it lost Inpex. I am happy to debate any public policy issue. I agree that local content and work in the fabrication shops is critically important, but it is a bit rich when this crowd opposite try to claim some credibility on industrial development in the state.
Mr C.J. BARNETT : I have also taken down there the heads of Woodside Petroleum Ltd, Chevron Corporation, BHP Billiton Ltd and Rio Tinto Ltd, and that was the first time that that had ever happened. Also, during my visit to Japan and Korea last week, I got personal commitments from major companies that they would send groups down to inspect those workshops with a view to working with them in alliance on major construction projects. The response by the Liberal–National government to this genuine and serious issue is to roll our sleeves up and get involved. The Labor Party’s solution is to bring in a bill that, even if it were properly drafted and passed, would have absolutely no impact for two to three years, given the time cycle on projects. The Labor Party has no solution for the current situation. It has no solution at all. Mr M. McGowan : So it would work? Mr C.J. BARNETT : Even if it did work, it would only impact in about three years’ time. We have to deal now with the lack of work in the workshops, and we have to deal with both the construction companies and the unions. I have also met with the Australian Steel Institute. Ms M.M. Quirk : FMG? Mr C.J. BARNETT : Fortescue Metals Group Ltd is bringing in its railcars. That was something that was concluded quite some time ago. It is entitled to do that under its agreement. Most of the major companies are importing railcars; that is the reality. That may not be the sort of work that gets done here, but there is a lot more work that can be done here, with some exceptions. Some are looking at railcar construction here, but most of that work has gone offshore. The Labor Party says that I am the only Premier to have signed an agreement to send work offshore; that is factually incorrect. If the opposition is referring in such claims to the Oakajee state development agreement—which is not a formal state agreement, but will come into this place as a state agreement—everyone will have an opportunity to scrutinise that agreement act. Ms M.M. Quirk : When? Mr C.J. BARNETT : When we have the project underway—something the Labor Party did not do too much about. Ms M.M. Quirk : The cheque’s in the mail, is it? Mr C.J. BARNETT : This is the party that would not even pick up the phone for Inpex. As I have said before, I can accept that we might lose an LNG project to Qatar, or a mining project to Canada, but the Labor Party managed to get knocked off by Darwin! Mr C.J. Tallentire : Tell the truth about Inpex, Premier. Mr C.J. BARNETT : Your minister would not pick up the telephone because he was going into an election. Mr E.S. Ripper : You wouldn’t give them the site they wanted, either! Mr C.J. BARNETT : To return to the Oakajee issue, the state development agreement requires the partners to Oakajee Port and Rail—that is, Mitsubishi Corporation and Murchison Metals Ltd—to use their best endeavours to get Chinese participation in the project. By “Chinese participation”, I mean the joint venture and the development and raising of finance for the project. Yes, there will be fabrication of parts and perhaps railcars in China; China is the customer for iron ore. It is all very well to criticise me and the government for what we are doing with Oakajee, but as I tried to say to the demonstration outside, the first job of any government or any Premier or Minister for State Development is to secure the project; otherwise, we will just be arguing in a vacuum. Unless we can get the project — Ms M.M. Quirk : For China! The SPEAKER : Member for Girrawheen! Mr C.J. BARNETT : Unless we can get the project, there is nothing to argue over. I am doing all I can to secure Oakajee for this state, and I am being supported by the Minister for Regional Development and others. We secured Gorgon; Gorgon was in an absolute stalemate. Several members interjected. Mr C.J. BARNETT : It was going nowhere. Remember the banded iron formations? Because the former government would not deal with the issues that mattered to Chevron and Gorgon and the banded iron formations in the Mid West, Oakajee went nowhere. And it lost Inpex. I am happy to debate any public policy issue. I agree that local content and work in the fabrication shops is critically important, but it is a bit rich when this crowd opposite try to claim some credibility on industrial development in the state.
