❓ Opposition questions the government's commitment to community consultation regarding the Burswood Park motorplex project, given the release of a tender before consultation's end. The Premier defends the project, citing an election mandate and ongoing consultation.
AnsweredQoN 92Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
Burswood Park motorplex
92. Mr Basil Zempilas to the Premier:
My question regards
the government's planned motorplex at Burswood Park.
(1) If there is overwhelming feedback from the
community that it does not want a racetrack, will the government reverse its
decision?
(2) Has the member for Victoria Park expressed
support for a racetrack at Burswood?
(3) Is the government genuinely interested in
community feedback, when yesterday it released a tender for the scope, design
and construction works for the project before its consultation process has
ended?
92. Mr Basil Zempilas to the Premier:
My question regards
the government's planned motorplex at Burswood Park.
(1) If there is overwhelming feedback from the
community that it does not want a racetrack, will the government reverse its
decision?
(2) Has the member for Victoria Park expressed
support for a racetrack at Burswood?
(3) Is the government genuinely interested in
community feedback, when yesterday it released a tender for the scope, design
and construction works for the project before its consultation process has
ended?
AnswerView source ↗
(1)–(2) I thank the member for the
question. We are committed to delivering a multipurpose entertainment and
sporting precinct at Burswood Park. It is one of the things we said during the
election we would do. In fact, I stood next to the then Minister for Tourism
and made the announcement. It was one of the first that we did. It was lively,
and it was vigorously debated in the election campaign. Some people ran
orchestrated campaigns against the Labor Party in opposition to it.
Ms Rita Saffioti: We're saying everyone knew
about it.
Mr Roger Cook: Everyone knew about it prior to the
election. Even members of the Liberal Party lied about it. They said there
would be races every weekend. They said there would be drag races there. They
said all kinds of things.
Several members
interjected.
The Speaker: Members!
Mr Roger Cook: Members of the Liberal Party made it
quite clear that they opposed the project. They campaigned against it.
What happened in the
election? I can very happily report to the chamber that not only was the member
for Victoria Park returned with a healthy majority, but the member for South
Perth was also returned, the member for Maylands was returned, the member for
Perth was returned and, of course, we saw the great Frank Paolino freshly
elected as the member for Mount Lawley. We know that the community supports
this project. It was front and centre of the Liberal Party's election campaign
at the time.
One of the things we
committed to in the election was to consult the community on this project or proposal.
We talked about how it would sit in the precinct, which is between the casino
and the football stadium. We talked about how we could enhance the
environmental values of the area. We said that the consultation process would
allow people to have input in terms of where the infrastructure is located.
What is the permanency of the infrastructure? How built-out should it be? For
instance, we proposed that there should be an outdoor music auditorium that
could seat between 15,000 and 20,000 people. That was a very important part of
the project.
We know that the
project attracted a lot of attention at the time.
Several members
interjected.
The Speaker: Members!
Mr Roger Cook: The Liberal Party opposed it, but not
all members of the Liberal Party. Its candidate for Churchlands was reported to
have said on 6PR on 14 April, "I love big events and I love the idea of a
street circuit." The next minute he said, "We don't have a mandate to
deliver it", although he knows that we made an election commitment on it.
In fact, on 23 April he said:
I note that they made the announcement
and that we will be building a racetrack and other facilities that are going to
go with it, amphitheatre and the like.
The member for
Churchlands, the Leader of the Opposition, was acutely aware of it. Then he
said:
… we don't have a mandate to
initiate projects that don't seem to have huge community appetite.
Yet all local
members of Parliament won their seats with handsome majorities. We know that
the project is widely supported by the community, and we will be moving ahead
with it. It takes more to create a vibrant city than a Coachella at Langley
Park and a cable car up to Kings Park. This proposal is an important part of
continuing to attract events, continuing to create vibrancy and continuing to
attract attention to Western Australia. Why? It is good for the economy. It
provides a vibrant community for people to live in and it continues to promote
Western Australia as a great part of the event
destination capitals of South-East Asia. We will continue with this project, but
we will continue to make sure that we consult the community on different
aspects of it.
