❓ Ms. Brewer questions the Premier about the cancelled Perth Convention and Entertainment Centre (PCEC) redevelopment, specifically regarding the amount spent and potential payments to leaseholders. The Premier confirms $35 million was spent and justifies the decision by prioritizing healthcare investments.
AnsweredQoN 588Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
Perth Convention and Entertainment Centre
588. Ms Sandra Brewer to
the Premier:
I refer to the
government's decision to not proceed with the Perth Convention and Entertainment
Centre redevelopment.
(1) How much has been spent to date on the
project?
(2) Can the Premier confirm that by not proceeding,
the state is required to pay the joint leaseholders of the convention centre
$8.5 million?
588. Ms Sandra Brewer to
the Premier:
I refer to the
government's decision to not proceed with the Perth Convention and Entertainment
Centre redevelopment.
(1) How much has been spent to date on the
project?
(2) Can the Premier confirm that by not proceeding,
the state is required to pay the joint leaseholders of the convention centre
$8.5 million?
AnswerView source ↗
(1)–(2) I can confirm to the house that
around about $35 million was spent on the redevelopment proposal. I want to
emphasise that that money is not a sunk cost. That was important work to
understand the site, the opportunities and the engineering constraints in
particular.
Mr Basil Zempilas interjected.
The Speaker: Leader of the Opposition, I am going to
call you for the first time. There was no need for that interjection.
Ms Rita Saffioti interjected.
The Speaker: Treasurer!
Mr Roger Cook: Specifically, we learnt that the
proposed project would require the partial closure and realignment of the
foreshore road network, temporary closures of the Mandurah rail line, the
closure of the PCEC during the full term of the construction, the closure of
the PCEC car park for the same period and a reconfiguration of the Elizabeth
Quay bus and train stations. That enabled us to assess the project properly.
Obviously, we would
love to redevelop that infrastructure, and particularly tourism infrastructure,
but the fact remains that our priority is to ensure that Western Australians
can get the health care they need when they need it. I make no apology for the fact
that the government made a tough decision to not proceed with that project
because we wanted to continue to make sure that we drove our agenda on
hospitals and health care. It is one of the biggest announcements in the state's
history on health care and involves the redevelopment of a whole new emergency
department at Royal Perth Hospital, the rebuild of the whole hospital at Peel
Health Campus and the purchase of the private hospital at Mount Lawley, which
means that we can add to the 100 beds that we already utilise there to create
an extra 100 public beds.
That comes on top of
an incredible program of construction that is going on in health care today.
There is the women's and babies' hospital. Work has already started on that at
the Murdoch campus. The South West Health Campus hospital construction project is
the biggest in regional Western Australia's history. Work on Geraldton Health
Campus is nearing completion. That is around a $188 million rebuild of that
hospital. Of course, other important projects around the state include Mullewa
Hospital, Paraburdoo Hospital and Tom Price Hospital, so it is not only the big
hospitals, but also those small and important hospitals that provide health
services. We are also actively working on the expansion of Albany Health
Campus. This is the biggest health construction program in the state's history.
That is why we are focused on health care, because we believe it makes a
difference to people's lives and that is the reason we continue to make sure—
Several members
interjected.
Mr Roger Cook: That is why we have made such a bold
and ambitious commitment through our Building Hospitals Fund to make sure that
we can bring on line the biggest program of hospital construction in the state's
history.
around about $35 million was spent on the redevelopment proposal. I want to
emphasise that that money is not a sunk cost. That was important work to
understand the site, the opportunities and the engineering constraints in
particular.
Mr Basil Zempilas interjected.
The Speaker: Leader of the Opposition, I am going to
call you for the first time. There was no need for that interjection.
Ms Rita Saffioti interjected.
The Speaker: Treasurer!
Mr Roger Cook: Specifically, we learnt that the
proposed project would require the partial closure and realignment of the
foreshore road network, temporary closures of the Mandurah rail line, the
closure of the PCEC during the full term of the construction, the closure of
the PCEC car park for the same period and a reconfiguration of the Elizabeth
Quay bus and train stations. That enabled us to assess the project properly.
Obviously, we would
love to redevelop that infrastructure, and particularly tourism infrastructure,
but the fact remains that our priority is to ensure that Western Australians
can get the health care they need when they need it. I make no apology for the fact
that the government made a tough decision to not proceed with that project
because we wanted to continue to make sure that we drove our agenda on
hospitals and health care. It is one of the biggest announcements in the state's
history on health care and involves the redevelopment of a whole new emergency
department at Royal Perth Hospital, the rebuild of the whole hospital at Peel
Health Campus and the purchase of the private hospital at Mount Lawley, which
means that we can add to the 100 beds that we already utilise there to create
an extra 100 public beds.
That comes on top of
an incredible program of construction that is going on in health care today.
There is the women's and babies' hospital. Work has already started on that at
the Murdoch campus. The South West Health Campus hospital construction project is
the biggest in regional Western Australia's history. Work on Geraldton Health
Campus is nearing completion. That is around a $188 million rebuild of that
hospital. Of course, other important projects around the state include Mullewa
Hospital, Paraburdoo Hospital and Tom Price Hospital, so it is not only the big
hospitals, but also those small and important hospitals that provide health
services. We are also actively working on the expansion of Albany Health
Campus. This is the biggest health construction program in the state's history.
That is why we are focused on health care, because we believe it makes a
difference to people's lives and that is the reason we continue to make sure—
Several members
interjected.
Mr Roger Cook: That is why we have made such a bold
and ambitious commitment through our Building Hospitals Fund to make sure that
we can bring on line the biggest program of hospital construction in the state's
history.
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