❓ Opposition asks for details on the Premier's plan for major projects and economic recovery. Premier outlines actions taken to suppress the virus and maintain economic activity, including the appointment of an economic recovery coordinator and efforts to cut red tape.
AnsweredQoN 235Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
STATE ECONOMY —
RECOVERY
235. Mrs L.M. HARVEY to the Premier:
I refer to my question yesterday
and the distinct lack of detail in the Premier's answer on his plan for
major projects and Western Australia's economic recovery. Can the
Premier now provide some detail on his plan for new major projects and Western Australia's
economic recovery?
RECOVERY
235. Mrs L.M. HARVEY to the Premier:
I refer to my question yesterday
and the distinct lack of detail in the Premier's answer on his plan for
major projects and Western Australia's economic recovery. Can the
Premier now provide some detail on his plan for new major projects and Western Australia's
economic recovery?
AnswerView source ↗
Yesterday, the Leader of the
Opposition asked me a question about Infrastructure Western Australia and the
role that it plays, which I answered. I explained to the Leader of the
Opposition that the role of Infrastructure WA is as was described in the second
reading speech and the bill that we introduced. That is obviously now the law
and it has not changed. That was the question.
In relation to the new question the Leader of the Opposition
has asked today about economic recovery, I announced in the Parliament
yesterday that we have appointed an economic recovery coordinator, who is the
head of the Public Sector Commission, Sharyn O'Neill. She will
coordinate actions across government and obviously work cooperatively with the
private sector on this. Frankly, Western Australia has been at the forefront of
wanting to ensure that as much economic
activity as possible continues in our state. We have put in place things like
the intrastate and interstate border controls to ensure that we are able
to better support economic activity and have no further closures of industry in our state. As I think others would confirm, Western
Australia has led this response nationally . Part of this government's
agenda has been to try to keep as much activity in place as possible in Western
Australia. That means building and construction, manufacturing and mining. We
have ensured that all of those industries have
continued without significant impediment over this period. It would be fair to
say that this approach has w orked. The evidence thus far is that there
has been a very low rate of transmission of coronavirus in Western Australia.
The measures we have taken have assisted in driving down the transmission of
the illness, whilst trying to keep as much economic activity in place as we
can.
Having said that, the economic
situation is dire. It is dire across the world and it is dire in Australia.
Obviously, as time goes by, the recovery coordinator, Sharyn O'Neill,
will have an important role in coordinating the actions of government. We have
said that we will continue to husband resources so that we can have a rebirth
and reboot model at the appropriate time, and whatever economic and financial
support we can provide behind that will be part of that recovery process. Various
ministers are doing everything they can. I note the Minister for Planning has
made some significant changes to local government rules and planning
regulations. I expect she will bring forward more
to ensure that we remove some of the red tape that has built up over many years
in the case of local government. That is another initiative we are
taking. We are also seeking to cut through some of the bureaucracy that has inhibited some of our projects that it has imposed
nationally—for instance, some of our railway projects, which are very important. Some of them are already underway; at least three, from memory.
We would like to get a few more underway as quickly as we can, but that
requires some federal cooperation in terms of the Environment Protection and
Biodiversity Conservation Act. All of those sorts of things are ongoing. I have
to say that our suppression of the virus up until this point has been very
effective and our measures to both suppress the virus and keep as much economic
activity underway as we can have also been effective.
Opposition asked me a question about Infrastructure Western Australia and the
role that it plays, which I answered. I explained to the Leader of the
Opposition that the role of Infrastructure WA is as was described in the second
reading speech and the bill that we introduced. That is obviously now the law
and it has not changed. That was the question.
In relation to the new question the Leader of the Opposition
has asked today about economic recovery, I announced in the Parliament
yesterday that we have appointed an economic recovery coordinator, who is the
head of the Public Sector Commission, Sharyn O'Neill. She will
coordinate actions across government and obviously work cooperatively with the
private sector on this. Frankly, Western Australia has been at the forefront of
wanting to ensure that as much economic
activity as possible continues in our state. We have put in place things like
the intrastate and interstate border controls to ensure that we are able
to better support economic activity and have no further closures of industry in our state. As I think others would confirm, Western
Australia has led this response nationally . Part of this government's
agenda has been to try to keep as much activity in place as possible in Western
Australia. That means building and construction, manufacturing and mining. We
have ensured that all of those industries have
continued without significant impediment over this period. It would be fair to
say that this approach has w orked. The evidence thus far is that there
has been a very low rate of transmission of coronavirus in Western Australia.
The measures we have taken have assisted in driving down the transmission of
the illness, whilst trying to keep as much economic activity in place as we
can.
Having said that, the economic
situation is dire. It is dire across the world and it is dire in Australia.
Obviously, as time goes by, the recovery coordinator, Sharyn O'Neill,
will have an important role in coordinating the actions of government. We have
said that we will continue to husband resources so that we can have a rebirth
and reboot model at the appropriate time, and whatever economic and financial
support we can provide behind that will be part of that recovery process. Various
ministers are doing everything they can. I note the Minister for Planning has
made some significant changes to local government rules and planning
regulations. I expect she will bring forward more
to ensure that we remove some of the red tape that has built up over many years
in the case of local government. That is another initiative we are
taking. We are also seeking to cut through some of the bureaucracy that has inhibited some of our projects that it has imposed
nationally—for instance, some of our railway projects, which are very important. Some of them are already underway; at least three, from memory.
We would like to get a few more underway as quickly as we can, but that
requires some federal cooperation in terms of the Environment Protection and
Biodiversity Conservation Act. All of those sorts of things are ongoing. I have
to say that our suppression of the virus up until this point has been very
effective and our measures to both suppress the virus and keep as much economic
activity underway as we can have also been effective.
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