Mr M. McGowan : So it would work? Mr C.J. BARNETT : Even if it did work, it would only impact in about three years’ time. We have to deal now with the lack of work in the workshops, and we have to deal with both the construction companies and the unions. I have also met with the Australian Steel Institute. Ms M.M. Quirk : FMG? Mr C.J. BARNETT : Fortescue Metals Group Ltd is bringing in its railcars. That was something that was concluded quite some time ago. It is entitled to do that under its agreement. Most of the major companies are importing railcars; that is the reality. That may not be the sort of work that gets done here, but there is a lot more work that can be done here, with some exceptions. Some are looking at railcar construction here, but most of that work has gone offshore. The Labor Party says that I am the only Premier to have signed an agreement to send work offshore; that is factually incorrect. If the opposition is referring in such claims to the Oakajee state development agreement—which is not a formal state agreement, but will come into this place as a state agreement—everyone will have an opportunity to scrutinise that agreement act. Ms M.M. Quirk : When? Mr C.J. BARNETT : When we have the project underway—something the Labor Party did not do too much about. Ms M.M. Quirk : The cheque’s in the mail, is it? Mr C.J. BARNETT : This is the party that would not even pick up the phone for Inpex. As I have said before, I can accept that we might lose an LNG project to Qatar, or a mining project to Canada, but the Labor Party managed to get knocked off by Darwin! Mr C.J. Tallentire : Tell the truth about Inpex, Premier. Mr C.J. BARNETT : Your minister would not pick up the telephone because he was going into an election. Mr E.S. Ripper : You wouldn’t give them the site they wanted, either! Mr C.J. BARNETT : To return to the Oakajee issue, the state development agreement requires the partners to Oakajee Port and Rail—that is, Mitsubishi Corporation and Murchison Metals Ltd—to use their best endeavours to get Chinese participation in the project. By “Chinese participation”, I mean the joint venture and the development and raising of finance for the project. Yes, there will be fabrication of parts and perhaps railcars in China; China is the customer for iron ore. It is all very well to criticise me and the government for what we are doing with Oakajee, but as I tried to say to the demonstration outside, the first job of any government or any Premier or Minister for State Development is to secure the project; otherwise, we will just be arguing in a vacuum. Unless we can get the project — Ms M.M. Quirk : For China! The SPEAKER : Member for Girrawheen! Mr C.J. BARNETT : Unless we can get the project, there is nothing to argue over. I am doing all I can to secure Oakajee for this state, and I am being supported by the Minister for Regional Development and others. We secured Gorgon; Gorgon was in an absolute stalemate. Several members interjected. Mr C.J. BARNETT : It was going nowhere. Remember the banded iron formations? Because the former government would not deal with the issues that mattered to Chevron and Gorgon and the banded iron formations in the Mid West, Oakajee went nowhere. And it lost Inpex. I am happy to debate any public policy issue. I agree that local content and work in the fabrication shops is critically important, but it is a bit rich when this crowd opposite try to claim some credibility on industrial development in the state.
