Steve Irons (Swan, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It is always a pleasure to follow the member for Fremantle. I wish her all the best in the future, after her long and excellent service to the parliament of Australia.

It is an exciting time to be the federal member for Swan, because a new suburb has been added to the electorate as part of the January 2016 redistribution in Western Australia conducted by the AEC. Swan has gained the new suburb of High Wycombe from the electorate of Hasluck. I am certainly looking forward to welcoming those residents into the electorate of Swan over the coming months. The people of High Wycombe are joining one of the most dynamic electorates in the country. I do not think there would be any other electorate in Australia with the number of major projects that are underway in Swan, but I welcome being corrected by the member for Gellibrand if he so wishes.

I will mention a few of the projects that are underway. There is the $1 billion Gateway WA project, without a mining tax. There is the $1.27 billion Perth stadium precinct, including the rail and the bridge. There is the new $68 million Lathlain Park development for the West Coast Eagles. As to the NBN, High Wycombe is scheduled to be among the first electorates to be completed in Western Australia. The construction commences in High Wycombe in the fourth quarter of 2016. The $6 million Belmont business park project is also in the works at the moment. There is the $640 million six-star hotel at Burswood, which I recently visited and toured. Other projects include: development in the Canning city centre and the town of Curtin; the potential whitewater rafting centre at Ascot; 4,000 apartments at Belmont Park, the Civic Heart development in South Perth—many residents oppose this, but there are some going ahead—and the proposed $450 million third runway at Perth Airport.

The addition of High Wycombe and the part of Forrestfield to the west of the Roe Highway to my electorate is particularly exciting, as it will mean the majority of the Forrestfield-Airport Link rail project will be in the electorate of Swan, including all three new train stations. This is a $2 billion new passenger rail line that will connect the airport and the suburbs of High Wycombe and Forrestfield to the Perth CBD. Following the federal approval of the on-airport elements in December, this project will commence construction in 2016, with the first trains running on the line in 2020. I dare say this will put Perth a big step ahead of even Melbourne, which does not have rail out to its airport. As it stands, the state government is funding the majority of this project. It will be interesting to see if the federal government will provide assistance to this rail project at some stage.

What is particularly good is that the majority of the 8.5-kilometre new rail line will be underground in twin bored tunnels, which will minimise the impact of the rail line construction and operation on the ground. I seem to remember that when this project was being discussed at the 2013 state election Labor said it should be above ground. I can say that the last thing that people in my electorate would want to see is more level crossings slowing traffic on surface roads through the electorate. Some of the worst black spots in the electorate of Swan are the level crossings over the Armadale line, particularly Wharf Street, and I think the local people just could not believe it when the Labor Party was proposing an above-ground option. Some of the other benefits of tunnelling are reduced ongoing maintenance costs, greater safety through improved emergency access in the event of an incident, and better environmental outcomes, including less drawdown on the water table. It will actually be the first tunnel built underneath the Swan River, which is a milestone for Perth.

As I mentioned, there will be three new train stations, all in the electorate of Swan: Airport West station in Redcliffe; Consolidated Airport station at the current international, Virgin domestic and Terminal WA site; and the Forrestfield Station, adjacent to High Wycombe. From 2020, the people of High Wycombe will have access to a service that connects to the CBD in just over 20 minutes. For comparison, the current journey from Forrestfield to the CBD can take up to 45 minutes by car in peak-hour traffic. I think it will be an attractive option to the commuters in High Wycombe and Forrestfield and will make quite a difference to their daily lives. The new line will also bring economic opportunities to the eastern suburbs by promoting growth at new and existing centres.

I recently requested a full briefing on this project and was surprised to be advised that the local council in Kalamunda is looking to downsize plans for the car park at the new Forrestfield station. This seems crazy given that the experience of most train stations across Perth is chronic car parking shortages, causing parking problems on the surrounding residential streets. I will be writing to the local council to seek some further advice on this matter.

I conclude by, once again, welcoming the people of High Wycombe to the electorate of Swan and the exciting future infrastructure projects that are going ahead in the electorate. Thank you.