❓ Mr. Francis asks the Treasurer for a comparison between the government's and opposition's plans for the new Perth Stadium. The Treasurer criticizes the opposition's plan as unclear and potentially more expensive, focusing on comments made by Hon Ken Travers.
AnsweredQoN 540Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
PERTH MAJOR
SPORTS STADIUM — PROJECT DEFINITION PLAN
540. Mr J.M. FRANCIS to the Treasurer:
Given that yesterday the government released ''The new
Perth Stadium Project Definition Plan'', I wonder whether the minister
could please provide the house with a comparison between the government's
plan for the new stadium and the opposition's plan.
SPORTS STADIUM — PROJECT DEFINITION PLAN
540. Mr J.M. FRANCIS to the Treasurer:
Given that yesterday the government released ''The new
Perth Stadium Project Definition Plan'', I wonder whether the minister
could please provide the house with a comparison between the government's
plan for the new stadium and the opposition's plan.
AnswerView source ↗
I thank the member. I have to say —
Mr M.P. Murray interjected.
Mr
T.R. BUSWELL : The member for Collie–Preston and the member for
Albany remind me of those two grumpy old blokes up on the balcony in The Muppet Show —Statler and
Waldorf! They are angry because they are not sitting together anymore. This is
a good question —
Several members interjected.
The
SPEAKER : Member for Mandurah, I saw your lips move. I formally call you to
order for the first time today. Treasurer, you have been asked a question; I
want to hear the answer.
Mr T.R. BUSWELL :
It will be a bit difficult to answer because the opposition's position
on the stadium is somewhat lacking in clarity, but I will attempt to decipher
it. ''The new Perth Stadium Project Definition Plan'' is a great
piece of work. It basically lays out the procurement methodology and the design–build–finance–maintain
model. It also refers to costings, timing and delivery.
Mr P. Papalia interjected.
Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I
will not go into all the details of the timings, member for Warnbro, because
they have been well canvassed by the Minister for Sport and Recreation, other
than to say that tenders are now out for the preconstruction site works. When
we weigh up the planning, the procurement processes and the construction, we
see that it is about a seven-year time frame from when we start to when we
finish. We are on the way now.
Yesterday marks the movement from planning to procurement. W e are on the way to delivering the
stadium. I want to compare that with the position taken by the opposition and,
in particular, by the recently emerging spokesperson for everybody and
everything, Hon Kenny Travers. I want to reflect on some of his comments recently on the radio when he was
interviewed by Mr Paul Murray. The essence of the position around the stadium
that the Labor Party will take to the people of Western Australia is that when
people ask when it will build the stadium, it will say that it does not know.
The Labor Party will say that after the election it will sit down with the
experts and work out whether one option is cheaper than the other option; and
if it is, it might build it at Kitchener Park. The Labor Party's
position needs to be made a bit clearer. My suspicion is that the Labor Party
wants to build it at Kitchener Park. It keeps saying that it will be cheaper at
Kitchener Park. Let me just touch on a couple of things.
Mr R.H. Cook : We have never said that.
Mr T.R. BUSWELL : Yes, you have. Listen carefully to the
comment made by Hon Ken Travers today. Paul Murray asked the following question
—
Well the Carpenter government's estimates on Kitchener Park are
getting a bit long in the tooth they're four years old, that's
$1.1 billion.
Let us not forget
that that was for a project due to be completed in 2016. If Labor goes back to
Kitchener Park, now under the Labor plan it will not be finished until 2020.
What Kenny Travers said was that it did not matter, as all those delays would
effectively drive down the price.
Point of Order
Mrs M.H. ROBERTS : Point of order, Mr Speaker.
The SPEAKER : I think I anticipate your point of order,
member for Midland. Treasurer, if you are going to refer to members, either of
this place or of the other place, I would insist that you call them by their
name in the other place.