Mr C.J. BARNETT : Even if it did work, it would only impact in about three years’ time. We have to deal now with the lack of work in the workshops, and we have to deal with both the construction companies and the unions. I have also met with the Australian Steel Institute. Ms M.M. Quirk : FMG? Mr C.J. BARNETT : Fortescue Metals Group Ltd is bringing in its railcars. That was something that was concluded quite some time ago. It is entitled to do that under its agreement. Most of the major companies are importing railcars; that is the reality. That may not be the sort of work that gets done here, but there is a lot more work that can be done here, with some exceptions. Some are looking at railcar construction here, but most of that work has gone offshore. The Labor Party says that I am the only Premier to have signed an agreement to send work offshore; that is factually incorrect. If the opposition is referring in such claims to the Oakajee state development agreement—which is not a formal state agreement, but will come into this place as a state agreement—everyone will have an opportunity to scrutinise that agreement act. Ms M.M. Quirk : When? Mr C.J. BARNETT : When we have the project underway—something the Labor Party did not do too much about. Ms M.M. Quirk : The cheque’s in the mail, is it? Mr C.J. BARNETT : This is the party that would not even pick up the phone for Inpex. As I have said before, I can accept that we might lose an LNG project to Qatar, or a mining project to Canada, but the Labor Party managed to get knocked off by Darwin! Mr C.J. Tallentire : Tell the truth about Inpex, Premier. Mr C.J. BARNETT : Your minister would not pick up the telephone because he was going into an election. Mr E.S. Ripper : You wouldn’t give them the site they wanted, either! Mr C.J. BARNETT : To return to the Oakajee issue, the state development agreement requires the partners to Oakajee Port and Rail—that is, Mitsubishi Corporation and Murchison Metals Ltd—to use their best endeavours to get Chinese participation in the project. By “Chinese participation”, I mean the joint venture and the development and raising of finance for the project. Yes, there will be fabrication of parts and perhaps railcars in China; China is the customer for iron ore. It is all very well to criticise me and the government for what we are doing with Oakajee, but as I tried to say to the demonstration outside, the first job of any government or any Premier or Minister for State Development is to secure the project; otherwise, we will just be arguing in a vacuum. Unless we can get the project — Ms M.M. Quirk : For China! The SPEAKER : Member for Girrawheen! Mr C.J. BARNETT : Unless we can get the project, there is nothing to argue over. I am doing all I can to secure Oakajee for this state, and I am being supported by the Minister for Regional Development and others. We secured Gorgon; Gorgon was in an absolute stalemate. Several members interjected. Mr C.J. BARNETT : It was going nowhere. Remember the banded iron formations? Because the former government would not deal with the issues that mattered to Chevron and Gorgon and the banded iron formations in the Mid West, Oakajee went nowhere. And it lost Inpex. I am happy to debate any public policy issue. I agree that local content and work in the fabrication shops is critically important, but it is a bit rich when this crowd opposite try to claim some credibility on industrial development in the state.
Ms M.M. Quirk : FMG? Mr C.J. BARNETT : Fortescue Metals Group Ltd is bringing in its railcars. That was something that was concluded quite some time ago. It is entitled to do that under its agreement. Most of the major companies are importing railcars; that is the reality. That may not be the sort of work that gets done here, but there is a lot more work that can be done here, with some exceptions. Some are looking at railcar construction here, but most of that work has gone offshore. The Labor Party says that I am the only Premier to have signed an agreement to send work offshore; that is factually incorrect. If the opposition is referring in such claims to the Oakajee state development agreement—which is not a formal state agreement, but will come into this place as a state agreement—everyone will have an opportunity to scrutinise that agreement act. Ms M.M. Quirk : When? Mr C.J. BARNETT : When we have the project underway—something the Labor Party did not do too much about. Ms M.M. Quirk : The cheque’s in the mail, is it? Mr C.J. BARNETT : This is the party that would not even pick up the phone for Inpex. As I have said before, I can accept that we might lose an LNG project to Qatar, or a mining project to Canada, but the Labor Party managed to get knocked off by Darwin! Mr C.J. Tallentire : Tell the truth about Inpex, Premier. Mr C.J. BARNETT : Your minister would not pick up the telephone because he was going into an election. Mr E.S. Ripper : You wouldn’t give them the site they wanted, either! Mr C.J. BARNETT : To return to the Oakajee issue, the state development agreement requires the partners to Oakajee Port and Rail—that is, Mitsubishi Corporation and Murchison Metals Ltd—to use their best endeavours to get Chinese participation in the project. By “Chinese participation”, I mean the joint venture and the development and raising of finance for the project. Yes, there will be fabrication of parts and perhaps railcars in China; China is the customer for iron ore. It is all very well to criticise me and the government for what we are doing with Oakajee, but as I tried to say to the demonstration outside, the first job of any government or any Premier or Minister for State Development is to secure the project; otherwise, we will just be arguing in a vacuum. Unless we can get the project — Ms M.M. Quirk : For China! The SPEAKER : Member for Girrawheen! Mr C.J. BARNETT : Unless we can get the project, there is nothing to argue over. I am doing all I can to secure Oakajee for this state, and I am being supported by the Minister for Regional Development and others. We secured Gorgon; Gorgon was in an absolute stalemate. Several members interjected. Mr C.J. BARNETT : It was going nowhere. Remember the banded iron formations? Because the former government would not deal with the issues that mattered to Chevron and Gorgon and the banded iron formations in the Mid West, Oakajee went nowhere. And it lost Inpex. I am happy to debate any public policy issue. I agree that local content and work in the fabrication shops is critically important, but it is a bit rich when this crowd opposite try to claim some credibility on industrial development in the state.
