❓ A WA parliamentary question on notice regarding the opposition's transport funding commitments and their consistency with their stance on state debt. The Minister's answer is critical of the opposition's spending promises.
AnsweredQoN 341Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
TRANSPORT —
OPPOSITION FUNDING COMMITMENTS
341. Mr P.T. MILES to the Minister for Transport:
I note with interest the recent transport funding commitments
made by the opposition spokesperson on transport. Can the minister please advise
the house on how much money the opposition has committed through various
thought bubbles since 2011, whether these thought bubbles are funded, and if
the opposition commitments are consistent with its rhetoric on state debt?
OPPOSITION FUNDING COMMITMENTS
341. Mr P.T. MILES to the Minister for Transport:
I note with interest the recent transport funding commitments
made by the opposition spokesperson on transport. Can the minister please advise
the house on how much money the opposition has committed through various
thought bubbles since 2011, whether these thought bubbles are funded, and if
the opposition commitments are consistent with its rhetoric on state debt?
AnswerView source ↗
I can, yes. I thank the member for Wanneroo very much.
Look, the opposition has been talking for some time about a
whole range of commitments in and around transport. Two, of late, have caught
my interest of course. Before I talk about the detail of those, I should say
that this is the same opposition which, almost to a person in its budget reply
speeches, stood and said that the government has borrowed too much money and
that state debt is too high. It gets to a point when both arguments cannot be
maintained. An argument that debt is too high cannot be maintained one the
hand, while on the other hand going out and offering to spend millions, if not
billions, of dollars. Perhaps I will explain how the shadow Minister for
Transport has done that.
Mr E.S. Ripper :
Didn't I used to say this about you?
Mr T.R. BUSWELL :
Who are you?
Two recent announcements spring to mind.
Several members interjected.
Mr T.R. BUSWELL :
Yes, a great job, oversighting the member for Midland's spending on
Perth Arena—one of the glowing lights of the member for Midland's
achievements in government!
Several members interjected.
Mr T.R. BUSWELL :
The two that come to mind are, firstly, Berkshire Road, where, in a wonderful
initiative, the opposition guaranteed to spend money it had already committed
to spending. In other words, one of its approaches is to spend the same dollar
twice, which is very interesting. Secondly, this weekend it announced $10 million
out of the road trauma trust fund to assist in the dualling of Gnangara Road.
Leader of the Opposition, will that money impact on net debt? Will the taking
of $10 million out of the road trauma trust fund impact on net debt? Yes, it
will! The opposition can raid that trust fund all it likes in the forward
estimates, but every single dollar impacts on net debt!
Ms R. Saffioti interjected.
The
SPEAKER : Member for West Swan!
Mr
T.R. BUSWELL : Member for West Swan, we are spending money on Gnangara Road.
If the member for West Swan lived out that way, she would see the roadworks as
she drives through! If the member for West Swan lived out that way, she would
see that the work is already starting in the vicinity of Drumpellier Drive and
West Swan Road; in the vicinity of Pinaster Parade and Gnangara Road; and soon
at the intersection of Gnangara Road and West Swan Road. It is raining
roadworks in that particular area!
I thought I would very quickly go
back and look at some of the other promises. I thought the best point to start
is the absolute high point of the shadow Minister for Transport's
contribution to public transport debate in this state; his $10 million commitment
to paint the taxis gold!
Mr F.M. Logan : Is
this all you've got?
Mr T.R. BUSWELL :
No, I have not finished yet—do not worry! That commitment was given in
January 2011. Let us quickly roll on without offering up the steak knives,
member for Cockburn; there is plenty more.
To widen the Kwinana Freeway to Safety Bay Road—is
that still the commitment, Leader of the Opposition?—is only $235 million.
To extend the Mitchell Freeway to who knows where—$250 million; to put
in the rail line, member for West Swan, to Ellenbrook—$850 million; the
wonderful idea about the circle route for a railway line right around Perth—about
$1 billion; to put in place a heavy rail line to Wanneroo—that is only
$1 billion. To put late-night trains on every single hour of the evening—$10
million; to reinstate tier 3 rail—$15 million; and the last one, as I
think I have raised before in the house, is to increase spending on public
transport by a factor of four, which will add $25.7 billion to state debt!
