❓ Mr Katsambanis questions the Minister for Transport about matching federal funds for the Mitchell Freeway widening project. The Minister refutes claims of existing federal funding and criticises Christian Porter's financial management.
AnsweredQoN 365Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
MITCHELL FREEWAY —
WIDENING
365. Mr P.A. KATSAMBANIS to the Minister for Transport:
Given that the Morrison Liberal
government has already funded $35 million to widen the Mitchell Freeway between
Hodges Drive and Hepburn Avenue, will the minister now commit matching funds to
fix the missing link on the Mitchell Freeway, or will the minister force
commuters to continue to suffer gridlock and traffic congestion in the northern
suburbs?
WIDENING
365. Mr P.A. KATSAMBANIS to the Minister for Transport:
Given that the Morrison Liberal
government has already funded $35 million to widen the Mitchell Freeway between
Hodges Drive and Hepburn Avenue, will the minister now commit matching funds to
fix the missing link on the Mitchell Freeway, or will the minister force
commuters to continue to suffer gridlock and traffic congestion in the northern
suburbs?
AnswerView source ↗
I thank the member for that
question. I was hoping he would put that question to me today, because I would
like to clarify some of the things that Christian Porter is saying in the media—he
has been claiming that something is in the budget when it is not. No wonder he
nearly bankrupted the state! I am looking straight at that camera: no wonder
Christian Porter nearly bankrupted the state, members in this house!
Mr P. Papalia : I think they
got it.
Ms R. SAFFIOTI : I think
they got it. Let us go through the history of this. I remember that on
International Women's Day, when I was at a Dockers function, I was
asked to respond to Scott Morrison's announcements on road funding.
There was a $50 million commitment to a smart freeway project. I said that we
welcomed that and we would see how we would fund it during the budget. Then, on
28 March, a pre-budget media statement was released by the Prime Minister,
Scott Morrison, outlining all the projects. Do members know what was not in
there? The Hodges to Hepburn project was not in the budget communication. Then
there was the actual federal budget itself. Was that project in the federal
budget? No.
Mr P.A. Katsambanis : Yes, it
was.
Ms R. SAFFIOTI : No. Then a letter
was sent by the Deputy Prime Minister to me about all the projects in the
federal budget. Was Hodges to Hepburn in that letter that communicated the
federal budget road projects to WA? No. The $50 million was there. We matched
that $50 million. There is $100 million in the budget for freeway projects. I look
forward to working with an incoming Shorten government to deliver projects like
this. I will keep going with the story because it gets better. Then he said
that, no, it was not the $50 million he was talking about, and in a press
conference yesterday he said that there was another $36 million in the budget
that no-one has ever seen, that the federal Minister for Transport has never told
me about, but it is there because Christian Porter said so. No wonder he nearly
bankrupted the state. He continues to mislead and now I have seen his latest
post, that this is a broken promise from us. He promised it; we did not! He
promised it and he could not get his own agency, his own Treasury, to fund the
project.
question. I was hoping he would put that question to me today, because I would
like to clarify some of the things that Christian Porter is saying in the media—he
has been claiming that something is in the budget when it is not. No wonder he
nearly bankrupted the state! I am looking straight at that camera: no wonder
Christian Porter nearly bankrupted the state, members in this house!
Mr P. Papalia : I think they
got it.
Ms R. SAFFIOTI : I think
they got it. Let us go through the history of this. I remember that on
International Women's Day, when I was at a Dockers function, I was
asked to respond to Scott Morrison's announcements on road funding.
There was a $50 million commitment to a smart freeway project. I said that we
welcomed that and we would see how we would fund it during the budget. Then, on
28 March, a pre-budget media statement was released by the Prime Minister,
Scott Morrison, outlining all the projects. Do members know what was not in
there? The Hodges to Hepburn project was not in the budget communication. Then
there was the actual federal budget itself. Was that project in the federal
budget? No.
Mr P.A. Katsambanis : Yes, it
was.
Ms R. SAFFIOTI : No. Then a letter
was sent by the Deputy Prime Minister to me about all the projects in the
federal budget. Was Hodges to Hepburn in that letter that communicated the
federal budget road projects to WA? No. The $50 million was there. We matched
that $50 million. There is $100 million in the budget for freeway projects. I look
forward to working with an incoming Shorten government to deliver projects like
this. I will keep going with the story because it gets better. Then he said
that, no, it was not the $50 million he was talking about, and in a press
conference yesterday he said that there was another $36 million in the budget
that no-one has ever seen, that the federal Minister for Transport has never told
me about, but it is there because Christian Porter said so. No wonder he nearly
bankrupted the state. He continues to mislead and now I have seen his latest
post, that this is a broken promise from us. He promised it; we did not! He
promised it and he could not get his own agency, his own Treasury, to fund the
project.
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