❓ Question regarding the Aubin Grove train station project, contrasting the government's fully funded plan with the opposition's proposal. The Minister defends the government's investment and criticises the opposition's plan as inadequate.
AnsweredQoN 367Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
AUBIN GROVE TRAIN station
367. Mr J.M. FRANCIS to the Minister for Transport:
On behalf of the residents of my
electorate of Jandakot, I thank the minister for his recent announcement that
this Liberal–National government has a fully costed, fully funded plan
to build a new train station at Aubin Grove.
Several members interjected.
The
SPEAKER : Member for Armadale, I formally call you to order for the first
time today. If there is a point you want to make in this place, there are other
ways of doing it.
Mr
J.M. FRANCIS : Can the minister please update the house on what residents in
my electorate of Jandakot can expect at this station and the benefits of this
commitment over the half-baked, half-thought-out plan proposed by the Labor
Party?
367. Mr J.M. FRANCIS to the Minister for Transport:
On behalf of the residents of my
electorate of Jandakot, I thank the minister for his recent announcement that
this Liberal–National government has a fully costed, fully funded plan
to build a new train station at Aubin Grove.
Several members interjected.
The
SPEAKER : Member for Armadale, I formally call you to order for the first
time today. If there is a point you want to make in this place, there are other
ways of doing it.
Mr
J.M. FRANCIS : Can the minister please update the house on what residents in
my electorate of Jandakot can expect at this station and the benefits of this
commitment over the half-baked, half-thought-out plan proposed by the Labor
Party?
AnswerView source ↗
I thank the member for Jandakot for
having both me and the Premier out to his electorate over the last few months
and highlighting the challenges around public transport. Can I say just quickly
that there is a lot of money going to the rail network in Perth—$240 million
to push the line to the north to Butler, $165 million to buy 45 extra rail
carriages, $360 million to sink the railway line through the middle of the city
to facilitate the Perth City Link et cetera. Lastly, we saw two things out of
this announcement of $80 million to build the Aubin Grove train station. We saw
a government committed to delivering well-planned and well-thought-out
transport proposals. As the member for Jandakot would be aware, the $80 million
delivers him this: a train station and car parking to accommodate 2 000 people,
which will be the largest Park 'n' Ride on the Perth
metropolitan rail network. In addition —
Mr
F.M. Logan interjected.
Mr
T.R. BUSWELL : We will get to you in a minute, member for Swanbourne!
In addition, in line with advice
from the Public Transport Authority, when we build a station, we go out and buy
six more rail carriages because that is what it says we will need to account
for the extra growth in stoppage from having another station on the line. That
is what we get for $80 million. The good folk of the member for Jandakot's
electorate can compare that directly with the half-baked plan of a half-baked
opposition because this is what it offered to do for $45 million—build
a station, put in 900 car parking bays and buy the sum total of zero extra rail
carriages.
Mrs
M.H. Roberts : That's not true!
Mr
T.R. BUSWELL : Is it not true? Where does it say in the press release,
member for Midland, that the opposition will run extra rail carriages? It quite
simply does not! It is true because it is not there; if it was not true, it
would be there. So what can they get?
Several members interjected.
Mr
T.R. BUSWELL : What do the member for Jandakot's constituents get —
Mrs
M.H. Roberts interjected.
The
SPEAKER : Member for Midland!
Mr
P. Papalia interjected.
The
SPEAKER : Member for Warnbro, I formally call you to order for the first
time today. I just want to make some progress in question time—that is
all, members.
Mr
T.R. BUSWELL : That is what the member for Jandakot's constituents
get: it is like the Slim Dusty equivalent of the pub with no beer; it is the
train station that people cannot park at and they will not be able to fit on
the train. That is what the opposition has offered. I am sure that the member
for Jandakot will go to some length to assist the members of his electorate to
understand the difference. I am sure he will. I thought it was half-baked and I
now know it is half-baked because the first things I saw were the comments of
the shadow Minister for Transport, Hon
Ken Travers. He dragged his knuckles down to Cockburn station on Sunday —
Withdrawal of Remark
Mr M. McGOWAN : I ask that the
Minister for Transport withdraw that imputation he absolutely makes in this
house. It is unparliamentary and unbecoming, I might add, of any
parliamentarian to stand in this place and say the things that he does.
The SPEAKER : Minister.
Questions without Notice Resumed
Mr T.R. BUSWELL :
The member was down there and said that the problem with this announcement is
that people will not be able to fit on the trains. We are buying extra trains,
but people will not be able to fit on the trains. That is false. The Labor plan
for the station at Aubin Grove is for no additional rail carriages to be
purchased. The other very interesting —
Several members interjected.
Mr T.R. BUSWELL :
That is a very good point, member for Jandakot, as we invest $50 million to
build nearly 4 000 extra car parking bays on the very line on which the
opposition built half-baked stations last time.
I will just close with the following. I thought it was a
half-baked plan until I saw comments made by the member for Cockburn that
appeared in the Cockburn Gazette , in
which he was quoted as being a local resident. His local train station is
Swanbourne—halfway between his house and the Boatshed, where he goes to
buy his expensive imported caviar! This is the workers' friend! Let us
understand one thing: his local station is Swanbourne. Members should not be
confused; we are not building 2 000 car parking bays at Swanbourne. He also
said, in relation to our plan, that there was no money in the budget for it,
whereas Labor had identified a source in the future fund. In other words, he
has automatically admitted that he is prepared to raid the future fund—money
set aside by this government and this generation of Western Australians for
future —
Several members interjected.