When I add all that up—they are only the ones that
caught my eye—it totals $29 billion on commitments given by the
opposition on transport at the same time that it stood, to a person, and said
state debt is too high! It does not make sense; it does not add up! The
fundamental challenge the opposition will have as we move to the pointy end of
the stick is how this is all going to fit together.
I think we saw a great example in relation to light rail.
Before I conclude, I will very quickly draw the house's attention to
the opposition's plan, brought out in April last year, for light rail.
It is a fully funded light rail from East Perth to West Perth, which was to be
fully funded from the Perth parking levy account which now has no money in it.
The opposition has a little bit of a problem; the money for its fully funded
light rail has already been spent! It could spend the same dollar twice! But
what interests me in relation to this proposal is that it is full of maps
outlining the route, and full of costings and commitments because it is fully
funded. This morning the shadow Minister for Transport was on radio; he dragged
his knuckles down to 6PR, and this is what he had to say.
Point of Order
Mr
M. McGOWAN : Standing order 92 would suggest that an attack or a
personal reflection on a member of the other place or indeed a member of this
place by any member is outside the standing orders. I would ask that this
minister, who has a history of undertaking those sorts of attacks, be asked to
desist.
Questions without Notice Resumed
Mr T.R. BUSWELL :
Let me rephrase: he lurched his way down to 6PR—I think that is what
the opposition calls him! He lurched his way down.
Mr T.G. Stephens :
He sniffs his way around the place!
The
SPEAKER : The whole lot of you can all quieten down. Minister for Transport,
I will suggest that you do invite these sorts of responses. I am not impressed,
and I am sure there are a lot of other people who are not impressed with either
the invitation to the response or the response itself.
Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I
am almost finished.
All I want to reflect on are
comments made this morning, and refer them back to the fully funded light rail
plan produced in April last year with lots of maps that clearly showed where it
is going to go. The first point Hon
Ken Travers made this morning was that a plan for the light rail cannot
be laid out until there has been a conversation with the community—notwithstanding
the fact that last year they produced all of these maps that showed exactly
where it went! The plan has gone from being a plan to a discussion paper to
facilitate and stimulate Hon Ken
Travers' conversation with the community. That will be an
interesting conversation.
The second point is, what has happened to the fully funded
concept of the plan? The document heading states ''fully funded plan''.
When Hon Ken Travers was asked
when he would start work on this plan for a light rail, he said that how
quickly it can be built comes down to the state of finances. The fully funded
plan now has no money. The plan that was laid out in the plan is now a
discussion paper. The point that has been made by the opposition is that the
time for travelling around the state and promising everything to everybody has
finished, and every single cent that we offer to spend will now be put under
the microscope in the context of the opposition's aversion to
increasing state debt.
Look, the opposition has been talking for some time about a
whole range of commitments in and around transport. Two, of late, have caught
my interest of course. Before I talk about the detail of those, I should say
that this is the same opposition which, almost to a person in its budget reply
speeches, stood and said that the government has borrowed too much money and
that state debt is too high. It gets to a point when both arguments cannot be
maintained. An argument that debt is too high cannot be maintained one the
hand, while on the other hand going out and offering to spend millions, if not
billions, of dollars. Perhaps I will explain how the shadow Minister for
Transport has done that.
Mr E.S. Ripper :
Didn't I used to say this about you?
Mr T.R. BUSWELL :
Who are you?
Two recent announcements spring to mind.
Several members interjected.
Mr T.R. BUSWELL :
Yes, a great job, oversighting the member for Midland's spending on
Perth Arena—one of the glowing lights of the member for Midland's
achievements in government!
Several members interjected.
Mr T.R. BUSWELL :
The two that come to mind are, firstly, Berkshire Road, where, in a wonderful
initiative, the opposition guaranteed to spend money it had already committed
to spending. In other words, one of its approaches is to spend the same dollar
twice, which is very interesting. Secondly, this weekend it announced $10 million
out of the road trauma trust fund to assist in the dualling of Gnangara Road.
Leader of the Opposition, will that money impact on net debt? Will the taking
of $10 million out of the road trauma trust fund impact on net debt? Yes, it
will! The opposition can raid that trust fund all it likes in the forward
estimates, but every single dollar impacts on net debt!
Ms R. Saffioti interjected.
The
SPEAKER : Member for West Swan!