Questions without Notice Resumed
Mr T.R. BUSWELL :
So, Mr Speaker, the opposition spokesperson has this preposterous position that
a stadium that was going to cost $1.1 billion five years ago would be cheaper
to build today and would be completed in 2020. It is ridiculous. He is then
questioned about the time.
Mr P. Papalia interjected.
The SPEAKER :
Member for Warnbro, I know you can hear me. I am hearing you too often, though.
I formally call you to order for the first time today.
Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I
do not care if members opposite do not like it, I am going to finish this
answer. This is what he said.
Mr
P. Papalia interjected.
The
SPEAKER : Take a seat, minister. I am saying something —
Mr
P. Papalia interjected.
The
SPEAKER : Member for Warnbro, I formally call you to order for the second
and third times today.
Mr
T.R. BUSWELL : This is what he said —
I don't accept the Premier's
argument that it will be delayed, I think five years is plenty of time.
He said that he thinks five years is plenty of time. Where
did he pluck that figure from? How many stadiums has Hon Ken Travers built? Not
one. Not one, yet he says —
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER :
Member for Cannington!
Mrs M.H. Roberts interjected.
Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I
am nearly done. There is one lesson that the Labor Party needs to take from
history, member for Midland: it is in this document titled ''The
Planning and Management of Perth Arena''. I will talk about Perth Arena.
It was announced by the Labor Party in September 2005 at a cost of $160 million
to be delivered in January 2009. The document states that it was only $390 million
over budget and was only three years late. Those are the sorts of outcomes that
Hon Ken Travers will deliver.
Mr W.J. Johnston interjected.
The SPEAKER :
Member for Cannington, I formally call you to order for the first time today.
Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I
will close with this quote from the Auditor General —
Insufficient scoping and planning
meant that both the original cost estimate and opening date were unrealistic.
There is the lesson from history for Hon Ken Travers. He cannot just have a thought bubble, pluck a figure
out of the air and say that the arena will take five years to build; it will
clearly take more.
Several members
interjected.
Mr T.R. BUSWELL : Here is the summary on the stadium. If
Labor—heaven forbid!—manage to get into government, we will not
get a stadium in Western Australia until 2020.
I will close with an observation by a person who I think
occasionally makes very lucid statements, who said in relation to Burswood
stadium —
It would activate the entire
peninsula area by the river, encourage new cafes, restaurants and other
businesses along there.
Subiaco has outlived its
usefulness; we have the opportunity at Belmont Park train station and the
capacity to put more traffic flow onto Graham Farmer Freeway.
That is a quote from the member for Victoria Park!
Mr M.P. Murray interjected.
Mr
T.R. BUSWELL : The member for Collie–Preston and the member for
Albany remind me of those two grumpy old blokes up on the balcony in The Muppet Show —Statler and
Waldorf! They are angry because they are not sitting together anymore. This is
a good question —
Several members interjected.
The
SPEAKER : Member for Mandurah, I saw your lips move. I formally call you to
order for the first time today. Treasurer, you have been asked a question; I
want to hear the answer.
Mr T.R. BUSWELL :
It will be a bit difficult to answer because the opposition's position
on the stadium is somewhat lacking in clarity, but I will attempt to decipher
it. ''The new Perth Stadium Project Definition Plan'' is a great
piece of work. It basically lays out the procurement methodology and the design–build–finance–maintain
model. It also refers to costings, timing and delivery.
Mr P. Papalia interjected.
Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I
will not go into all the details of the timings, member for Warnbro, because
they have been well canvassed by the Minister for Sport and Recreation, other
than to say that tenders are now out for the preconstruction site works. When
we weigh up the planning, the procurement processes and the construction, we
see that it is about a seven-year time frame from when we start to when we
finish. We are on the way now.
Yesterday marks the movement from planning to procurement. W e are on the way to delivering the
stadium. I want to compare that with the position taken by the opposition and,
in particular, by the recently emerging spokesperson for everybody and
everything, Hon Kenny Travers. I want to reflect on some of his comments recently on the radio when he was
interviewed by Mr Paul Murray. The essence of the position around the stadium
that the Labor Party will take to the people of Western Australia is that when
people ask when it will build the stadium, it will say that it does not know.
