Ms. Mettam questions the Premier's commitment to avoiding political propaganda campaigns, citing a perceived contradiction between past statements and a current Metronet advertising tender. The Premier defends the campaign as necessary public communication regarding Metronet construction disruptions.

AnsweredQoN 1064Legislative Assembly
Asked
14 November 2019
Portfolio
Premier

QuestionView source ↗

INFRASTRUCTURE —
BIGGER PICTURE CAMPAIGN
1064. Ms L. METTAM to the Premier:
I
refer to the Premier's emphatic comments, when in opposition, about the
Bigger Picture campaign, stating that it was unfair, rotten, a waste of money and just political propaganda and
would not be repeated if Labor won the 2017 election. How can anyone
trust what the Premier says given he is currently tendering for a multimillion-dollar
Metronet spin campaign, to be launched exactly one year out from the next
election?

AnswerView source ↗

I have never heard of the term that
the member is referring to, but clearly the government is about to embark on an
enormous and quite disruptive build of rail lines across the Perth metropolitan
area, and people need to be informed about the disruption and opportunities to
avoid that disruption. In effect, when we are building Metronet, there will be an extension of the rail line to
Yanchep, an extension of the rail line between Thornlie and Cockburn, an
extension of the rail line to Byford, slightly later on, and also an extension
of the Midland line, and the Morley–Ellenbrook line. There is a huge
amount of work. Then there is the replacement or undergrounding of various
parts of the line, particularly on the Armadale line—lots of work.
As members know, with the disruption
around the freeways with roadworks, train works and the like, it is a very,
very congested and disruptive period across the metropolitan area. I think that
ensuring people are informed about the opportunities to avoid that and what is
going on is an important part of public communication.

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