Mr C.J. BARNETT : Fortescue Metals Group Ltd is bringing in its railcars. That was something that was concluded quite some time ago. It is entitled to do that under its agreement. Most of the major companies are importing railcars; that is the reality. That may not be the sort of work that gets done here, but there is a lot more work that can be done here, with some exceptions. Some are looking at railcar construction here, but most of that work has gone offshore. The Labor Party says that I am the only Premier to have signed an agreement to send work offshore; that is factually incorrect. If the opposition is referring in such claims to the Oakajee state development agreement—which is not a formal state agreement, but will come into this place as a state agreement—everyone will have an opportunity to scrutinise that agreement act. Ms M.M. Quirk : When? Mr C.J. BARNETT : When we have the project underway—something the Labor Party did not do too much about. Ms M.M. Quirk : The cheque’s in the mail, is it? Mr C.J. BARNETT : This is the party that would not even pick up the phone for Inpex. As I have said before, I can accept that we might lose an LNG project to Qatar, or a mining project to Canada, but the Labor Party managed to get knocked off by Darwin! Mr C.J. Tallentire : Tell the truth about Inpex, Premier. Mr C.J. BARNETT : Your minister would not pick up the telephone because he was going into an election. Mr E.S. Ripper : You wouldn’t give them the site they wanted, either! Mr C.J. BARNETT : To return to the Oakajee issue, the state development agreement requires the partners to Oakajee Port and Rail—that is, Mitsubishi Corporation and Murchison Metals Ltd—to use their best endeavours to get Chinese participation in the project. By “Chinese participation”, I mean the joint venture and the development and raising of finance for the project. Yes, there will be fabrication of parts and perhaps railcars in China; China is the customer for iron ore. It is all very well to criticise me and the government for what we are doing with Oakajee, but as I tried to say to the demonstration outside, the first job of any government or any Premier or Minister for State Development is to secure the project; otherwise, we will just be arguing in a vacuum. Unless we can get the project — Ms M.M. Quirk : For China! The SPEAKER : Member for Girrawheen! Mr C.J. BARNETT : Unless we can get the project, there is nothing to argue over. I am doing all I can to secure Oakajee for this state, and I am being supported by the Minister for Regional Development and others. We secured Gorgon; Gorgon was in an absolute stalemate. Several members interjected. Mr C.J. BARNETT : It was going nowhere. Remember the banded iron formations? Because the former government would not deal with the issues that mattered to Chevron and Gorgon and the banded iron formations in the Mid West, Oakajee went nowhere. And it lost Inpex. I am happy to debate any public policy issue. I agree that local content and work in the fabrication shops is critically important, but it is a bit rich when this crowd opposite try to claim some credibility on industrial development in the state.
