Andrew Hastie (Canning, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Defence) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

At the 2021 state election, tens of thousands of Western Australians in the Peal region put their trust in Mark McGowan and Labor. But now I hear nothing but buyer's remorse. People ask why the Peel Health Campus has not been fixed. People ask why many state government projects are delayed, over budget and underdone. Frankly, people are tired of the endless excuses and blame shifting. Last week in the Western Australia parliament, the member for Murray-Wellington delivered an extraordinary display of buck passing, blame shifting and, frankly, language unbecoming of a parliamentarian.

Let's fact check some of her claims. Fact check 1: The member for Murray-Wellington said only Labor committed a record $160 million to transform our hospital into a truly regional hospital. In reality, WA Labor's record of health delivery in Western Australia and Canning is a disaster. The Peel Health Campus has been named one of the worst hospitals in the nation for emergency waiting times. In 2022 ambulance ramping hours skyrocketed to reach their worst on record. They may have promised an upgrade but this weekend the Western Australian health minister admitted these urgent upgrades will not start for another year, and this was after the hospital was evacuated on Saturday because of black mould in the system—more excuses and more delays.

Fact check 2: Lakelands Station—the member for Murray-Wellington was also happy to claim credit for the opening of the Lakelands train station. I first heard about this project when doorknocking in north Mandurah in 2016. People were angry that they had bought a home there on the promise of a train station. We started a local campaign to deliver the station—community forums, phone calls, mail outs, leaflet dropping, mobile offices. With the support of the local council, we secured $2 million for the business case and $10 million for the initial build. It was the coalition government that delivered another $52 million for the Lakelands train station, taking our contribution to $64 million of the $80 million project. For years, Mandurah MP David Templeman had sat across from Premier Mark McGowan at the cabinet table without delivering a single dollar in funding for the train station yet here we are two weeks away from opening, only because we campaigned and committed the money. Labor did not want it, and the people of Lakelands and I fought for it and together we have delivered.

Fact check 3: the Mandurah Estuary Bridge. The member for Murray-Wellington claimed that the WA Labor government was funding $110 million to duplicate the Mandurah Estuary Bridge. This is false. The previous federal coalition government agreed to invest $55 million into the bridge duplication in 2021 after a Liberal-led community campaign. WA Labor only committed to match the funding for the project during the 2021 state election campaign.

A final one might be the biggest delusion of Mrs Clarke—that is, fact check No. 4: Pinjarra Heavy Haulage Deviation. This is a project that will get 600 trucks out of the town of Pinjarra every day and onto a new road. We committed $200 million; she is claiming $250 million. She is just plain wrong. We want competence and WA Labor are not delivering it.