Scott Ludlam (WA, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

This motion refers to the Roe 8 Highway extension, which is proposing to throw four lanes of tarmac through the Beeliar Wetlands and the suburbs immediately south of Perth. It will create an extraordinary freight bottleneck in North Fremantle, just outside the Perth container port. It has had no published cost-benefit analysis, a business plan has not been done and an environmental impact assessment has not been concluded. Yet this government, the one that tells us and has told us constantly for more than a month that they are in the throes of a budget emergency, is proposing to hurl $925 million of taxpayers' money at a deeply unpopular project. The documents which the Senate will seek to be provided by the Minister for Infrastructure and Regional Development relate to the correspondence between the state and Commonwealth governments before this reckless announcement was made by Prime Minister Abbott and the actual cost-benefit analysis that was submitted, which apparently demonstrates a five to one benefit cost ratio.