The Minister uses a parliamentary question to attack the opposition's transport policy, highlighting perceived inconsistencies in Hon Simon O'Brien's stance on Roe Highway stage 8 before and after the election, accusing them of opportunism regarding freight planning and wetland preservation.

AnsweredQoN 175Legislative Assembly
Asked
24 September 2002
Portfolio
Planning and Infrastructure

QuestionView source ↗

Can the minister advise whether the Government has received support from an unexpected quarter for its proposals on freight planning in the southern metropolitan corridor? Ms A.J. MacTIERNAN

AnswerView source ↗

I thank the member for the question, because I know he has a very keen interest in the paradigm shift that the Government is introducing into freight management throughout his election - or rather his electorate - and the preservation of the Bibra Lake and North Lake wetland systems. I said “election” because I was actually thinking about the last state election. We were very surprised recently to see an interview on television with Hon Simon O’Brien, given a few days before the last election, when some 2 000 people rallied in the Bibra Lake area for the preservation of the wetland, and against a major highway being built through the centre of that very valuable area. Hon Simon O’Brien, more recently, has been racing around the southern suburbs being a brave opponent of the Government’s paradigm shift, and a great supporter of Roe Highway stage 8 and the Fremantle eastern bypass. However, just a few days before the last election he had a very different perspective, and was by no means an advocate of Roe Highway stage 8. He said - I’m not sure, and I’m not convinced, that we need this stage at all. I mean. . . I’ve got to tell ya, I have difficulty reconciling having a six-lane super highway coming through here, with the environmental situation that we’ve got here. He was very careful to acknowledge what members opposite, particularly the member for Murdoch, are not prepared to acknowledge - that the previous Government did not intend to build it either. He said - There is no money, as I understand it, on the ten new Main Roads forward plans, on the Government’s four-year forward estimates, or certainly the Federal Government hasn’t given any money for this stage 8 either, because there is no plan at this stage. The previous Government had no plans to build this great stage 8, which the Opposition is now talking about, and it had no plans to obtain any federal funds for it. Hon Simon O’Brien has also been very critical of the Government’s plans to upgrade Stock Road, but he had a different view, just a couple of days before the election, when he said that the other stages, west of Stock Road - Several members interjected. Ms A.J. MacTIERNAN: I know that the member for Peel would appreciate hearing the wonderful words of Hon Simon O’Brien, who further stated - The other stages you refer to are west of Stock Road . . . And the western part actually helps facilitate Stock Road, it being the main north/south transport route, instead of a fresh coastal access highway - which as I mentioned before, we’ve managed to delete from the scheme - Hon Simon O’Brien is opposed to the completion of stage 8 of Roe Highway and the coastal work but he still wants to build the Fremantle eastern bypass; however, nothing will link up to it. I can only imagine that there will be a zeppelin terminal at the end of stage 7 of Roe Highway. We will have to load trucks onto a zeppelin so that they can be flown over Bibra Lake and then unloaded to connect with the Fremantle eastern bypass. Members on the other side are not thinkers; they are just gross opportunists. They have been completely contradictory. They are troglodytes who are incapable of making the paradigm shift needed to take us into the twenty-first century.
Ms A.J. MacTIERNAN replied: I thank the member for the question, because I know he has a very keen interest in the paradigm shift that the Government is introducing into freight management throughout his election - or rather his electorate - and the preservation of the Bibra Lake and North Lake wetland systems. I said “election” because I was actually thinking about the last state election. We were very surprised recently to see an interview on television with Hon Simon O’Brien, given a few days before the last election, when some 2 000 people rallied in the Bibra Lake area for the preservation of the wetland, and against a major highway being built through the centre of that very valuable area. Hon Simon O’Brien, more recently, has been racing around the southern suburbs being a brave opponent of the Government’s paradigm shift, and a great supporter of Roe Highway stage 8 and the Fremantle eastern bypass. However, just a few days before the last election he had a very different perspective, and was by no means an advocate of Roe Highway stage 8. He said - I’m not sure, and I’m not convinced, that we need this stage at all. I mean. . . I’ve got to tell ya, I have difficulty reconciling having a six-lane super highway coming through here, with the environmental situation that we’ve got here. He was very careful to acknowledge what members opposite, particularly the member for Murdoch, are not prepared to acknowledge - that the previous Government did not intend to build it either. He said - There is no money, as I understand it, on the ten new Main Roads forward plans, on the Government’s four-year forward estimates, or certainly the Federal Government hasn’t given any money for this stage 8 either, because there is no plan at this stage. The previous Government had no plans to build this great stage 8, which the Opposition is now talking about, and it had no plans to obtain any federal funds for it. Hon Simon O’Brien has also been very critical of the Government’s plans to upgrade Stock Road, but he had a different view, just a couple of days before the election, when he said that the other stages, west of Stock Road - Several members interjected. Ms A.J. MacTIERNAN: I know that the member for Peel would appreciate hearing the wonderful words of Hon Simon O’Brien, who further stated - The other stages you refer to are west of Stock Road . . . And the western part actually helps facilitate Stock Road, it being the main north/south transport route, instead of a fresh coastal access highway - which as I mentioned before, we’ve managed to delete from the scheme - Hon Simon O’Brien is opposed to the completion of stage 8 of Roe Highway and the coastal work but he still wants to build the Fremantle eastern bypass; however, nothing will link up to it. I can only imagine that there will be a zeppelin terminal at the end of stage 7 of Roe Highway. We will have to load trucks onto a zeppelin so that they can be flown over Bibra Lake and then unloaded to connect with the Fremantle eastern bypass. Members on the other side are not thinkers; they are just gross opportunists. They have been completely contradictory. They are troglodytes who are incapable of making the paradigm shift needed to take us into the twenty-first century.