Ms M.M. Quirk : When? Mr C.J. BARNETT : When we have the project underway—something the Labor Party did not do too much about. Ms M.M. Quirk : The cheque’s in the mail, is it? Mr C.J. BARNETT : This is the party that would not even pick up the phone for Inpex. As I have said before, I can accept that we might lose an LNG project to Qatar, or a mining project to Canada, but the Labor Party managed to get knocked off by Darwin! Mr C.J. Tallentire : Tell the truth about Inpex, Premier. Mr C.J. BARNETT : Your minister would not pick up the telephone because he was going into an election. Mr E.S. Ripper : You wouldn’t give them the site they wanted, either! Mr C.J. BARNETT : To return to the Oakajee issue, the state development agreement requires the partners to Oakajee Port and Rail—that is, Mitsubishi Corporation and Murchison Metals Ltd—to use their best endeavours to get Chinese participation in the project. By “Chinese participation”, I mean the joint venture and the development and raising of finance for the project. Yes, there will be fabrication of parts and perhaps railcars in China; China is the customer for iron ore. It is all very well to criticise me and the government for what we are doing with Oakajee, but as I tried to say to the demonstration outside, the first job of any government or any Premier or Minister for State Development is to secure the project; otherwise, we will just be arguing in a vacuum. Unless we can get the project — Ms M.M. Quirk : For China! The SPEAKER : Member for Girrawheen! Mr C.J. BARNETT : Unless we can get the project, there is nothing to argue over. I am doing all I can to secure Oakajee for this state, and I am being supported by the Minister for Regional Development and others. We secured Gorgon; Gorgon was in an absolute stalemate. Several members interjected. Mr C.J. BARNETT : It was going nowhere. Remember the banded iron formations? Because the former government would not deal with the issues that mattered to Chevron and Gorgon and the banded iron formations in the Mid West, Oakajee went nowhere. And it lost Inpex. I am happy to debate any public policy issue. I agree that local content and work in the fabrication shops is critically important, but it is a bit rich when this crowd opposite try to claim some credibility on industrial development in the state.
Mr C.J. BARNETT : When we have the project underway—something the Labor Party did not do too much about. Ms M.M. Quirk : The cheque’s in the mail, is it? Mr C.J. BARNETT : This is the party that would not even pick up the phone for Inpex. As I have said before, I can accept that we might lose an LNG project to Qatar, or a mining project to Canada, but the Labor Party managed to get knocked off by Darwin! Mr C.J. Tallentire : Tell the truth about Inpex, Premier. Mr C.J. BARNETT : Your minister would not pick up the telephone because he was going into an election. Mr E.S. Ripper : You wouldn’t give them the site they wanted, either! Mr C.J. BARNETT : To return to the Oakajee issue, the state development agreement requires the partners to Oakajee Port and Rail—that is, Mitsubishi Corporation and Murchison Metals Ltd—to use their best endeavours to get Chinese participation in the project. By “Chinese participation”, I mean the joint venture and the development and raising of finance for the project. Yes, there will be fabrication of parts and perhaps railcars in China; China is the customer for iron ore. It is all very well to criticise me and the government for what we are doing with Oakajee, but as I tried to say to the demonstration outside, the first job of any government or any Premier or Minister for State Development is to secure the project; otherwise, we will just be arguing in a vacuum. Unless we can get the project — Ms M.M. Quirk : For China! The SPEAKER : Member for Girrawheen! Mr C.J. BARNETT : Unless we can get the project, there is nothing to argue over. I am doing all I can to secure Oakajee for this state, and I am being supported by the Minister for Regional Development and others. We secured Gorgon; Gorgon was in an absolute stalemate. Several members interjected. Mr C.J. BARNETT : It was going nowhere. Remember the banded iron formations? Because the former government would not deal with the issues that mattered to Chevron and Gorgon and the banded iron formations in the Mid West, Oakajee went nowhere. And it lost Inpex. I am happy to debate any public policy issue. I agree that local content and work in the fabrication shops is critically important, but it is a bit rich when this crowd opposite try to claim some credibility on industrial development in the state.