(3) There is one other question that the Leader of
the Opposition asked, which regarded the tender for the project. Yes, we have
sought market interest on this project because that is what is done under an
alliance contract. We have early contact with the contractor and the designers
to make sure that we build in efficiencies and cut costs where we can, so that
we deliver an efficient piece of infrastructure that provides value for money
for WA taxpayers. By and large, WA taxpayers think this is a great proposal.
question. We are committed to delivering a multipurpose entertainment and
sporting precinct at Burswood Park. It is one of the things we said during the
election we would do. In fact, I stood next to the then Minister for Tourism
and made the announcement. It was one of the first that we did. It was lively,
and it was vigorously debated in the election campaign. Some people ran
orchestrated campaigns against the Labor Party in opposition to it.
Ms Rita Saffioti: We're saying everyone knew
about it.
Mr Roger Cook: Everyone knew about it prior to the
election. Even members of the Liberal Party lied about it. They said there
would be races every weekend. They said there would be drag races there. They
said all kinds of things.
Several members
interjected.
The Speaker: Members!
Mr Roger Cook: Members of the Liberal Party made it
quite clear that they opposed the project. They campaigned against it.
What happened in the
election? I can very happily report to the chamber that not only was the member
for Victoria Park returned with a healthy majority, but the member for South
Perth was also returned, the member for Maylands was returned, the member for
Perth was returned and, of course, we saw the great Frank Paolino freshly
elected as the member for Mount Lawley. We know that the community supports
this project. It was front and centre of the Liberal Party's election campaign
at the time.
One of the things we
committed to in the election was to consult the community on this project or proposal.
We talked about how it would sit in the precinct, which is between the casino
and the football stadium. We talked about how we could enhance the
environmental values of the area. We said that the consultation process would
allow people to have input in terms of where the infrastructure is located.
What is the permanency of the infrastructure? How built-out should it be? For
instance, we proposed that there should be an outdoor music auditorium that
could seat between 15,000 and 20,000 people. That was a very important part of
the project.
We know that the
project attracted a lot of attention at the time.
Several members
interjected.
The Speaker: Members!
Mr Roger Cook: The Liberal Party opposed it, but not
all members of the Liberal Party. Its candidate for Churchlands was reported to
have said on 6PR on 14 April, "I love big events and I love the idea of a
street circuit." The next minute he said, "We don't have a mandate to
deliver it", although he knows that we made an election commitment on it.
In fact, on 23 April he said:
I note that they made the announcement
and that we will be building a racetrack and other facilities that are going to
go with it, amphitheatre and the like.
The member for
Churchlands, the Leader of the Opposition, was acutely aware of it. Then he
said:
… we don't have a mandate to
initiate projects that don't seem to have huge community appetite.
Yet all local
members of Parliament won their seats with handsome majorities. We know that
the project is widely supported by the community, and we will be moving ahead
with it. It takes more to create a vibrant city than a Coachella at Langley
Park and a cable car up to Kings Park. This proposal is an important part of
continuing to attract events, continuing to create vibrancy and continuing to
attract attention to Western Australia. Why? It is good for the economy. It
provides a vibrant community for people to live in and it continues to promote
Western Australia as a great part of the event
destination capitals of South-East Asia. We will continue with this project, but
we will continue to make sure that we consult the community on different
aspects of it.
(3) There is one other question that the Leader of
the Opposition asked, which regarded the tender for the project. Yes, we have
sought market interest on this project because that is what is done under an
alliance contract. We have early contact with the contractor and the designers
to make sure that we build in efficiencies and cut costs where we can, so that
we deliver an efficient piece of infrastructure that provides value for money
for WA taxpayers. By and large, WA taxpayers think this is a great proposal.
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