❓ Opposition questions the Premier on METRONET cost blowouts and lack of rail laid. Premier defends the government's commitment to METRONET, criticising the opposition's past record on similar projects.
AnsweredQoN 571Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
METRONET —
COSTINGS
571. Mrs L.M. HARVEY to the Premier:
I have a supplementary question. In
addition to the massive cost blowouts, can the Premier confirm that despite his
government being in for three years, it has not laid one single inch of rail,
as was his election commitment?
COSTINGS
571. Mrs L.M. HARVEY to the Premier:
I have a supplementary question. In
addition to the massive cost blowouts, can the Premier confirm that despite his
government being in for three years, it has not laid one single inch of rail,
as was his election commitment?
AnswerView source ↗
Who
writes the Leader of the Opposition's questions? Three years is in
March next year. The Leader of the Opposition is only out by six or
seven months!
Mrs L.M. Harvey : You are in
your third year.
Mr M. McGOWAN : That is not
good. You can't even add to three! You can't work out between
two and three.
Government members interjected.
The
SPEAKER : Members, you have got your
Premier on his feet. I want to hear what he says; you obviously do not.
Mr M. McGOWAN : We are going
to build Metronet. We are going to build the Thornlie–Cockburn Link. We
are going to build the Yanchep extension. We are going to build the Morley–Ellenbrook
line, Byford, and important projects in Midland on the Armadale line. We are
going to build all of these lines. We are going to build rail carriages in Western
Australia. That is what we are going to do.
Members opposite seem to forget that
before the 2008 and 2013 elections, they promised the Ellenbrook rail line.
What happened to that? They did not deliver it. They promised the Metro Area
Express light rail. Remember that one? They did not deliver it. Essentially,
their record on these things is appalling. As I outlined to the house
yesterday, we had to fight tooth and nail to get the Rockingham–Mandurah
rail in. We had to get that through against the vicious objections by members
opposite. They said the whole thing was going to electrocute people! Remember
that? I remember some journalist actually ran that story—the river was
going to wash up over the line and South Perth was going to be electrocuted!
Members opposite actually said that.
One of the classics the Liberal Party
was running was that no-one lives down there; there are only cows down there!
Remember running that one? Honestly! No wonder members opposite are so subdued.
I can tell that something dramatic happened in the party room yesterday. I note
the member for Churchlands is not here. I have a lot of time for the member for
Geraldton. I note he does not look up from his phone at all. I note most
opposition members do not look up from their phones because they know their
record on these things, as in most things, is absolutely shocking.
writes the Leader of the Opposition's questions? Three years is in
March next year. The Leader of the Opposition is only out by six or
seven months!
Mrs L.M. Harvey : You are in
your third year.
Mr M. McGOWAN : That is not
good. You can't even add to three! You can't work out between
two and three.
Government members interjected.
The
SPEAKER : Members, you have got your
Premier on his feet. I want to hear what he says; you obviously do not.
Mr M. McGOWAN : We are going
to build Metronet. We are going to build the Thornlie–Cockburn Link. We
are going to build the Yanchep extension. We are going to build the Morley–Ellenbrook
line, Byford, and important projects in Midland on the Armadale line. We are
going to build all of these lines. We are going to build rail carriages in Western
Australia. That is what we are going to do.
Members opposite seem to forget that
before the 2008 and 2013 elections, they promised the Ellenbrook rail line.
What happened to that? They did not deliver it. They promised the Metro Area
Express light rail. Remember that one? They did not deliver it. Essentially,
their record on these things is appalling. As I outlined to the house
yesterday, we had to fight tooth and nail to get the Rockingham–Mandurah
rail in. We had to get that through against the vicious objections by members
opposite. They said the whole thing was going to electrocute people! Remember
that? I remember some journalist actually ran that story—the river was
going to wash up over the line and South Perth was going to be electrocuted!
Members opposite actually said that.
One of the classics the Liberal Party
was running was that no-one lives down there; there are only cows down there!
Remember running that one? Honestly! No wonder members opposite are so subdued.
I can tell that something dramatic happened in the party room yesterday. I note
the member for Churchlands is not here. I have a lot of time for the member for
Geraldton. I note he does not look up from his phone at all. I note most
opposition members do not look up from their phones because they know their
record on these things, as in most things, is absolutely shocking.
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.