Michael Keenan (Stirling, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to talk about an issue that I have discussed in this chamber many times before—the Reid Highway-Mirrabooka Avenue intersection. This intersection has been a black spot in my electorate for many years. It has been the subject of much sound and fury in my electorate, as successive politicians who have represented the area have promised to do something about this terrible black spot. My predecessor, Jann McFarlane, promised in the election campaign of 2004 to address this black spot. Indeed, I have here the document that promised it. It says:

Federal MP for Stirling Jann McFarlane has secured a commitment for $6 million from the Latham Labor Government to fix WA’s worst black spot—the Reid Highway/Mirrabooka Avenue intersection.

It also says:

A Federal Labor Government will work in partnership with the WA Government to deliver this project and the two levels of government will contribute equally.

I have taken up this issue since I was elected in 2004. Funnily enough, the sound and fury from the former member has been joined by the local state Labor members, who constantly talk about the issue but have never delivered one dollar of funding to address it.

Another newsletter has recently gone out in my electorate from Senator Chris Evans and Senator Webber. It has a picture of Labor’s federal finance spokesman, Lindsay Tanner, who visited this black spot at the Reid Highway-Mirrabooka Avenue intersection. It says that local residents have been campaigning for action to improve safety at this intersection. It reminds the people of Stirling that at the 2004 federal election the federal Labor government committed to work with the state Labor government to build an overpass and save lives. It says that the shadow minister was very concerned and said that this issue was very important to Labor and they would keep working to improve road safety in the Stirling community. Yet, lo and behold, even though federal and state Labor Party members have talked about this issue for years, not one dollar has been allocated by the state Labor government to construct this road.

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