❓ The WA government blames the federal government for delays in the Eyre Highway upgrade, citing concerns over the tender process and funding allocation. The state minister accuses the federal government of obstruction and threatens to relinquish the project if the federal government doesn't approve the state's approach.
AnsweredQoN 331Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
What has caused the hold-up in upgrading the Eyre Highway? Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN
AnswerView source ↗
I thank the member for the question. As a person who formerly represented that area very well, he is concerned about the delay in the upgrade of the Eyre Highway. I have been very surprised that we have not heard much from the opposition about why this project has not moved forward. Unfortunately, we have seen the most extraordinary behaviour by the federal government on this project. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Order, members! Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : When the chorus has finished, I will continue. The government started the tender process in March last year. For the information of the member for Carine - she obviously did not learn much during her stint as opposition spokesperson on transport - the Eyre Highway is one of the few roads in Western Australia that the federal government actually has responsibility for, but which the state government is prepared to manage. The state government received an allocation of $40 million to upgrade the Eyre Highway. We sought expressions of interest, as we normally do. Then, last year, we received a letter from Senator Campbell - obviously, some disgruntled person had got hold of him - asking for information about the tender process. He is entitled to that information, because the commonwealth government provided the money. We sent out a detailed response to the request, explaining why we were approaching the matter in the way we did. That was in September of last year. We heard nothing more, so we were proceeding down the path of tendering. Then, on 24 February this year, in that esteemed journal, The West Australian , we read - it was in The West Australian , so it must be true - that Senator Campbell said that we were subverting the tender process in order to give the job to our mates. I thought that was a very serious allegation. I wrote to the then minister, Jim Lloyd, and stated that I had read that in The West Australian and asked whether it was true. I asked whether that is what they thought and, if it was, they should let the government know what the problem was. One month later we received a response asking very much the same questions that Senator Campbell had asked the previous year. We responded in April, giving all the detail again plus more information. Six weeks later, there was no response. I wrote stating that, as we had not received a response to the third letter, we were presuming that the matter was satisfied. One week later, we received another letter stating that they were not satisfied and that they had further questions. They were basically the same questions. We provided the information again. In my last letter to Mr Lloyd I stated that the way in which the state government is approaching the contract gives the commonwealth the best value for money. The state government is not proposing to divide the project into three contracts, which is the proposal of the commonwealth government. We could not do the job with the money provided to us by the commonwealth if we were to do that. I have told the commonwealth that we are not changing the process. If it does not like it, it can take over the road project and deliver it. Taxpayers will be paying through the nose if the commonwealth does that. I urge the Leader of the Opposition, who represents the area, to contact his federal counterparts and tell them to get on with freeing up the money so that the government can deliver this important project for Western Australia.
Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN replied: I thank the member for the question. As a person who formerly represented that area very well, he is concerned about the delay in the upgrade of the Eyre Highway. I have been very surprised that we have not heard much from the opposition about why this project has not moved forward. Unfortunately, we have seen the most extraordinary behaviour by the federal government on this project. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Order, members! Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : When the chorus has finished, I will continue. The government started the tender process in March last year. For the information of the member for Carine - she obviously did not learn much during her stint as opposition spokesperson on transport - the Eyre Highway is one of the few roads in Western Australia that the federal government actually has responsibility for, but which the state government is prepared to manage. The state government received an allocation of $40 million to upgrade the Eyre Highway. We sought expressions of interest, as we normally do. Then, last year, we received a letter from Senator Campbell - obviously, some disgruntled person had got hold of him - asking for information about the tender process. He is entitled to that information, because the commonwealth government provided the money. We sent out a detailed response to the request, explaining why we were approaching the matter in the way we did. That was in September of last year. We heard nothing more, so we were proceeding down the path of tendering. Then, on 24 February this year, in that esteemed journal, The West Australian , we read - it was in The West Australian , so it must be true - that Senator Campbell said that we were subverting the tender process in order to give the job to our mates. I thought that was a very serious allegation. I wrote to the then minister, Jim Lloyd, and stated that I had read that in The West Australian and asked whether it was true. I asked whether that is what they thought and, if it was, they should let the government know what the problem was. One month later we received a response asking very much the same questions that Senator Campbell had asked the previous year. We responded in April, giving all the detail again plus more information. Six weeks later, there was no response. I wrote stating that, as we had not received a response to the third letter, we were presuming that the matter was satisfied. One week later, we received another letter stating that they were not satisfied and that they had further questions. They were basically the same questions. We provided the information again. In my last letter to Mr Lloyd I stated that the way in which the state government is approaching the contract gives the commonwealth the best value for money. The state government is not proposing to divide the project into three contracts, which is the proposal of the commonwealth government. We could not do the job with the money provided to us by the commonwealth if we were to do that. I have told the commonwealth that we are not changing the process. If it does not like it, it can take over the road project and deliver it. Taxpayers will be paying through the nose if the commonwealth does that. I urge the Leader of the Opposition, who represents the area, to contact his federal counterparts and tell them to get on with freeing up the money so that the government can deliver this important project for Western Australia.
