❓ Minister Day provides an update on the Elizabeth Quay project, highlighting its progress, economic benefits, and features like the water park, pedestrian bridge, and public art. He also addresses criticism and past inaction.
AnsweredQoN 27Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
ELIZABETH
QUAY — PROGRESS
27. Ms E. EVANGEL to the
Minister for Planning:
Can the minister provide the house with an update on the
progress of works and anticipated delivery of Elizabeth Quay?
QUAY — PROGRESS
27. Ms E. EVANGEL to the
Minister for Planning:
Can the minister provide the house with an update on the
progress of works and anticipated delivery of Elizabeth Quay?
AnswerView source ↗
I thank the member for the question and I am very happy to
provide an update on this very important transformational project for Perth and
Western Australia. The Elizabeth Quay project is very well advanced. By the end
of this year it will be open to the public. I am sure that those who have been
critical of the project will in most cases end up going there and will be very
pleased with what they see. Getting a better engagement between the city and
the river is a concept and a project that has been talked about in various
forms over the past 30 years or so. Until work started just under three years
ago, nothing had been done in construction. The previous government talked
about the project. It had some flashy drawings and announced it, but now it
opposes the project. Members opposite are all over the place on it. It is
important to understand —
Ms R. Saffioti :
Where are those trains going?
Mr J.H.D. DAY : It
is actually very close to the Esplanade station on the Perth–Mandurah
train line.
It is important to understand that this project is very
important for economic development and employment. It is estimated that 400 jobs
are being created directly over the life of the project, and about 140 small to
medium-sized businesses in Western Australia have received work as a result of
this extensive project. It is expected to lead to $2.2 billion in investment
from the private sector. It will also provide for ongoing economic development
opportunities in the tourism sector from the hospitality services that will be
provided there.
Very briefly, to provide an update on some of the recent
aspects, the new water park is currently under construction. The Premier and I
announced a couple of weeks ago that BHP Billiton is contributing $10 million
to that project, and that contribution is very welcome. It will be a very
large, high-quality interactive play area for children, with choreographed
water jets, lighting and sound, and it will also provide an event space for up
to 800 people.
An important aspect of the project is the pedestrian and
cyclist bridge. It is a very complex project to construct, but it will be a
very aesthetically important part of the final project. I am pleased that it is
being constructed in Western Australia, at Henderson, with the complex
structural elements including the arches, curved beams and decking being
fabricated by a Western Australian firm.
Public art is a very important aspect of this project. In
January I was pleased to announced that the Sign In 2000 school signatures,
which were previously on the tiles on the ground and were becoming degraded
because of wear and fading, are being reinterpreted in a new public art piece
in which they will be engraved on copper plates. Five artists are shortlisted
for the major public art piece that will be provided in Elizabeth Quay. A panel
including the Government Architect, Geoff Warn, and the director of the University
of Western Australia's cultural precinct —
Ms
M.M. Quirk interjected.
The
SPEAKER : Member for Girrawheen, I call you to order for the first time.
Minister, can you wind this up, please?
Mr
J.H.D. DAY : Yes, Mr Speaker. I am nearly at the conclusion.
The panel, as I said, includes Geoff
Warn, the Government Architect, and also the University of Western Australia's
cultural precinct director, Ted Snell, and a representative from the
Metropolitan Redevelopment Authority, to make a recommendation on that very
important public art piece.
Finally, the food and beverage
outlets are under construction at the moment and the MRA is well advanced —
Ms M.M. Quirk interjected.
The SPEAKER :
Member for Girrawheen, I call you to order for the second time.
Mr J.H.D. DAY : The
MRA is well advanced in negotiations with some well-experienced and
high-standard hospitality, food and beverage providers for the operation of
those important food and beverage outlets.
provide an update on this very important transformational project for Perth and
Western Australia. The Elizabeth Quay project is very well advanced. By the end
of this year it will be open to the public. I am sure that those who have been
critical of the project will in most cases end up going there and will be very
pleased with what they see. Getting a better engagement between the city and
the river is a concept and a project that has been talked about in various
forms over the past 30 years or so. Until work started just under three years
ago, nothing had been done in construction. The previous government talked
about the project. It had some flashy drawings and announced it, but now it
opposes the project. Members opposite are all over the place on it. It is
important to understand —
Ms R. Saffioti :
Where are those trains going?
Mr J.H.D. DAY : It
is actually very close to the Esplanade station on the Perth–Mandurah
train line.
It is important to understand that this project is very
important for economic development and employment. It is estimated that 400 jobs
are being created directly over the life of the project, and about 140 small to
medium-sized businesses in Western Australia have received work as a result of
this extensive project. It is expected to lead to $2.2 billion in investment
from the private sector. It will also provide for ongoing economic development
opportunities in the tourism sector from the hospitality services that will be
provided there.
Very briefly, to provide an update on some of the recent
aspects, the new water park is currently under construction. The Premier and I
announced a couple of weeks ago that BHP Billiton is contributing $10 million
to that project, and that contribution is very welcome. It will be a very
large, high-quality interactive play area for children, with choreographed
water jets, lighting and sound, and it will also provide an event space for up
to 800 people.
An important aspect of the project is the pedestrian and
cyclist bridge. It is a very complex project to construct, but it will be a
very aesthetically important part of the final project. I am pleased that it is
being constructed in Western Australia, at Henderson, with the complex
structural elements including the arches, curved beams and decking being
fabricated by a Western Australian firm.
Public art is a very important aspect of this project. In
January I was pleased to announced that the Sign In 2000 school signatures,
which were previously on the tiles on the ground and were becoming degraded
because of wear and fading, are being reinterpreted in a new public art piece
in which they will be engraved on copper plates. Five artists are shortlisted
for the major public art piece that will be provided in Elizabeth Quay. A panel
including the Government Architect, Geoff Warn, and the director of the University
of Western Australia's cultural precinct —
Ms
M.M. Quirk interjected.
The
SPEAKER : Member for Girrawheen, I call you to order for the first time.
Minister, can you wind this up, please?
Mr
J.H.D. DAY : Yes, Mr Speaker. I am nearly at the conclusion.
The panel, as I said, includes Geoff
Warn, the Government Architect, and also the University of Western Australia's
cultural precinct director, Ted Snell, and a representative from the
Metropolitan Redevelopment Authority, to make a recommendation on that very
important public art piece.
Finally, the food and beverage
outlets are under construction at the moment and the MRA is well advanced —
Ms M.M. Quirk interjected.
The SPEAKER :
Member for Girrawheen, I call you to order for the second time.
Mr J.H.D. DAY : The
MRA is well advanced in negotiations with some well-experienced and
high-standard hospitality, food and beverage providers for the operation of
those important food and beverage outlets.
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