Patrick Gorman (Perth, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Western Australia) Share this | Hansard source

Despite living in times of great uncertainty, we do know some things for certain. What we know for certain is that this government will always overpromise and underdeliver when it comes to its infrastructure commitments. I've got questions on behalf of my community for the Acting Prime Minister and his assistant ministers about what is happening with what the government is promising in Western Australia versus what it's actually delivering.

One of the great examples where the photo op and the flyer sound great but the government doesn't actually deliver is the Reid Highway and Erindale Road intersection. The government have committed $2 million for a business case, but then they have government members who don't tell the full story. I like the member for Stirling—he is a good human—but I do have to say that, when he sends out a flyer to his community saying something is underway and construction has started, it means either that there's a falsehood being passed on to the people in Western Australia or that the Acting Prime Minister has not actually told us the full story of where they are allocating government funds. I would have thought that in the budget we would get a clearer picture, but I went to look for the funding for the construction to start soon and nowhere in that budget did I find it. So one of my questions—I have many—to the Acting Prime Minister is: is that money in the budget or is the very good member for Stirling wrong? Have you let him down? Have you let the people of Western Australia down? I would love some clarity on that.

This wasn't what I intended to come in and speak on as we consider the budget in detail, but also I would like to seek an apology from the Acting Prime Minister to people who live in the CBD of Perth for suggesting that we should send a devastating mouse plague to the CBDs, to inner-city apartments where I have a lot of pensioners and older Australians retiring in my electorate. We are very fortunate that there is a large amount of space between where this plague is affecting communities and my electorate, but I do think we need to get an apology. I would ask that you take the opportunity when you're speaking on this to apologise for those remarks. I don't believe it was appropriate language, and I really am concerned.

One of the real concerns I have is: what happens when it comes to City Deals? It's been five years since the city deals were promised. Five years in the government's language is two Prime Ministers worth of time. The Perth City Deal was promised in 2017 under then Prime Minister Turnbull. We had a memorandum of understanding signed in April 2018. On the government's own figures, the Perth City Deal and the projects within it will not be completed until 2030, almost 10 years away. There was a great press release saying that there were going to be 10,000 jobs. I would like to ask: how many of those 10,000 jobs from the city deal, which took you four years to put together, have actually been delivered in Western Australia? If you put out a press release saying there are 10,000 jobs, I think you need to be honest about when those jobs are being delivered. If I look at the glossy brochure that the government put out about the Perth City Deal, again, there are lots of promises. But I want to know: how many jobs on the ECU campus that has been promised for the CBD have currently been delivered, and can the government confirm that the completion date is still 2024?

Will this project and will WAAPA be in the Perth CBD by 2024, as promised in the government's own papers? If not, what has happened with the Perth City Deal? Will Murdoch University and Curtin University both be operating in the Perth CBD by 2023? We've got businesses in the Perth CBD who are crying out for more people to visit the CBD to boost their revenues and to boost their profitability, and they are relying on this to be delivered on time.

I also want to know what is actually happening with the WACA redevelopment. We've seen a lot of controversy around the swimming pool that was promised to people in East Perth in my electorate. The reality is that, even after four years of negotiations on this city deal, the document that was provided by the government says 'City of Perth: TBC'. Six months on, is the city deal still TBC for the people in East Perth who are relying on getting those facilities in their community, and when will the government sort out the finalisation of these negotiations? Finally, can you outline how many jobs are going to be created from the Perth Cultural Centre rejuvenation and the Perth Concert Hall— (Time expired)

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