The Labor Party will say that after the election it will sit down with the
experts and work out whether one option is cheaper than the other option; and
if it is, it might build it at Kitchener Park. The Labor Party's
position needs to be made a bit clearer. My suspicion is that the Labor Party
wants to build it at Kitchener Park. It keeps saying that it will be cheaper at
Kitchener Park. Let me just touch on a couple of things.
Mr R.H. Cook : We have never said that.
Mr T.R. BUSWELL : Yes, you have. Listen carefully to the
comment made by Hon Ken Travers today. Paul Murray asked the following question
—
Well the Carpenter government's estimates on Kitchener Park are
getting a bit long in the tooth they're four years old, that's
$1.1 billion.
Let us not forget
that that was for a project due to be completed in 2016. If Labor goes back to
Kitchener Park, now under the Labor plan it will not be finished until 2020.
What Kenny Travers said was that it did not matter, as all those delays would
effectively drive down the price.
Point of Order
Mrs M.H. ROBERTS : Point of order, Mr Speaker.
The SPEAKER : I think I anticipate your point of order,
member for Midland. Treasurer, if you are going to refer to members, either of
this place or of the other place, I would insist that you call them by their
name in the other place.
Questions without Notice Resumed
Mr T.R. BUSWELL :
So, Mr Speaker, the opposition spokesperson has this preposterous position that
a stadium that was going to cost $1.1 billion five years ago would be cheaper
to build today and would be completed in 2020. It is ridiculous. He is then
questioned about the time.
Mr P. Papalia interjected.
The SPEAKER :
Member for Warnbro, I know you can hear me. I am hearing you too often, though.
I formally call you to order for the first time today.
Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I
do not care if members opposite do not like it, I am going to finish this
answer. This is what he said.
Mr
P. Papalia interjected.
The
SPEAKER : Take a seat, minister. I am saying something —
Mr
P. Papalia interjected.
The
SPEAKER : Member for Warnbro, I formally call you to order for the second
and third times today.
Mr
T.R. BUSWELL : This is what he said —
I don't accept the Premier's
argument that it will be delayed, I think five years is plenty of time.
He said that he thinks five years is plenty of time. Where
did he pluck that figure from? How many stadiums has Hon Ken Travers built? Not
one. Not one, yet he says —
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER :
Member for Cannington!
Mrs M.H. Roberts interjected.
Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I
am nearly done. There is one lesson that the Labor Party needs to take from
history, member for Midland: it is in this document titled ''The
Planning and Management of Perth Arena''. I will talk about Perth Arena.
It was announced by the Labor Party in September 2005 at a cost of $160 million
to be delivered in January 2009. The document states that it was only $390 million
over budget and was only three years late. Those are the sorts of outcomes that
Hon Ken Travers will deliver.
Mr W.J. Johnston interjected.
The SPEAKER :
Member for Cannington, I formally call you to order for the first time today.
Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I
will close with this quote from the Auditor General —
Insufficient scoping and planning
meant that both the original cost estimate and opening date were unrealistic.
There is the lesson from history for Hon Ken Travers. He cannot just have a thought bubble, pluck a figure
out of the air and say that the arena will take five years to build; it will
clearly take more.
Several members
interjected.
Mr T.R. BUSWELL : Here is the summary on the stadium. If
Labor—heaven forbid!—manage to get into government, we will not
get a stadium in Western Australia until 2020.
I will close with an observation by a person who I think
occasionally makes very lucid statements, who said in relation to Burswood
stadium —
It would activate the entire
peninsula area by the river, encourage new cafes, restaurants and other
businesses along there.
Subiaco has outlived its
usefulness; we have the opportunity at Belmont Park train station and the
capacity to put more traffic flow onto Graham Farmer Freeway.
That is a quote from the member for Victoria Park!
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