I thank the member for the question. As a person who formerly represented that area very well, he is concerned about the delay in the upgrade of the Eyre Highway. I have been very surprised that we have not heard much from the opposition about why this project has not moved forward. Unfortunately, we have seen the most extraordinary behaviour by the federal government on this project. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Order, members! Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : When the chorus has finished, I will continue. The government started the tender process in March last year. For the information of the member for Carine - she obviously did not learn much during her stint as opposition spokesperson on transport - the Eyre Highway is one of the few roads in Western Australia that the federal government actually has responsibility for, but which the state government is prepared to manage. The state government received an allocation of $40 million to upgrade the Eyre Highway. We sought expressions of interest, as we normally do. Then, last year, we received a letter from Senator Campbell - obviously, some disgruntled person had got hold of him - asking for information about the tender process. He is entitled to that information, because the commonwealth government provided the money. We sent out a detailed response to the request, explaining why we were approaching the matter in the way we did. That was in September of last year. We heard nothing more, so we were proceeding down the path of tendering. Then, on 24 February this year, in that esteemed journal, The West Australian , we read - it was in The West Australian , so it must be true - that Senator Campbell said that we were subverting the tender process in order to give the job to our mates. I thought that was a very serious allegation. I wrote to the then minister, Jim Lloyd, and stated that I had read that in The West Australian and asked whether it was true. I asked whether that is what they thought and, if it was, they should let the government know what the problem was. One month later we received a response asking very much the same questions that Senator Campbell had asked the previous year. We responded in April, giving all the detail again plus more information. Six weeks later, there was no response. I wrote stating that, as we had not received a response to the third letter, we were presuming that the matter was satisfied. One week later, we received another letter stating that they were not satisfied and that they had further questions. They were basically the same questions. We provided the information again. In my last letter to Mr Lloyd I stated that the way in which the state government is approaching the contract gives the commonwealth the best value for money. The state government is not proposing to divide the project into three contracts, which is the proposal of the commonwealth government. We could not do the job with the money provided to us by the commonwealth if we were to do that. I have told the commonwealth that we are not changing the process. If it does not like it, it can take over the road project and deliver it. Taxpayers will be paying through the nose if the commonwealth does that. I urge the Leader of the Opposition, who represents the area, to contact his federal counterparts and tell them to get on with freeing up the money so that the government can deliver this important project for Western Australia.
Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Order, members! Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : When the chorus has finished, I will continue. The government started the tender process in March last year. For the information of the member for Carine - she obviously did not learn much during her stint as opposition spokesperson on transport - the Eyre Highway is one of the few roads in Western Australia that the federal government actually has responsibility for, but which the state government is prepared to manage. The state government received an allocation of $40 million to upgrade the Eyre Highway. We sought expressions of interest, as we normally do. Then, last year, we received a letter from Senator Campbell - obviously, some disgruntled person had got hold of him - asking for information about the tender process. He is entitled to that information, because the commonwealth government provided the money. We sent out a detailed response to the request, explaining why we were approaching the matter in the way we did. That was in September of last year. We heard nothing more, so we were proceeding down the path of tendering. Then, on 24 February this year, in that esteemed journal, The West Australian , we read - it was in The West Australian , so it must be true - that Senator Campbell said that we were subverting the tender process in order to give the job to our mates. I thought that was a very serious allegation. I wrote to the then minister, Jim Lloyd, and stated that I had read that in The West Australian and asked whether it was true. I asked whether that is what they thought and, if it was, they should let the government know what the problem was. One month later we received a response asking very much the same questions that Senator Campbell had asked the previous year. We responded in April, giving all the detail again plus more information. Six weeks later, there was no response. I wrote stating that, as we had not received a response to the third letter, we were presuming that the matter was satisfied. One week later, we received another letter stating that they were not satisfied and that they had further questions. They were basically the same questions. We provided the information again. In my last letter to Mr Lloyd I stated that the way in which the state government is approaching the contract gives the commonwealth the best value for money. The state government is not proposing to divide the project into three contracts, which is the proposal of the commonwealth government. We could not do the job with the money provided to us by the commonwealth if we were to do that. I have told the commonwealth that we are not changing the process. If it does not like it, it can take over the road project and deliver it. Taxpayers will be paying through the nose if the commonwealth does that. I urge the Leader of the Opposition, who represents the area, to contact his federal counterparts and tell them to get on with freeing up the money so that the government can deliver this important project for Western Australia.
The SPEAKER : Order, members! Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : When the chorus has finished, I will continue. The government started the tender process in March last year. For the information of the member for Carine - she obviously did not learn much during her stint as opposition spokesperson on transport - the Eyre Highway is one of the few roads in Western Australia that the federal government actually has responsibility for, but which the state government is prepared to manage. The state government received an allocation of $40 million to upgrade the Eyre Highway. We sought expressions of interest, as we normally do. Then, last year, we received a letter from Senator Campbell - obviously, some disgruntled person had got hold of him - asking for information about the tender process. He is entitled to that information, because the commonwealth government provided the money. We sent out a detailed response to the request, explaining why we were approaching the matter in the way we did. That was in September of last year. We heard nothing more, so we were proceeding down the path of tendering. Then, on 24 February this year, in that esteemed journal, The West Australian , we read - it was in The West Australian , so it must be true - that Senator Campbell said that we were subverting the tender process in order to give the job to our mates. I thought that was a very serious allegation. I wrote to the then minister, Jim Lloyd, and stated that I had read that in The West Australian and asked whether it was true. I asked whether that is what they thought and, if it was, they should let the government know what the problem was. One month later we received a response asking very much the same questions that Senator Campbell had asked the previous year. We responded in April, giving all the detail again plus more information. Six weeks later, there was no response. I wrote stating that, as we had not received a response to the third letter, we were presuming that the matter was satisfied. One week later, we received another letter stating that they were not satisfied and that they had further questions. They were basically the same questions. We provided the information again. In my last letter to Mr Lloyd I stated that the way in which the state government is approaching the contract gives the commonwealth the best value for money. The state government is not proposing to divide the project into three contracts, which is the proposal of the commonwealth government. We could not do the job with the money provided to us by the commonwealth if we were to do that. I have told the commonwealth that we are not changing the process. If it does not like it, it can take over the road project and deliver it. Taxpayers will be paying through the nose if the commonwealth does that. I urge the Leader of the Opposition, who represents the area, to contact his federal counterparts and tell them to get on with freeing up the money so that the government can deliver this important project for Western Australia.
Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : When the chorus has finished, I will continue. The government started the tender process in March last year. For the information of the member for Carine - she obviously did not learn much during her stint as opposition spokesperson on transport - the Eyre Highway is one of the few roads in Western Australia that the federal government actually has responsibility for, but which the state government is prepared to manage. The state government received an allocation of $40 million to upgrade the Eyre Highway. We sought expressions of interest, as we normally do. Then, last year, we received a letter from Senator Campbell - obviously, some disgruntled person had got hold of him - asking for information about the tender process. He is entitled to that information, because the commonwealth government provided the money. We sent out a detailed response to the request, explaining why we were approaching the matter in the way we did. That was in September of last year. We heard nothing more, so we were proceeding down the path of tendering. Then, on 24 February this year, in that esteemed journal, The West Australian , we read - it was in The West Australian , so it must be true - that Senator Campbell said that we were subverting the tender process in order to give the job to our mates. I thought that was a very serious allegation. I wrote to the then minister, Jim Lloyd, and stated that I had read that in The West Australian and asked whether it was true. I asked whether that is what they thought and, if it was, they should let the government know what the problem was. One month later we received a response asking very much the same questions that Senator Campbell had asked the previous year. We responded in April, giving all the detail again plus more information. Six weeks later, there was no response. I wrote stating that, as we had not received a response to the third letter, we were presuming that the matter was satisfied. One week later, we received another letter stating that they were not satisfied and that they had further questions. They were basically the same questions. We provided the information again. In my last letter to Mr Lloyd I stated that the way in which the state government is approaching the contract gives the commonwealth the best value for money. The state government is not proposing to divide the project into three contracts, which is the proposal of the commonwealth government. We could not do the job with the money provided to us by the commonwealth if we were to do that. I have told the commonwealth that we are not changing the process. If it does not like it, it can take over the road project and deliver it. Taxpayers will be paying through the nose if the commonwealth does that. I urge the Leader of the Opposition, who represents the area, to contact his federal counterparts and tell them to get on with freeing up the money so that the government can deliver this important project for Western Australia.
The government started the tender process in March last year. For the information of the member for Carine - she obviously did not learn much during her stint as opposition spokesperson on transport - the Eyre Highway is one of the few roads in Western Australia that the federal government actually has responsibility for, but which the state government is prepared to manage. The state government received an allocation of $40 million to upgrade the Eyre Highway. We sought expressions of interest, as we normally do. Then, last year, we received a letter from Senator Campbell - obviously, some disgruntled person had got hold of him - asking for information about the tender process. He is entitled to that information, because the commonwealth government provided the money. We sent out a detailed response to the request, explaining why we were approaching the matter in the way we did. That was in September of last year. We heard nothing more, so we were proceeding down the path of tendering. Then, on 24 February this year, in that esteemed journal, The West Australian , we read - it was in The West Australian , so it must be true - that Senator Campbell said that we were subverting the tender process in order to give the job to our mates. I thought that was a very serious allegation. I wrote to the then minister, Jim Lloyd, and stated that I had read that in The West Australian and asked whether it was true. I asked whether that is what they thought and, if it was, they should let the government know what the problem was. One month later we received a response asking very much the same questions that Senator Campbell had asked the previous year. We responded in April, giving all the detail again plus more information. Six weeks later, there was no response. I wrote stating that, as we had not received a response to the third letter, we were presuming that the matter was satisfied. One week later, we received another letter stating that they were not satisfied and that they had further questions. They were basically the same questions. We provided the information again. In my last letter to Mr Lloyd I stated that the way in which the state government is approaching the contract gives the commonwealth the best value for money. The state government is not proposing to divide the project into three contracts, which is the proposal of the commonwealth government. We could not do the job with the money provided to us by the commonwealth if we were to do that. I have told the commonwealth that we are not changing the process. If it does not like it, it can take over the road project and deliver it. Taxpayers will be paying through the nose if the commonwealth does that. I urge the Leader of the Opposition, who represents the area, to contact his federal counterparts and tell them to get on with freeing up the money so that the government can deliver this important project for Western Australia.
Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN replied: I thank the member for the question. As a person who formerly represented that area very well, he is concerned about the delay in the upgrade of the Eyre Highway. I have been very surprised that we have not heard much from the opposition about why this project has not moved forward. Unfortunately, we have seen the most extraordinary behaviour by the federal government on this project. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Order, members! Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : When the chorus has finished, I will continue. The government started the tender process in March last year. For the information of the member for Carine - she obviously did not learn much during her stint as opposition spokesperson on transport - the Eyre Highway is one of the few roads in Western Australia that the federal government actually has responsibility for, but which the state government is prepared to manage. The state government received an allocation of $40 million to upgrade the Eyre Highway. We sought expressions of interest, as we normally do. Then, last year, we received a letter from Senator Campbell - obviously, some disgruntled person had got hold of him - asking for information about the tender process. He is entitled to that information, because the commonwealth government provided the money. We sent out a detailed response to the request, explaining why we were approaching the matter in the way we did. That was in September of last year. We heard nothing more, so we were proceeding down the path of tendering. Then, on 24 February this year, in that esteemed journal, The West Australian , we read - it was in The West Australian , so it must be true - that Senator Campbell said that we were subverting the tender process in order to give the job to our mates. I thought that was a very serious allegation. I wrote to the then minister, Jim Lloyd, and stated that I had read that in The West Australian and asked whether it was true. I asked whether that is what they thought and, if it was, they should let the government know what the problem was. One month later we received a response asking very much the same questions that Senator Campbell had asked the previous year. We responded in April, giving all the detail again plus more information. Six weeks later, there was no response. I wrote stating that, as we had not received a response to the third letter, we were presuming that the matter was satisfied. One week later, we received another letter stating that they were not satisfied and that they had further questions. They were basically the same questions. We provided the information again. In my last letter to Mr Lloyd I stated that the way in which the state government is approaching the contract gives the commonwealth the best value for money. The state government is not proposing to divide the project into three contracts, which is the proposal of the commonwealth government. We could not do the job with the money provided to us by the commonwealth if we were to do that. I have told the commonwealth that we are not changing the process. If it does not like it, it can take over the road project and deliver it. Taxpayers will be paying through the nose if the commonwealth does that. I urge the Leader of the Opposition, who represents the area, to contact his federal counterparts and tell them to get on with freeing up the money so that the government can deliver this important project for Western Australia.
I thank the member for the question. As a person who formerly represented that area very well, he is concerned about the delay in the upgrade of the Eyre Highway. I have been very surprised that we have not heard much from the opposition about why this project has not moved forward. Unfortunately, we have seen the most extraordinary behaviour by the federal government on this project. Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Order, members! Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : When the chorus has finished, I will continue. The government started the tender process in March last year. For the information of the member for Carine - she obviously did not learn much during her stint as opposition spokesperson on transport - the Eyre Highway is one of the few roads in Western Australia that the federal government actually has responsibility for, but which the state government is prepared to manage. The state government received an allocation of $40 million to upgrade the Eyre Highway. We sought expressions of interest, as we normally do. Then, last year, we received a letter from Senator Campbell - obviously, some disgruntled person had got hold of him - asking for information about the tender process. He is entitled to that information, because the commonwealth government provided the money. We sent out a detailed response to the request, explaining why we were approaching the matter in the way we did. That was in September of last year. We heard nothing more, so we were proceeding down the path of tendering. Then, on 24 February this year, in that esteemed journal, The West Australian , we read - it was in The West Australian , so it must be true - that Senator Campbell said that we were subverting the tender process in order to give the job to our mates. I thought that was a very serious allegation. I wrote to the then minister, Jim Lloyd, and stated that I had read that in The West Australian and asked whether it was true. I asked whether that is what they thought and, if it was, they should let the government know what the problem was. One month later we received a response asking very much the same questions that Senator Campbell had asked the previous year. We responded in April, giving all the detail again plus more information. Six weeks later, there was no response. I wrote stating that, as we had not received a response to the third letter, we were presuming that the matter was satisfied. One week later, we received another letter stating that they were not satisfied and that they had further questions. They were basically the same questions. We provided the information again. In my last letter to Mr Lloyd I stated that the way in which the state government is approaching the contract gives the commonwealth the best value for money. The state government is not proposing to divide the project into three contracts, which is the proposal of the commonwealth government. We could not do the job with the money provided to us by the commonwealth if we were to do that. I have told the commonwealth that we are not changing the process. If it does not like it, it can take over the road project and deliver it. Taxpayers will be paying through the nose if the commonwealth does that. I urge the Leader of the Opposition, who represents the area, to contact his federal counterparts and tell them to get on with freeing up the money so that the government can deliver this important project for Western Australia.