Ms M.M. Quirk : The cheque’s in the mail, is it? Mr C.J. BARNETT : This is the party that would not even pick up the phone for Inpex. As I have said before, I can accept that we might lose an LNG project to Qatar, or a mining project to Canada, but the Labor Party managed to get knocked off by Darwin! Mr C.J. Tallentire : Tell the truth about Inpex, Premier. Mr C.J. BARNETT : Your minister would not pick up the telephone because he was going into an election. Mr E.S. Ripper : You wouldn’t give them the site they wanted, either! Mr C.J. BARNETT : To return to the Oakajee issue, the state development agreement requires the partners to Oakajee Port and Rail—that is, Mitsubishi Corporation and Murchison Metals Ltd—to use their best endeavours to get Chinese participation in the project. By “Chinese participation”, I mean the joint venture and the development and raising of finance for the project. Yes, there will be fabrication of parts and perhaps railcars in China; China is the customer for iron ore. It is all very well to criticise me and the government for what we are doing with Oakajee, but as I tried to say to the demonstration outside, the first job of any government or any Premier or Minister for State Development is to secure the project; otherwise, we will just be arguing in a vacuum. Unless we can get the project — Ms M.M. Quirk : For China! The SPEAKER : Member for Girrawheen! Mr C.J. BARNETT : Unless we can get the project, there is nothing to argue over. I am doing all I can to secure Oakajee for this state, and I am being supported by the Minister for Regional Development and others. We secured Gorgon; Gorgon was in an absolute stalemate. Several members interjected. Mr C.J. BARNETT : It was going nowhere. Remember the banded iron formations? Because the former government would not deal with the issues that mattered to Chevron and Gorgon and the banded iron formations in the Mid West, Oakajee went nowhere. And it lost Inpex. I am happy to debate any public policy issue. I agree that local content and work in the fabrication shops is critically important, but it is a bit rich when this crowd opposite try to claim some credibility on industrial development in the state.
Mr C.J. BARNETT : This is the party that would not even pick up the phone for Inpex. As I have said before, I can accept that we might lose an LNG project to Qatar, or a mining project to Canada, but the Labor Party managed to get knocked off by Darwin! Mr C.J. Tallentire : Tell the truth about Inpex, Premier. Mr C.J. BARNETT : Your minister would not pick up the telephone because he was going into an election. Mr E.S. Ripper : You wouldn’t give them the site they wanted, either! Mr C.J. BARNETT : To return to the Oakajee issue, the state development agreement requires the partners to Oakajee Port and Rail—that is, Mitsubishi Corporation and Murchison Metals Ltd—to use their best endeavours to get Chinese participation in the project. By “Chinese participation”, I mean the joint venture and the development and raising of finance for the project. Yes, there will be fabrication of parts and perhaps railcars in China; China is the customer for iron ore. It is all very well to criticise me and the government for what we are doing with Oakajee, but as I tried to say to the demonstration outside, the first job of any government or any Premier or Minister for State Development is to secure the project; otherwise, we will just be arguing in a vacuum. Unless we can get the project — Ms M.M. Quirk : For China! The SPEAKER : Member for Girrawheen! Mr C.J. BARNETT : Unless we can get the project, there is nothing to argue over. I am doing all I can to secure Oakajee for this state, and I am being supported by the Minister for Regional Development and others. We secured Gorgon; Gorgon was in an absolute stalemate. Several members interjected. Mr C.J. BARNETT : It was going nowhere. Remember the banded iron formations? Because the former government would not deal with the issues that mattered to Chevron and Gorgon and the banded iron formations in the Mid West, Oakajee went nowhere. And it lost Inpex. I am happy to debate any public policy issue. I agree that local content and work in the fabrication shops is critically important, but it is a bit rich when this crowd opposite try to claim some credibility on industrial development in the state.
Mr C.J. Tallentire : Tell the truth about Inpex, Premier. Mr C.J. BARNETT : Your minister would not pick up the telephone because he was going into an election. Mr E.S. Ripper : You wouldn’t give them the site they wanted, either! Mr C.J. BARNETT : To return to the Oakajee issue, the state development agreement requires the partners to Oakajee Port and Rail—that is, Mitsubishi Corporation and Murchison Metals Ltd—to use their best endeavours to get Chinese participation in the project. By “Chinese participation”, I mean the joint venture and the development and raising of finance for the project. Yes, there will be fabrication of parts and perhaps railcars in China; China is the customer for iron ore. It is all very well to criticise me and the government for what we are doing with Oakajee, but as I tried to say to the demonstration outside, the first job of any government or any Premier or Minister for State Development is to secure the project; otherwise, we will just be arguing in a vacuum. Unless we can get the project — Ms M.M. Quirk : For China! The SPEAKER : Member for Girrawheen! Mr C.J. BARNETT : Unless we can get the project, there is nothing to argue over. I am doing all I can to secure Oakajee for this state, and I am being supported by the Minister for Regional Development and others. We secured Gorgon; Gorgon was in an absolute stalemate. Several members interjected. Mr C.J. BARNETT : It was going nowhere. Remember the banded iron formations? Because the former government would not deal with the issues that mattered to Chevron and Gorgon and the banded iron formations in the Mid West, Oakajee went nowhere. And it lost Inpex. I am happy to debate any public policy issue. I agree that local content and work in the fabrication shops is critically important, but it is a bit rich when this crowd opposite try to claim some credibility on industrial development in the state.
