❓ Mrs. Harvey questions the Minister for Transport on steps taken to ensure workplace safety on the Forrestfield-Airport Link tunnel project. The Minister responds by outlining the Public Transport Authority's management, WorkSafe's involvement, and the challenges of tunnelling in sand.
AnsweredQoN 856Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
FORRESTFIELD–AIRPORT
LINK — WORKER SAFETY
856. Mrs L.M. HARVEY to the Minister for Transport:
I have a supplementary question. I note
the minister's response and the statement that she made saying that the
contract requires the management of a safe workplace. What steps has the
minister taken to ensure that the workplace safety requirements of an
Australian workplace are being adhered to in the tunnel project?
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER : Members!
Minister for Mines and Petroleum, I call you to order for the first time.
LINK — WORKER SAFETY
856. Mrs L.M. HARVEY to the Minister for Transport:
I have a supplementary question. I note
the minister's response and the statement that she made saying that the
contract requires the management of a safe workplace. What steps has the
minister taken to ensure that the workplace safety requirements of an
Australian workplace are being adhered to in the tunnel project?
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER : Members!
Minister for Mines and Petroleum, I call you to order for the first time.
AnswerView source ↗
As I said, the Public Transport
Authority is managing the contract. WorkSafe has been involved. We have
continually dialogued with the company, outlining the requirements that we need
in WA to make sure that the workplace is safe. I said in opposition that
tunnelling in Perth is a challenging thing. The Liberal–National
government said that tunnelling in sand is easy because it is soft. In fact, it
is not that easy to tunnel in sand.
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER : Members! Leader
of the Opposition!
Ms R. SAFFIOTI : The member
for Scarborough wants to stop the project and to cancel the contract and leave
two TBMs sitting underneath the ground. The issue with TBMs is that it is not
easy to just stop and think about things. It is very difficult to pause TBMs.
Mr A. Krsticevic interjected.
The SPEAKER : Member for
Carine! You do not have to interject on every question.
Ms R. SAFFIOTI : We have to
adhere to a schedule to protect safety. We in this place cannot direct what
happens on a day-to-day basis at the worksite. We have to make sure that,
overall, we have a safe environment and that is why we have encouraged and
engaged WorkSafe to make sure that we have a safe work environment.
Authority is managing the contract. WorkSafe has been involved. We have
continually dialogued with the company, outlining the requirements that we need
in WA to make sure that the workplace is safe. I said in opposition that
tunnelling in Perth is a challenging thing. The Liberal–National
government said that tunnelling in sand is easy because it is soft. In fact, it
is not that easy to tunnel in sand.
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER : Members! Leader
of the Opposition!
Ms R. SAFFIOTI : The member
for Scarborough wants to stop the project and to cancel the contract and leave
two TBMs sitting underneath the ground. The issue with TBMs is that it is not
easy to just stop and think about things. It is very difficult to pause TBMs.
Mr A. Krsticevic interjected.
The SPEAKER : Member for
Carine! You do not have to interject on every question.
Ms R. SAFFIOTI : We have to
adhere to a schedule to protect safety. We in this place cannot direct what
happens on a day-to-day basis at the worksite. We have to make sure that,
overall, we have a safe environment and that is why we have encouraged and
engaged WorkSafe to make sure that we have a safe work environment.
Explore WA Government Data
Search the full archive in the free dashboard, or query programmatically via API.
Explore more
Government Gazette
Appointments, regulatory notices, planning changes.
Hansard
Debates, questions, speeches and sentiment.
Tabled Papers
Reports and documents tabled in Parliament.
Committees
Committee profiles and recent reports.
Regulations
Subsidiary legislation with filters and summaries.
Bills
Proposed laws and parliamentary progress.
Acts
Current WA legislation and summaries.
Explanatory Memoranda
Bills with EMs (text/PDF) available.
Members
MP profiles, party breakdown and rankings.
Pollie Rankings
Data-driven rankings across 19 categories.
Amendment Chains
Track how schemes and regulations evolve over time.