Several members interjected. The SPEAKER : Order, members! Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : When the chorus has finished, I will continue. The government started the tender process in March last year. For the information of the member for Carine - she obviously did not learn much during her stint as opposition spokesperson on transport - the Eyre Highway is one of the few roads in Western Australia that the federal government actually has responsibility for, but which the state government is prepared to manage. The state government received an allocation of $40 million to upgrade the Eyre Highway. We sought expressions of interest, as we normally do. Then, last year, we received a letter from Senator Campbell - obviously, some disgruntled person had got hold of him - asking for information about the tender process. He is entitled to that information, because the commonwealth government provided the money. We sent out a detailed response to the request, explaining why we were approaching the matter in the way we did. That was in September of last year. We heard nothing more, so we were proceeding down the path of tendering. Then, on 24 February this year, in that esteemed journal, The West Australian , we read - it was in The West Australian , so it must be true - that Senator Campbell said that we were subverting the tender process in order to give the job to our mates. I thought that was a very serious allegation. I wrote to the then minister, Jim Lloyd, and stated that I had read that in The West Australian and asked whether it was true. I asked whether that is what they thought and, if it was, they should let the government know what the problem was. One month later we received a response asking very much the same questions that Senator Campbell had asked the previous year. We responded in April, giving all the detail again plus more information. Six weeks later, there was no response. I wrote stating that, as we had not received a response to the third letter, we were presuming that the matter was satisfied. One week later, we received another letter stating that they were not satisfied and that they had further questions. They were basically the same questions. We provided the information again. In my last letter to Mr Lloyd I stated that the way in which the state government is approaching the contract gives the commonwealth the best value for money. The state government is not proposing to divide the project into three contracts, which is the proposal of the commonwealth government. We could not do the job with the money provided to us by the commonwealth if we were to do that. I have told the commonwealth that we are not changing the process. If it does not like it, it can take over the road project and deliver it. Taxpayers will be paying through the nose if the commonwealth does that. I urge the Leader of the Opposition, who represents the area, to contact his federal counterparts and tell them to get on with freeing up the money so that the government can deliver this important project for Western Australia.
The SPEAKER : Order, members! Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : When the chorus has finished, I will continue. The government started the tender process in March last year. For the information of the member for Carine - she obviously did not learn much during her stint as opposition spokesperson on transport - the Eyre Highway is one of the few roads in Western Australia that the federal government actually has responsibility for, but which the state government is prepared to manage. The state government received an allocation of $40 million to upgrade the Eyre Highway. We sought expressions of interest, as we normally do. Then, last year, we received a letter from Senator Campbell - obviously, some disgruntled person had got hold of him - asking for information about the tender process. He is entitled to that information, because the commonwealth government provided the money. We sent out a detailed response to the request, explaining why we were approaching the matter in the way we did. That was in September of last year. We heard nothing more, so we were proceeding down the path of tendering. Then, on 24 February this year, in that esteemed journal, The West Australian , we read - it was in The West Australian , so it must be true - that Senator Campbell said that we were subverting the tender process in order to give the job to our mates. I thought that was a very serious allegation. I wrote to the then minister, Jim Lloyd, and stated that I had read that in The West Australian and asked whether it was true. I asked whether that is what they thought and, if it was, they should let the government know what the problem was. One month later we received a response asking very much the same questions that Senator Campbell had asked the previous year. We responded in April, giving all the detail again plus more information. Six weeks later, there was no response. I wrote stating that, as we had not received a response to the third letter, we were presuming that the matter was satisfied. One week later, we received another letter stating that they were not satisfied and that they had further questions. They were basically the same questions. We provided the information again. In my last letter to Mr Lloyd I stated that the way in which the state government is approaching the contract gives the commonwealth the best value for money. The state government is not proposing to divide the project into three contracts, which is the proposal of the commonwealth government. We could not do the job with the money provided to us by the commonwealth if we were to do that. I have told the commonwealth that we are not changing the process. If it does not like it, it can take over the road project and deliver it. Taxpayers will be paying through the nose if the commonwealth does that. I urge the Leader of the Opposition, who represents the area, to contact his federal counterparts and tell them to get on with freeing up the money so that the government can deliver this important project for Western Australia.