Mr C.J. BARNETT : Your minister would not pick up the telephone because he was going into an election. Mr E.S. Ripper : You wouldn’t give them the site they wanted, either! Mr C.J. BARNETT : To return to the Oakajee issue, the state development agreement requires the partners to Oakajee Port and Rail—that is, Mitsubishi Corporation and Murchison Metals Ltd—to use their best endeavours to get Chinese participation in the project. By “Chinese participation”, I mean the joint venture and the development and raising of finance for the project. Yes, there will be fabrication of parts and perhaps railcars in China; China is the customer for iron ore. It is all very well to criticise me and the government for what we are doing with Oakajee, but as I tried to say to the demonstration outside, the first job of any government or any Premier or Minister for State Development is to secure the project; otherwise, we will just be arguing in a vacuum. Unless we can get the project — Ms M.M. Quirk : For China! The SPEAKER : Member for Girrawheen! Mr C.J. BARNETT : Unless we can get the project, there is nothing to argue over. I am doing all I can to secure Oakajee for this state, and I am being supported by the Minister for Regional Development and others. We secured Gorgon; Gorgon was in an absolute stalemate. Several members interjected. Mr C.J. BARNETT : It was going nowhere. Remember the banded iron formations? Because the former government would not deal with the issues that mattered to Chevron and Gorgon and the banded iron formations in the Mid West, Oakajee went nowhere. And it lost Inpex. I am happy to debate any public policy issue. I agree that local content and work in the fabrication shops is critically important, but it is a bit rich when this crowd opposite try to claim some credibility on industrial development in the state.
Mr E.S. Ripper : You wouldn’t give them the site they wanted, either! Mr C.J. BARNETT : To return to the Oakajee issue, the state development agreement requires the partners to Oakajee Port and Rail—that is, Mitsubishi Corporation and Murchison Metals Ltd—to use their best endeavours to get Chinese participation in the project. By “Chinese participation”, I mean the joint venture and the development and raising of finance for the project. Yes, there will be fabrication of parts and perhaps railcars in China; China is the customer for iron ore. It is all very well to criticise me and the government for what we are doing with Oakajee, but as I tried to say to the demonstration outside, the first job of any government or any Premier or Minister for State Development is to secure the project; otherwise, we will just be arguing in a vacuum. Unless we can get the project — Ms M.M. Quirk : For China! The SPEAKER : Member for Girrawheen! Mr C.J. BARNETT : Unless we can get the project, there is nothing to argue over. I am doing all I can to secure Oakajee for this state, and I am being supported by the Minister for Regional Development and others. We secured Gorgon; Gorgon was in an absolute stalemate. Several members interjected. Mr C.J. BARNETT : It was going nowhere. Remember the banded iron formations? Because the former government would not deal with the issues that mattered to Chevron and Gorgon and the banded iron formations in the Mid West, Oakajee went nowhere. And it lost Inpex. I am happy to debate any public policy issue. I agree that local content and work in the fabrication shops is critically important, but it is a bit rich when this crowd opposite try to claim some credibility on industrial development in the state.
