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

I move:

That—

(a) the Senate notes:

(i) the budget provides for payment to the Western Australian Government of $925 million for the Perth Freight Link which includes the Roe Highway extension,

(ii) Infrastructure Australia has not assessed this project despite the promise by the Prime Minister (Mr Abbott) that all Commonwealth-funded infrastructure projects worth more than $100 million would undergo a cost-benefit analysis by Infrastructure Australia,

(iii) the Minister has not received a full business case for this project, and

(iv) the modelling for the Roe 8 extension by the proponent, the Western Australian Government, demonstrates negligible impact on passenger traffic or heavy vehicle traffic on local roads; and

(b) there be laid on the table, by the Minister representing the Minister for Infrastructure and Regional Development, no later than noon on Monday, 7 July 2014:

(i) all communications between Western Australia's Minister for Transport, Assistant Minister, Treasurer and Premier and the Federal Government in relation to the project being included in the budget, and

(ii) the cost benefit analysis submitted to the Government that demonstrates a 5:1 benefit to cost ratio and underlies the decision for Commonwealth funding.

I seek leave to make a short statement.

Alan Ferguson (SA, Deputy-President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Leave is granted for one minute.

Scott Ludlam (WA, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to 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.

John Hogg (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The question is that the motion moved by Senator Ludlam be agreed to.