Tim Hammond (Perth, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

In my home state of Western Australia it is the Labor Party that has a proven track record in relation to properly investing in road and rail infrastructure. One does not need to look any further than the Perth Gateway WA project, the Perth City Link, the Perth to Mandurah railway or the expansion of the Great Eastern Highway. The reasons why it is so important to properly invest in infrastructure are manifestly clear: to reduce congestion and to give families more time to spend at home with their loved ones instead of being stuck in traffic. Also, importantly, properly investing in infrastructure creates jobs.

Closer to home, in my electorate of Perth, we have a unique opportunity, through proper and meaningful investment in infrastructure, to achieve transformational change to my local community of Bayswater. For those who are not aware, the town of Bayswater has a railway running straight through the middle. We have a circumstance of time where the Perth to Forrestfield rail link is being constructed, involving a significant amount of tunnelling. We have a unique opportunity to use the current capital spend involved in that project to revitalise a town centre that is in urgent need of transformational change. By capitalising on our infrastructure spend and committing to a tunnelling project which would see us sink the Bayswater train station, we would have a unique opportunity to link up both sides of this city, create vibrancy in a town centre and create diversity. It is also a unique opportunity to make use of a wonderful community environment.

That was a matter that I campaigned on in the course of the federal election, to the point where it was the Australian Labor Party that committed a $1 million spend to a structural plan to make sure we make the most of this opportunity and get the investment right. It was the Labor Party, by committing $1 million in the course of the federal campaign to a proper structural plan to build upon the good work that the local government of Bayswater has already invested in this project, that recognised the need for the infrastructure spend to properly assess how we can unlock and unleash the potential of this unique community environment. By improving on the work of the state Labor Party, which is investing significantly in a transformational rail change called Metronet, we can finally make use of this wonderful town centre so that all of us can get the benefit in times to come. I can ensure my constituents in the city of Perth and in Bayswater and its surrounds that I will continue to campaign on this issue until we get the job done.

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