Mr T.R. BUSWELL :
The member made an assumption, and I am happy to go out and promise every
single cent out of the billion dollars that will go into the future fund, but
the fatal flaw in the member for Cockburn's assumption is that he will
be able to get the money out. A couple of things need to happen for him to be
able to do that; he would have to be able to access it through the legislative
mechanism, and I do not think he will be able to. Secondly, he will have to win
government and get over this side of the house, and I know that is not going to
happen.
having both me and the Premier out to his electorate over the last few months
and highlighting the challenges around public transport. Can I say just quickly
that there is a lot of money going to the rail network in Perth—$240 million
to push the line to the north to Butler, $165 million to buy 45 extra rail
carriages, $360 million to sink the railway line through the middle of the city
to facilitate the Perth City Link et cetera. Lastly, we saw two things out of
this announcement of $80 million to build the Aubin Grove train station. We saw
a government committed to delivering well-planned and well-thought-out
transport proposals. As the member for Jandakot would be aware, the $80 million
delivers him this: a train station and car parking to accommodate 2 000 people,
which will be the largest Park 'n' Ride on the Perth
metropolitan rail network. In addition —
Mr
F.M. Logan interjected.
Mr
T.R. BUSWELL : We will get to you in a minute, member for Swanbourne!
In addition, in line with advice
from the Public Transport Authority, when we build a station, we go out and buy
six more rail carriages because that is what it says we will need to account
for the extra growth in stoppage from having another station on the line. That
is what we get for $80 million. The good folk of the member for Jandakot's
electorate can compare that directly with the half-baked plan of a half-baked
opposition because this is what it offered to do for $45 million—build
a station, put in 900 car parking bays and buy the sum total of zero extra rail
carriages.
Mrs
M.H. Roberts : That's not true!
Mr
T.R. BUSWELL : Is it not true? Where does it say in the press release,
member for Midland, that the opposition will run extra rail carriages? It quite
simply does not! It is true because it is not there; if it was not true, it
would be there. So what can they get?
Several members interjected.
Mr
T.R. BUSWELL : What do the member for Jandakot's constituents get —
Mrs
M.H. Roberts interjected.
The
SPEAKER : Member for Midland!
Mr
P. Papalia interjected.
The
SPEAKER : Member for Warnbro, I formally call you to order for the first
time today. I just want to make some progress in question time—that is
all, members.
Mr
T.R. BUSWELL : That is what the member for Jandakot's constituents
get: it is like the Slim Dusty equivalent of the pub with no beer; it is the
train station that people cannot park at and they will not be able to fit on
the train. That is what the opposition has offered. I am sure that the member
for Jandakot will go to some length to assist the members of his electorate to
understand the difference. I am sure he will. I thought it was half-baked and I
now know it is half-baked because the first things I saw were the comments of
the shadow Minister for Transport, Hon
Ken Travers. He dragged his knuckles down to Cockburn station on Sunday —
Withdrawal of Remark
Mr M. McGOWAN : I ask that the
Minister for Transport withdraw that imputation he absolutely makes in this
house. It is unparliamentary and unbecoming, I might add, of any
parliamentarian to stand in this place and say the things that he does.
The SPEAKER : Minister.
Questions without Notice Resumed
Mr T.R. BUSWELL :
The member was down there and said that the problem with this announcement is
that people will not be able to fit on the trains. We are buying extra trains,
but people will not be able to fit on the trains. That is false. The Labor plan
for the station at Aubin Grove is for no additional rail carriages to be
purchased. The other very interesting —
Several members interjected.
Mr T.R. BUSWELL :
That is a very good point, member for Jandakot, as we invest $50 million to
build nearly 4 000 extra car parking bays on the very line on which the
opposition built half-baked stations last time.
I will just close with the following. I thought it was a
half-baked plan until I saw comments made by the member for Cockburn that
appeared in the Cockburn Gazette , in
which he was quoted as being a local resident. His local train station is
Swanbourne—halfway between his house and the Boatshed, where he goes to
buy his expensive imported caviar! This is the workers' friend! Let us
understand one thing: his local station is Swanbourne. Members should not be
confused; we are not building 2 000 car parking bays at Swanbourne. He also
said, in relation to our plan, that there was no money in the budget for it,
whereas Labor had identified a source in the future fund. In other words, he
has automatically admitted that he is prepared to raid the future fund—money
set aside by this government and this generation of Western Australians for
future —
Several members interjected.
Mr T.R. BUSWELL :
The member made an assumption, and I am happy to go out and promise every
single cent out of the billion dollars that will go into the future fund, but
the fatal flaw in the member for Cockburn's assumption is that he will
be able to get the money out. A couple of things need to happen for him to be
able to do that; he would have to be able to access it through the legislative
mechanism, and I do not think he will be able to. Secondly, he will have to win
government and get over this side of the house, and I know that is not going to
happen.
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