❓ Question regarding public response to the opening of Elizabeth Quay. Minister responds positively, highlighting public embrace and criticising opposition to the project.
AnsweredQoN 9Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
ELIZABETH QUAY — OPENING
9. Ms E. EVANGEL to the Minister for
Planning:
I was delighted to attend the public
opening of Elizabeth Quay on Friday, 29 January. Can the minister please advise
the house how the public has responded to this wonderful new city project?
9. Ms E. EVANGEL to the Minister for
Planning:
I was delighted to attend the public
opening of Elizabeth Quay on Friday, 29 January. Can the minister please advise
the house how the public has responded to this wonderful new city project?
AnswerView source ↗
I am very happy to answer the member
for Perth's question. This major project is of course in her electorate
and it has put into effect plans that in one form or another have been
discussed, debated and proposed over 30 years in Western Australia; namely, to
get an effective connection between the city —
Mr
B.S. Wyatt : Didn't you mean to say 100?
Mr
J.H.D. DAY : The member is getting mixed up with Perth City Link.
Several members interjected.
Mr
J.H.D. DAY : There are a lot of projects going on in Perth. We will cover
them one by one.
The SPEAKER : Members!
Mr
J.H.D. DAY : The purpose has been to get an effective connection between the
city and the Swan River. As I said, it has been debated in one form or another
for at least 30 years or so. It has needed a government with the vision and
determination to put those plans into effect. When we came into government in
2008, the Premier was very much of the view, as was I, that this was a project
that should be not only planned for and announced but also delivered. That has
occurred and it has been overwhelmingly embraced by the Western Australian
community.
There were three years of planning
after we came into government and then almost four years of construction.
Construction commenced in April 2012 and the project opened to the public on 29
January. Since then, more than tens of thousands of people—hundreds of
thousands of people cumulatively over the last two and a half weeks—have
visited the precinct. As with most major projects, there was a bit of
negativity along the way. There was some opposition—quite a vocal
opposition group—and I recall that there were some protests on the
grass on the site of the former Esplanade.
Ms
M.M. Quirk interjected
The SPEAKER : Member for
Girrawheen!
Mr
J.H.D. DAY : I think there was one at the front of Parliament House. For the
last four years the state opposition has done everything it can to undermine
and criticise and to object to the project. In the 2013 election, the Leader of
the Opposition said it would stop the bulldozers, essentially tear up the
contracts and stop the project. Fortunately, Labor was not elected in the 2013
election; the Liberal–National government was re-elected. The project
has been completed and people are very much voting with their feet, their
boats, their kayaks and their bicycles and walking their dogs and taking their
children there to play in the water playground and very much enjoying the
ambience and the vibrancy that has been created.
The Metropolitan Redevelopment
Authority and its contractors, the architects, engineers, builders and many
other people across government who have worked on this project in one way or
another have done an outstanding job and deserve a great deal of credit for the
very fine result that has been delivered—the enormous amount of detail
and the overall aesthetics as well as the functionality of the site. It will,
of course, take a few more years to fully mature. As I said, if members of the
opposition—the member for Cannington, the member for West Swan and the
Leader of the Opposition, for example, have been very negative about this
project over four years—doubt what I am saying, they need to go down
there and see the thousands of Western Australians and others visiting there
who absolutely love the precinct.
for Perth's question. This major project is of course in her electorate
and it has put into effect plans that in one form or another have been
discussed, debated and proposed over 30 years in Western Australia; namely, to
get an effective connection between the city —
Mr
B.S. Wyatt : Didn't you mean to say 100?
Mr
J.H.D. DAY : The member is getting mixed up with Perth City Link.
Several members interjected.
Mr
J.H.D. DAY : There are a lot of projects going on in Perth. We will cover
them one by one.
The SPEAKER : Members!
Mr
J.H.D. DAY : The purpose has been to get an effective connection between the
city and the Swan River. As I said, it has been debated in one form or another
for at least 30 years or so. It has needed a government with the vision and
determination to put those plans into effect. When we came into government in
2008, the Premier was very much of the view, as was I, that this was a project
that should be not only planned for and announced but also delivered. That has
occurred and it has been overwhelmingly embraced by the Western Australian
community.
There were three years of planning
after we came into government and then almost four years of construction.
Construction commenced in April 2012 and the project opened to the public on 29
January. Since then, more than tens of thousands of people—hundreds of
thousands of people cumulatively over the last two and a half weeks—have
visited the precinct. As with most major projects, there was a bit of
negativity along the way. There was some opposition—quite a vocal
opposition group—and I recall that there were some protests on the
grass on the site of the former Esplanade.
Ms
M.M. Quirk interjected
The SPEAKER : Member for
Girrawheen!
Mr
J.H.D. DAY : I think there was one at the front of Parliament House. For the
last four years the state opposition has done everything it can to undermine
and criticise and to object to the project. In the 2013 election, the Leader of
the Opposition said it would stop the bulldozers, essentially tear up the
contracts and stop the project. Fortunately, Labor was not elected in the 2013
election; the Liberal–National government was re-elected. The project
has been completed and people are very much voting with their feet, their
boats, their kayaks and their bicycles and walking their dogs and taking their
children there to play in the water playground and very much enjoying the
ambience and the vibrancy that has been created.
The Metropolitan Redevelopment
Authority and its contractors, the architects, engineers, builders and many
other people across government who have worked on this project in one way or
another have done an outstanding job and deserve a great deal of credit for the
very fine result that has been delivered—the enormous amount of detail
and the overall aesthetics as well as the functionality of the site. It will,
of course, take a few more years to fully mature. As I said, if members of the
opposition—the member for Cannington, the member for West Swan and the
Leader of the Opposition, for example, have been very negative about this
project over four years—doubt what I am saying, they need to go down
there and see the thousands of Western Australians and others visiting there
who absolutely love the precinct.
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