❓ Ms. Shaw questions the Minister for Transport on whether the 2019-20 federal budget matches the McGowan government's investment in transport projects. The Minister responds by highlighting the state government's commitment despite delayed federal funding, particularly for the Albany Ring Road.
AnsweredQoN 222Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
TRANSPORT —
FEDERAL FUNDING
222. Ms J.J. SHAW to the Minister for Transport:
I refer to the McGowan Labor government's
fight to secure its fair share of federal funding for its job-creating,
congestion-busting road and rail projects. Can the minister outline to the
house to what extent this government's investment in transport projects
has been matched in the 2019–20 federal budget?
FEDERAL FUNDING
222. Ms J.J. SHAW to the Minister for Transport:
I refer to the McGowan Labor government's
fight to secure its fair share of federal funding for its job-creating,
congestion-busting road and rail projects. Can the minister outline to the
house to what extent this government's investment in transport projects
has been matched in the 2019–20 federal budget?
AnswerView source ↗
I thank the member for that
question. There has been a lot of discussion about federal funding coming to Western
Australia. We are very happy that we have put money on the table for a number
of projects while we wait for that federal funding to come. The Albany
ring-road is the best demonstration of that. We put $35 million on the table
for that project—doing the work! The federal member for that area —
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER : Members!
Ms R. SAFFIOTI : He is going
around blaming the state government —
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER : Members, I know
you think it is a chat-fest, but I want to hear the minister's answer.
It is a very good one.
Ms R. SAFFIOTI : He was going
around saying that it was all our fault that the project was not being done and
he is now claiming credit somehow for this project. I will go through that in a
minute.
We remember the tweet from the
member for Scarborough about the Albany ring-road.
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER : Members!
Ms R. SAFFIOTI : It said, ''Why'd
you secure funding for Albany ring-road when the State Labor Government hasn't
given a cent yet?'' I will go through how many times we announced the
$35 million for Albany. On 30 May 2017, we announced $35 million for the Albany
ring-road. On 30 May, it was on Peter Watson MLA's Facebook page. The
2017–18 state budget has that money in it. The media statement relating
to the state budget has it in. The ''Investing in WA Roads''
information pamphlet has it in. The 2018–19 state budget has it in. The
2018–19 fact sheet on the budget has it in. The media statement of 30
August 2018 has that funding in it. But the member for Scarborough —
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER : Members, that is
enough.
Ms R. SAFFIOTI : The member for Scarborough said, ''Why'd
you secure funding for Albany ring-road when the State Labor Government hasn't
given a cent yet?'' The member has deleted the tweet! We went back to
see why she should be so keen to delete that tweet, given that it is not the
first silly thing that she might have said through social media. The tweet was
done at 12.47 am on 29 March 2019.
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER : Members!
Ms R. SAFFIOTI : Either the
member's phone and Twitter were set to New York time, or something very
strange happens in the middle of the night when the member for Scarborough is
tweeting about the Albany ring-road.
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER : Members!
Ms R. SAFFIOTI : Unlike Donald
Trump, at least she had the ability to delete that fake news that she tweeted.
We will be putting out more information, but the cash flows being put forward
by the federal government are a tad disappointing. Rick Wilson is saying, ''Build
it now!'' when the first dollars from the federal government for this
project will start flowing in 2021–22 and the majority of the funding
is outside the forward estimates. Yesterday the member for Central Wheatbelt
asked what we were doing on regional road safety. The member will be interested
to know that the majority of the $70 million funding is beyond the forward
estimates—in 2023–24. We are disappointed that this budget does
not have the funding in the forward estimates to deliver the projects. Even
though federal government members are saying we should build it now, the
funding will not be flowing for three or four years. But we will get on with
the job with the planning and environmental approvals. We will get our funding
there to make sure that we get on with the job and deliver these essential projects.
question. There has been a lot of discussion about federal funding coming to Western
Australia. We are very happy that we have put money on the table for a number
of projects while we wait for that federal funding to come. The Albany
ring-road is the best demonstration of that. We put $35 million on the table
for that project—doing the work! The federal member for that area —
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER : Members!
Ms R. SAFFIOTI : He is going
around blaming the state government —
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER : Members, I know
you think it is a chat-fest, but I want to hear the minister's answer.
It is a very good one.
Ms R. SAFFIOTI : He was going
around saying that it was all our fault that the project was not being done and
he is now claiming credit somehow for this project. I will go through that in a
minute.
We remember the tweet from the
member for Scarborough about the Albany ring-road.
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER : Members!
Ms R. SAFFIOTI : It said, ''Why'd
you secure funding for Albany ring-road when the State Labor Government hasn't
given a cent yet?'' I will go through how many times we announced the
$35 million for Albany. On 30 May 2017, we announced $35 million for the Albany
ring-road. On 30 May, it was on Peter Watson MLA's Facebook page. The
2017–18 state budget has that money in it. The media statement relating
to the state budget has it in. The ''Investing in WA Roads''
information pamphlet has it in. The 2018–19 state budget has it in. The
2018–19 fact sheet on the budget has it in. The media statement of 30
August 2018 has that funding in it. But the member for Scarborough —
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER : Members, that is
enough.
Ms R. SAFFIOTI : The member for Scarborough said, ''Why'd
you secure funding for Albany ring-road when the State Labor Government hasn't
given a cent yet?'' The member has deleted the tweet! We went back to
see why she should be so keen to delete that tweet, given that it is not the
first silly thing that she might have said through social media. The tweet was
done at 12.47 am on 29 March 2019.
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER : Members!
Ms R. SAFFIOTI : Either the
member's phone and Twitter were set to New York time, or something very
strange happens in the middle of the night when the member for Scarborough is
tweeting about the Albany ring-road.
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER : Members!
Ms R. SAFFIOTI : Unlike Donald
Trump, at least she had the ability to delete that fake news that she tweeted.
We will be putting out more information, but the cash flows being put forward
by the federal government are a tad disappointing. Rick Wilson is saying, ''Build
it now!'' when the first dollars from the federal government for this
project will start flowing in 2021–22 and the majority of the funding
is outside the forward estimates. Yesterday the member for Central Wheatbelt
asked what we were doing on regional road safety. The member will be interested
to know that the majority of the $70 million funding is beyond the forward
estimates—in 2023–24. We are disappointed that this budget does
not have the funding in the forward estimates to deliver the projects. Even
though federal government members are saying we should build it now, the
funding will not be flowing for three or four years. But we will get on with
the job with the planning and environmental approvals. We will get our funding
there to make sure that we get on with the job and deliver these essential projects.
Explore WA Government Data
Search the full archive in the free dashboard, or query programmatically via API.
Explore more
Government Gazette
Appointments, regulatory notices, planning changes.
Hansard
Debates, questions, speeches and sentiment.
Tabled Papers
Reports and documents tabled in Parliament.
Committees
Committee profiles and recent reports.
Regulations
Subsidiary legislation with filters and summaries.
Bills
Proposed laws and parliamentary progress.
Acts
Current WA legislation and summaries.
Explanatory Memoranda
Bills with EMs (text/PDF) available.
Members
MP profiles, party breakdown and rankings.
Pollie Rankings
Data-driven rankings across 19 categories.
Amendment Chains
Track how schemes and regulations evolve over time.