Mr C.J. BARNETT : To return to the Oakajee issue, the state development agreement requires the partners to Oakajee Port and Rail—that is, Mitsubishi Corporation and Murchison Metals Ltd—to use their best endeavours to get Chinese participation in the project. By “Chinese participation”, I mean the joint venture and the development and raising of finance for the project. Yes, there will be fabrication of parts and perhaps railcars in China; China is the customer for iron ore. It is all very well to criticise me and the government for what we are doing with Oakajee, but as I tried to say to the demonstration outside, the first job of any government or any Premier or Minister for State Development is to secure the project; otherwise, we will just be arguing in a vacuum. Unless we can get the project — Ms M.M. Quirk : For China! The SPEAKER : Member for Girrawheen! Mr C.J. BARNETT : Unless we can get the project, there is nothing to argue over. I am doing all I can to secure Oakajee for this state, and I am being supported by the Minister for Regional Development and others. We secured Gorgon; Gorgon was in an absolute stalemate. Several members interjected. Mr C.J. BARNETT : It was going nowhere. Remember the banded iron formations? Because the former government would not deal with the issues that mattered to Chevron and Gorgon and the banded iron formations in the Mid West, Oakajee went nowhere. And it lost Inpex. I am happy to debate any public policy issue. I agree that local content and work in the fabrication shops is critically important, but it is a bit rich when this crowd opposite try to claim some credibility on industrial development in the state.
Ms M.M. Quirk : For China! The SPEAKER : Member for Girrawheen! Mr C.J. BARNETT : Unless we can get the project, there is nothing to argue over. I am doing all I can to secure Oakajee for this state, and I am being supported by the Minister for Regional Development and others. We secured Gorgon; Gorgon was in an absolute stalemate. Several members interjected. Mr C.J. BARNETT : It was going nowhere. Remember the banded iron formations? Because the former government would not deal with the issues that mattered to Chevron and Gorgon and the banded iron formations in the Mid West, Oakajee went nowhere. And it lost Inpex. I am happy to debate any public policy issue. I agree that local content and work in the fabrication shops is critically important, but it is a bit rich when this crowd opposite try to claim some credibility on industrial development in the state.
The SPEAKER : Member for Girrawheen! Mr C.J. BARNETT : Unless we can get the project, there is nothing to argue over. I am doing all I can to secure Oakajee for this state, and I am being supported by the Minister for Regional Development and others. We secured Gorgon; Gorgon was in an absolute stalemate. Several members interjected. Mr C.J. BARNETT : It was going nowhere. Remember the banded iron formations? Because the former government would not deal with the issues that mattered to Chevron and Gorgon and the banded iron formations in the Mid West, Oakajee went nowhere. And it lost Inpex. I am happy to debate any public policy issue. I agree that local content and work in the fabrication shops is critically important, but it is a bit rich when this crowd opposite try to claim some credibility on industrial development in the state.
Mr C.J. BARNETT : Unless we can get the project, there is nothing to argue over. I am doing all I can to secure Oakajee for this state, and I am being supported by the Minister for Regional Development and others. We secured Gorgon; Gorgon was in an absolute stalemate. Several members interjected. Mr C.J. BARNETT : It was going nowhere. Remember the banded iron formations? Because the former government would not deal with the issues that mattered to Chevron and Gorgon and the banded iron formations in the Mid West, Oakajee went nowhere. And it lost Inpex. I am happy to debate any public policy issue. I agree that local content and work in the fabrication shops is critically important, but it is a bit rich when this crowd opposite try to claim some credibility on industrial development in the state.
Several members interjected. Mr C.J. BARNETT : It was going nowhere. Remember the banded iron formations? Because the former government would not deal with the issues that mattered to Chevron and Gorgon and the banded iron formations in the Mid West, Oakajee went nowhere. And it lost Inpex. I am happy to debate any public policy issue. I agree that local content and work in the fabrication shops is critically important, but it is a bit rich when this crowd opposite try to claim some credibility on industrial development in the state.
Mr C.J. BARNETT : It was going nowhere. Remember the banded iron formations? Because the former government would not deal with the issues that mattered to Chevron and Gorgon and the banded iron formations in the Mid West, Oakajee went nowhere. And it lost Inpex. I am happy to debate any public policy issue. I agree that local content and work in the fabrication shops is critically important, but it is a bit rich when this crowd opposite try to claim some credibility on industrial development in the state.
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