I thank the member for the question, because I know he has a very keen interest in the paradigm shift that the Government is introducing into freight management throughout his election - or rather his electorate - and the preservation of the Bibra Lake and North Lake wetland systems. I said “election” because I was actually thinking about the last state election. We were very surprised recently to see an interview on television with Hon Simon O’Brien, given a few days before the last election, when some 2 000 people rallied in the Bibra Lake area for the preservation of the wetland, and against a major highway being built through the centre of that very valuable area. Hon Simon O’Brien, more recently, has been racing around the southern suburbs being a brave opponent of the Government’s paradigm shift, and a great supporter of Roe Highway stage 8 and the Fremantle eastern bypass. However, just a few days before the last election he had a very different perspective, and was by no means an advocate of Roe Highway stage 8. He said - I’m not sure, and I’m not convinced, that we need this stage at all. I mean. . . I’ve got to tell ya, I have difficulty reconciling having a six-lane super highway coming through here, with the environmental situation that we’ve got here. He was very careful to acknowledge what members opposite, particularly the member for Murdoch, are not prepared to acknowledge - that the previous Government did not intend to build it either. He said - There is no money, as I understand it, on the ten new Main Roads forward plans, on the Government’s four-year forward estimates, or certainly the Federal Government hasn’t given any money for this stage 8 either, because there is no plan at this stage. The previous Government had no plans to build this great stage 8, which the Opposition is now talking about, and it had no plans to obtain any federal funds for it. Hon Simon O’Brien has also been very critical of the Government’s plans to upgrade Stock Road, but he had a different view, just a couple of days before the election, when he said that the other stages, west of Stock Road - Several members interjected. Ms A.J. MacTIERNAN: I know that the member for Peel would appreciate hearing the wonderful words of Hon Simon O’Brien, who further stated - The other stages you refer to are west of Stock Road . . . And the western part actually helps facilitate Stock Road, it being the main north/south transport route, instead of a fresh coastal access highway - which as I mentioned before, we’ve managed to delete from the scheme - Hon Simon O’Brien is opposed to the completion of stage 8 of Roe Highway and the coastal work but he still wants to build the Fremantle eastern bypass; however, nothing will link up to it. I can only imagine that there will be a zeppelin terminal at the end of stage 7 of Roe Highway. We will have to load trucks onto a zeppelin so that they can be flown over Bibra Lake and then unloaded to connect with the Fremantle eastern bypass. Members on the other side are not thinkers; they are just gross opportunists. They have been completely contradictory. They are troglodytes who are incapable of making the paradigm shift needed to take us into the twenty-first century.
Hon Simon O’Brien has also been very critical of the Government’s plans to upgrade Stock Road, but he had a different view, just a couple of days before the election, when he said that the other stages, west of Stock Road - Several members interjected. Ms A.J. MacTIERNAN: I know that the member for Peel would appreciate hearing the wonderful words of Hon Simon O’Brien, who further stated - The other stages you refer to are west of Stock Road . . . And the western part actually helps facilitate Stock Road, it being the main north/south transport route, instead of a fresh coastal access highway - which as I mentioned before, we’ve managed to delete from the scheme - Hon Simon O’Brien is opposed to the completion of stage 8 of Roe Highway and the coastal work but he still wants to build the Fremantle eastern bypass; however, nothing will link up to it. I can only imagine that there will be a zeppelin terminal at the end of stage 7 of Roe Highway. We will have to load trucks onto a zeppelin so that they can be flown over Bibra Lake and then unloaded to connect with the Fremantle eastern bypass. Members on the other side are not thinkers; they are just gross opportunists. They have been completely contradictory. They are troglodytes who are incapable of making the paradigm shift needed to take us into the twenty-first century.
Several members interjected. Ms A.J. MacTIERNAN: I know that the member for Peel would appreciate hearing the wonderful words of Hon Simon O’Brien, who further stated - The other stages you refer to are west of Stock Road . . . And the western part actually helps facilitate Stock Road, it being the main north/south transport route, instead of a fresh coastal access highway - which as I mentioned before, we’ve managed to delete from the scheme - Hon Simon O’Brien is opposed to the completion of stage 8 of Roe Highway and the coastal work but he still wants to build the Fremantle eastern bypass; however, nothing will link up to it. I can only imagine that there will be a zeppelin terminal at the end of stage 7 of Roe Highway. We will have to load trucks onto a zeppelin so that they can be flown over Bibra Lake and then unloaded to connect with the Fremantle eastern bypass. Members on the other side are not thinkers; they are just gross opportunists. They have been completely contradictory. They are troglodytes who are incapable of making the paradigm shift needed to take us into the twenty-first century.
Ms A.J. MacTIERNAN: I know that the member for Peel would appreciate hearing the wonderful words of Hon Simon O’Brien, who further stated - The other stages you refer to are west of Stock Road . . . And the western part actually helps facilitate Stock Road, it being the main north/south transport route, instead of a fresh coastal access highway - which as I mentioned before, we’ve managed to delete from the scheme - Hon Simon O’Brien is opposed to the completion of stage 8 of Roe Highway and the coastal work but he still wants to build the Fremantle eastern bypass; however, nothing will link up to it. I can only imagine that there will be a zeppelin terminal at the end of stage 7 of Roe Highway. We will have to load trucks onto a zeppelin so that they can be flown over Bibra Lake and then unloaded to connect with the Fremantle eastern bypass. Members on the other side are not thinkers; they are just gross opportunists. They have been completely contradictory. They are troglodytes who are incapable of making the paradigm shift needed to take us into the twenty-first century.

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