❓ Dr. Honey questions the Premier on WA's economic diversification efforts, particularly regarding green energy and battery manufacturing. The Premier defends the government's record, highlighting investments and criticising the opposition leader's negativity.
AnsweredQoN 324Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
STATE
ECONOMY — DIVERSIFICATION
324. Dr D.J. HONEY to the Premier:
I
refer to the Premier's budget speech in which he stated that he planned
to expand and diversify the WA economy — despite Queensland having outflanked us to secure Fortescue Future
Industries' green energy manufacturing centre —and also
that he had secured the base for the federal ALP's promised $100 million
battery manufacturing precinct.
(1) Given that
many experts consider WA almost uniquely well-placed to capitalise on emerging
energy developments, why is the government being outpaced and outmanoeuvred by
other states?
(2) Why do major
projects see opportunities elsewhere but not in WA, where an abundance of rare-earth
and critical minerals grants us a natural advantage for developing these
downstream manufacturing industries of the future?
Mr W.J. Johnston interjected.
The SPEAKER : Acting Leader of
the House, perhaps you could set an example in that role and not interject when
someone is asking a question.
ECONOMY — DIVERSIFICATION
324. Dr D.J. HONEY to the Premier:
I
refer to the Premier's budget speech in which he stated that he planned
to expand and diversify the WA economy — despite Queensland having outflanked us to secure Fortescue Future
Industries' green energy manufacturing centre —and also
that he had secured the base for the federal ALP's promised $100 million
battery manufacturing precinct.
(1) Given that
many experts consider WA almost uniquely well-placed to capitalise on emerging
energy developments, why is the government being outpaced and outmanoeuvred by
other states?
(2) Why do major
projects see opportunities elsewhere but not in WA, where an abundance of rare-earth
and critical minerals grants us a natural advantage for developing these
downstream manufacturing industries of the future?
Mr W.J. Johnston interjected.
The SPEAKER : Acting Leader of
the House, perhaps you could set an example in that role and not interject when
someone is asking a question.
AnswerView source ↗
Templeman would never have done
that!
(1)–(2) It
seems the Leader of the Liberal Party does not like Western Australia much. It
is terrible! We have the Leader of the Liberal Party out there, running down
his own state. It is a shocking thing. It shows how far the Liberal Party has
fallen. I remember when Richard Court was here, promoting Western Australia,
and Colin Barnett was parochially in favour. Troy Buswell, when he was Liberal
leader, was always out there, advocating for Western Australia, and also when
he was Treasurer. Do members remember Troy? He was one of the Leaders of the
Liberal Party, in here advocating for Western Australia.
Several members
interjected.
Mr M. McGOWAN : As the member
for Baldivis points out, he was a great supporter of the panelbeating industry in Western Australia! Former Liberal leader Troy
Buswell and Leaders of the Liberal Party actually supported the state.
Now
the state is literally light-years in front of every other state in Australia
in economic and financial performance . It is so far in front that they
are all whining; all over the country, they are whining. They are looking at us
and they are pleading and falling all over each other to be the one who says
the most envious things about Western Australia. All over the eastern states,
that is what they are doing—the Treasurers, the Premiers. Remember New
South Wales, the gold-standard state? They are out there, whining and moaning
about how well Western Australia is doing.
The one person who seems to think
the other states are doing better than us is the Leader of the Liberal Party
here in WA. He is the only one. Scott Morrison, when he comes here, says, ''It's
great to see the state government doing so well. We've been a part of
that.'' He is out there, advocating that the state government has done a
wonderful job. Obviously, he wants to come
into my office and catch up with me; he clearly does not want to do that with
the state Leader of the Liberal Party! In fact, when he was asked who he
was, he thought he was Mia Davies! I was standing there; I almost felt sorry for
him!
We have put $1.3 billion into
diversification initiatives in the budget. The member does not listen to the
questions, so I will tell him: that was my first question today, from our own
side. I outlined some of the initiatives. There is $1.3 billion for
diversification, using our financial success to build the industries of
tomorrow. The other day, Josh Frydenberg was over here for the Iluka project,
which is virtually 100 per cent funded by the state government, which is interesting. It is a major project in
proximity to Perth. We have lithium projects all over the state and we have
battery processors undertaking their work around Western Australia. There are
significant upgrades to many projects. We have the hydrogen precinct in the
Pilbara, the Future Battery Industries CRC established in Western Australia,
the LNG task force and numerous downstream processing initiatives.
