Ben Morton (Tangney, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to ask the minister about a very important project in the Perth metropolitan area and a very important project to my electorate, the Perth Freight Link, a project that would create over 10,000 jobs in WA that we need right now. Minister, there has been a debate in Perth about this project, and there have been protests led by a very local minority who chose to misrepresent the facts about this project. Of course Labor, as they always do, have sided with the protesters and the green, left, latte drinkers, and they have moved away from the people and the jobs. They have given in to the noisy, trendy cafe set.

I think that in WA it is important for us to remind ourselves about the Perth Freight Link project. As well as creating 10,000 jobs, the Perth Freight Link project would take 7,000 trucks and 74,000 light vehicles off local roads each day. These are roads like the Leach Highway, Farrington Road, South Street, Stock Road, North Lake Road, Beeliar Drive and other local roads. It would create east-west access across the Perth metropolitan area, servicing the Perth Airport, the Fiona Stanley Hospital, the St John of God hospital and Murdoch University. It will bypass 14 sets of traffic lights on the Leach Highway and Stock Road, and it will reduce traffic pressure on South Street and the Leach Highway.

In relation to the construction, we have to remember the facts. Roe 8 will impact on 0.49 per cent of the entire Beeliar Regional Park. It would save 450,000 tonnes of CO2 by 2031, and $45 million would be invested to accommodate environmental sensitivities and provide better access to the area. Infrastructure Australia are very supportive of the Perth Freight Link project. They say that the project aligns with Infrastructure Australia's strategic priorities to increase productivity, expand productive capacity and build on Australia's global competitive advantages through delivering a more efficient freight network. The member for Grayndler likes to quote Infrastructure Australia when it suits him, but not always. He likes to talk about the costs that urban congestion will have for our nation if it is unaddressed. Yet, in the same vein, he ignores the advice and the position of Infrastructure Australia in supporting the very important Perth Freight Link project.

WA needs the Perth Freight Link project. It needs Roe 8 and Roe 9. And, yes, the state ALP have stopped it. They claim a mandate. The minister will be interested to learn that, in those areas directly affected near the construction of Roe 8 and Roe 9, the Labor Party actually achieved a swing of less than average—

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