Ms A.J.G. MacTIERNAN : When the chorus has finished, I will continue. The government started the tender process in March last year. For the information of the member for Carine - she obviously did not learn much during her stint as opposition spokesperson on transport - the Eyre Highway is one of the few roads in Western Australia that the federal government actually has responsibility for, but which the state government is prepared to manage. The state government received an allocation of $40 million to upgrade the Eyre Highway. We sought expressions of interest, as we normally do. Then, last year, we received a letter from Senator Campbell - obviously, some disgruntled person had got hold of him - asking for information about the tender process. He is entitled to that information, because the commonwealth government provided the money. We sent out a detailed response to the request, explaining why we were approaching the matter in the way we did. That was in September of last year. We heard nothing more, so we were proceeding down the path of tendering. Then, on 24 February this year, in that esteemed journal, The West Australian , we read - it was in The West Australian , so it must be true - that Senator Campbell said that we were subverting the tender process in order to give the job to our mates. I thought that was a very serious allegation. I wrote to the then minister, Jim Lloyd, and stated that I had read that in The West Australian and asked whether it was true. I asked whether that is what they thought and, if it was, they should let the government know what the problem was. One month later we received a response asking very much the same questions that Senator Campbell had asked the previous year. We responded in April, giving all the detail again plus more information. Six weeks later, there was no response. I wrote stating that, as we had not received a response to the third letter, we were presuming that the matter was satisfied. One week later, we received another letter stating that they were not satisfied and that they had further questions. They were basically the same questions. We provided the information again. In my last letter to Mr Lloyd I stated that the way in which the state government is approaching the contract gives the commonwealth the best value for money. The state government is not proposing to divide the project into three contracts, which is the proposal of the commonwealth government. We could not do the job with the money provided to us by the commonwealth if we were to do that. I have told the commonwealth that we are not changing the process. If it does not like it, it can take over the road project and deliver it. Taxpayers will be paying through the nose if the commonwealth does that. I urge the Leader of the Opposition, who represents the area, to contact his federal counterparts and tell them to get on with freeing up the money so that the government can deliver this important project for Western Australia.
The government started the tender process in March last year. For the information of the member for Carine - she obviously did not learn much during her stint as opposition spokesperson on transport - the Eyre Highway is one of the few roads in Western Australia that the federal government actually has responsibility for, but which the state government is prepared to manage. The state government received an allocation of $40 million to upgrade the Eyre Highway. We sought expressions of interest, as we normally do. Then, last year, we received a letter from Senator Campbell - obviously, some disgruntled person had got hold of him - asking for information about the tender process. He is entitled to that information, because the commonwealth government provided the money. We sent out a detailed response to the request, explaining why we were approaching the matter in the way we did. That was in September of last year. We heard nothing more, so we were proceeding down the path of tendering. Then, on 24 February this year, in that esteemed journal, The West Australian , we read - it was in The West Australian , so it must be true - that Senator Campbell said that we were subverting the tender process in order to give the job to our mates. I thought that was a very serious allegation. I wrote to the then minister, Jim Lloyd, and stated that I had read that in The West Australian and asked whether it was true. I asked whether that is what they thought and, if it was, they should let the government know what the problem was. One month later we received a response asking very much the same questions that Senator Campbell had asked the previous year. We responded in April, giving all the detail again plus more information. Six weeks later, there was no response. I wrote stating that, as we had not received a response to the third letter, we were presuming that the matter was satisfied. One week later, we received another letter stating that they were not satisfied and that they had further questions. They were basically the same questions. We provided the information again. In my last letter to Mr Lloyd I stated that the way in which the state government is approaching the contract gives the commonwealth the best value for money. The state government is not proposing to divide the project into three contracts, which is the proposal of the commonwealth government. We could not do the job with the money provided to us by the commonwealth if we were to do that. I have told the commonwealth that we are not changing the process. If it does not like it, it can take over the road project and deliver it. Taxpayers will be paying through the nose if the commonwealth does that. I urge the Leader of the Opposition, who represents the area, to contact his federal counterparts and tell them to get on with freeing up the money so that the government can deliver this important project for Western Australia.
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