Yesterday I was out there with
Anthony Albanese, who has an interest in these things. He visited our new rail
manufacturing workshop, which is an amazing project. It was built from scratch
by the Minister for Transport —
Several members interjected.
Mr M. McGOWAN : She is a very
talented woman! It rose from the ground out there in the member for Midland's
electorate, creating jobs and high-tech industries. Do members remember what
the Liberal Party said about that? It said
it is an old, tired industry. Now we have these high-tech jobs. They are out
there, working on computers, and it is a very high-tech new industry.
You could have eaten your dinner off the floor.
That is what we are doing. We have
3.4 per cent unemployment, the strongest growth in jobs over the course of the last two years, and 40 per cent of the
national GDP produced by Western Australia, yet we have the Leader of the Liberal Party saying it is all bad. Do members not think that says more about
him than it does about us?
that!
(1)–(2) It
seems the Leader of the Liberal Party does not like Western Australia much. It
is terrible! We have the Leader of the Liberal Party out there, running down
his own state. It is a shocking thing. It shows how far the Liberal Party has
fallen. I remember when Richard Court was here, promoting Western Australia,
and Colin Barnett was parochially in favour. Troy Buswell, when he was Liberal
leader, was always out there, advocating for Western Australia, and also when
he was Treasurer. Do members remember Troy? He was one of the Leaders of the
Liberal Party, in here advocating for Western Australia.
Several members
interjected.
Mr M. McGOWAN : As the member
for Baldivis points out, he was a great supporter of the panelbeating industry in Western Australia! Former Liberal leader Troy
Buswell and Leaders of the Liberal Party actually supported the state.
Now
the state is literally light-years in front of every other state in Australia
in economic and financial performance . It is so far in front that they
are all whining; all over the country, they are whining. They are looking at us
and they are pleading and falling all over each other to be the one who says
the most envious things about Western Australia. All over the eastern states,
that is what they are doing—the Treasurers, the Premiers. Remember New
South Wales, the gold-standard state? They are out there, whining and moaning
about how well Western Australia is doing.
The one person who seems to think
the other states are doing better than us is the Leader of the Liberal Party
here in WA. He is the only one. Scott Morrison, when he comes here, says, ''It's
great to see the state government doing so well. We've been a part of
that.'' He is out there, advocating that the state government has done a
wonderful job. Obviously, he wants to come
into my office and catch up with me; he clearly does not want to do that with
the state Leader of the Liberal Party! In fact, when he was asked who he
was, he thought he was Mia Davies! I was standing there; I almost felt sorry for
him!
We have put $1.3 billion into
diversification initiatives in the budget. The member does not listen to the
questions, so I will tell him: that was my first question today, from our own
side. I outlined some of the initiatives. There is $1.3 billion for
diversification, using our financial success to build the industries of
tomorrow. The other day, Josh Frydenberg was over here for the Iluka project,
which is virtually 100 per cent funded by the state government, which is interesting. It is a major project in
proximity to Perth. We have lithium projects all over the state and we have
battery processors undertaking their work around Western Australia. There are
significant upgrades to many projects. We have the hydrogen precinct in the
Pilbara, the Future Battery Industries CRC established in Western Australia,
the LNG task force and numerous downstream processing initiatives.
Yesterday I was out there with
Anthony Albanese, who has an interest in these things. He visited our new rail
manufacturing workshop, which is an amazing project. It was built from scratch
by the Minister for Transport —
Several members interjected.
Mr M. McGOWAN : She is a very
talented woman! It rose from the ground out there in the member for Midland's
electorate, creating jobs and high-tech industries. Do members remember what
the Liberal Party said about that? It said
it is an old, tired industry. Now we have these high-tech jobs. They are out
there, working on computers, and it is a very high-tech new industry.
You could have eaten your dinner off the floor.
That is what we are doing. We have
3.4 per cent unemployment, the strongest growth in jobs over the course of the last two years, and 40 per cent of the
national GDP produced by Western Australia, yet we have the Leader of the Liberal Party saying it is all bad. Do members not think that says more about
him than it does about us?
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.