❓ Ms Mettam (Liberal) questions the Premier on the progress of Labor's infrastructure election promises. The Premier defends the government's record, highlighting numerous projects underway and contrasting WA's debt management with NSW.
AnsweredQoN 1114Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS
1114. Ms L. METTAM to the Premier:
We
are now at the end of the third year of the do-nothing McGowan Labor
government. Can the Premier confirm —
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER : Members! Start
again, member for Vasse.
Ms L. METTAM : We are at the
end of the third year of the do-nothing McGowan Labor government. Can the
Premier confirm that none of Labor's major infrastructure election
promises, including all the Metronet rail lines, medihotels and the expansion of Joondalup Health Campus, have commenced
construction or created any new jobs?
1114. Ms L. METTAM to the Premier:
We
are now at the end of the third year of the do-nothing McGowan Labor
government. Can the Premier confirm —
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER : Members! Start
again, member for Vasse.
Ms L. METTAM : We are at the
end of the third year of the do-nothing McGowan Labor government. Can the
Premier confirm that none of Labor's major infrastructure election
promises, including all the Metronet rail lines, medihotels and the expansion of Joondalup Health Campus, have commenced
construction or created any new jobs?
AnswerView source ↗
The illness of asking silly
questions has spread from the Leader of the Opposition back through the ranks
of the Liberal Party. There seems to be some sort of virus that has caught on
in the Liberal Party that has created an extraordinary level of bad dress and a
range of silly questions being asked all week. As I explained to the house
before, you cannot just arrive in office with no plans being left to you, with
no engineering, with no designs or the like,
and then suddenly go out the next day with a shovel and start building a rain
line. That is not really the way it works.
As I have explained to the house on numerous occasions, on Sunday we started
work, and people are on site , on the Yanchep rail line. Next year, five
additional rail lines will be underway. The biggest road-building program in
the history of Western Australia is underway all over the regions and the city.
We have a new museum being built in the middle of Northbridge. What will be one
of Western Australia's best high schools, Bob Hawke College, is being
built in the member for Nedlands' electorate. We resolved the issues
around the children's hospital that the previous government was unable
to deal with. We secured funding to put in place a new women's and
babies' hospital—we are at least halfway there in terms of
funding the hospital. Rail manufacturing will start soon in Western Australia,
which will be the first time in 30 years that that work has been done here.
There are numerous projects. A significant capital works budget of around $6 billion
per year is being spent in Western Australia by the state government.
I can list all the road projects
around the state for the member. There are so many that it is hard to even
believe that so much work of that nature is going on. At the same time, we have
done it without driving up debt. In fact, we are the only state government in
Australia that is driving down debt—the only one. The New South Wales
government is driving debt through the roof. It sold off all its assets and, at
the same time, managed to drive up debt. That is a really quite extraordinary
achievement by the New South Wales Treasurer to be able to do that. We have
managed to drive down debt, have a record infrastructure program, have record
low increases in fees and charges for at least the last 13 years, create 56 000
jobs since we came to office and provide the best services of anywhere in
Australia. It is the best state in the world.
questions has spread from the Leader of the Opposition back through the ranks
of the Liberal Party. There seems to be some sort of virus that has caught on
in the Liberal Party that has created an extraordinary level of bad dress and a
range of silly questions being asked all week. As I explained to the house
before, you cannot just arrive in office with no plans being left to you, with
no engineering, with no designs or the like,
and then suddenly go out the next day with a shovel and start building a rain
line. That is not really the way it works.
As I have explained to the house on numerous occasions, on Sunday we started
work, and people are on site , on the Yanchep rail line. Next year, five
additional rail lines will be underway. The biggest road-building program in
the history of Western Australia is underway all over the regions and the city.
We have a new museum being built in the middle of Northbridge. What will be one
of Western Australia's best high schools, Bob Hawke College, is being
built in the member for Nedlands' electorate. We resolved the issues
around the children's hospital that the previous government was unable
to deal with. We secured funding to put in place a new women's and
babies' hospital—we are at least halfway there in terms of
funding the hospital. Rail manufacturing will start soon in Western Australia,
which will be the first time in 30 years that that work has been done here.
There are numerous projects. A significant capital works budget of around $6 billion
per year is being spent in Western Australia by the state government.
I can list all the road projects
around the state for the member. There are so many that it is hard to even
believe that so much work of that nature is going on. At the same time, we have
done it without driving up debt. In fact, we are the only state government in
Australia that is driving down debt—the only one. The New South Wales
government is driving debt through the roof. It sold off all its assets and, at
the same time, managed to drive up debt. That is a really quite extraordinary
achievement by the New South Wales Treasurer to be able to do that. We have
managed to drive down debt, have a record infrastructure program, have record
low increases in fees and charges for at least the last 13 years, create 56 000
jobs since we came to office and provide the best services of anywhere in
Australia. It is the best state in the world.
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