Mr
T.R. BUSWELL : Member for West Swan, we are spending money on Gnangara Road.
If the member for West Swan lived out that way, she would see the roadworks as
she drives through! If the member for West Swan lived out that way, she would
see that the work is already starting in the vicinity of Drumpellier Drive and
West Swan Road; in the vicinity of Pinaster Parade and Gnangara Road; and soon
at the intersection of Gnangara Road and West Swan Road. It is raining
roadworks in that particular area!
I thought I would very quickly go
back and look at some of the other promises. I thought the best point to start
is the absolute high point of the shadow Minister for Transport's
contribution to public transport debate in this state; his $10 million commitment
to paint the taxis gold!
Mr F.M. Logan : Is
this all you've got?
Mr T.R. BUSWELL :
No, I have not finished yet—do not worry! That commitment was given in
January 2011. Let us quickly roll on without offering up the steak knives,
member for Cockburn; there is plenty more.
To widen the Kwinana Freeway to Safety Bay Road—is
that still the commitment, Leader of the Opposition?—is only $235 million.
To extend the Mitchell Freeway to who knows where—$250 million; to put
in the rail line, member for West Swan, to Ellenbrook—$850 million; the
wonderful idea about the circle route for a railway line right around Perth—about
$1 billion; to put in place a heavy rail line to Wanneroo—that is only
$1 billion. To put late-night trains on every single hour of the evening—$10
million; to reinstate tier 3 rail—$15 million; and the last one, as I
think I have raised before in the house, is to increase spending on public
transport by a factor of four, which will add $25.7 billion to state debt!
When I add all that up—they are only the ones that
caught my eye—it totals $29 billion on commitments given by the
opposition on transport at the same time that it stood, to a person, and said
state debt is too high! It does not make sense; it does not add up! The
fundamental challenge the opposition will have as we move to the pointy end of
the stick is how this is all going to fit together.
I think we saw a great example in relation to light rail.
Before I conclude, I will very quickly draw the house's attention to
the opposition's plan, brought out in April last year, for light rail.
It is a fully funded light rail from East Perth to West Perth, which was to be
fully funded from the Perth parking levy account which now has no money in it.
The opposition has a little bit of a problem; the money for its fully funded
light rail has already been spent! It could spend the same dollar twice! But
what interests me in relation to this proposal is that it is full of maps
outlining the route, and full of costings and commitments because it is fully
funded. This morning the shadow Minister for Transport was on radio; he dragged
his knuckles down to 6PR, and this is what he had to say.
Point of Order
Mr
M. McGOWAN : Standing order 92 would suggest that an attack or a
personal reflection on a member of the other place or indeed a member of this
place by any member is outside the standing orders. I would ask that this
minister, who has a history of undertaking those sorts of attacks, be asked to
desist.
Questions without Notice Resumed
Mr T.R. BUSWELL :
Let me rephrase: he lurched his way down to 6PR—I think that is what
the opposition calls him! He lurched his way down.
Mr T.G. Stephens :
He sniffs his way around the place!
The
SPEAKER : The whole lot of you can all quieten down. Minister for Transport,
I will suggest that you do invite these sorts of responses. I am not impressed,
and I am sure there are a lot of other people who are not impressed with either
the invitation to the response or the response itself.
Mr T.R. BUSWELL : I
am almost finished.
All I want to reflect on are
comments made this morning, and refer them back to the fully funded light rail
plan produced in April last year with lots of maps that clearly showed where it
is going to go. The first point Hon
Ken Travers made this morning was that a plan for the light rail cannot
be laid out until there has been a conversation with the community—notwithstanding
the fact that last year they produced all of these maps that showed exactly
where it went! The plan has gone from being a plan to a discussion paper to
facilitate and stimulate Hon Ken
Travers' conversation with the community. That will be an
interesting conversation.
The second point is, what has happened to the fully funded
concept of the plan? The document heading states ''fully funded plan''.
When Hon Ken Travers was asked
when he would start work on this plan for a light rail, he said that how
quickly it can be built comes down to the state of finances. The fully funded
plan now has no money. The plan that was laid out in the plan is now a
discussion paper. The point that has been made by the opposition is that the
time for travelling around the state and promising everything to everybody has
finished, and every single cent that we offer to spend will now be put under
the microscope in the context of the opposition's aversion to
increasing state debt.
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