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Labor vows to scrap Perth Freight Link if it wins election Labor vows to scrap Perth Freight Link if it wins election
(about 2 hours later)
Western Australia’s Labor party has vowed to scrap the controversial and “deeply flawed” Perth Freight Link if it wins the March election. WA Labor has vowed to scrap the “deeply flawed” $1.9bn Perth Freight Link if it wins the March election, but the state government says it’s a reckless move that will cost jobs and throw away federal funding.
The state’s opposition leader, Mark McGowan, said on Wednesday the newly signed Roe 8 contract would be renegotiated immediately upon Labor forming government, freeing up $1.7bn for more worthy “congestion-busting” projects. Western Australia’s opposition leader, Mark McGowan, said on Wednesday that the newly signed Roe 8 contract would be renegotiated immediately upon Labor forming government, freeing up $1.7bn in funding for more worthy “congestion-busting” projects, with $236m to be used on three other projects.
The legal advice Labor received indicated that renegotiating the Roe 8 contract after the election would only have a modest cost to the state. Labor would also start planning an outer harbour at Kwinana to complement Fremantle port, which will reach capacity in 10 years.
McGowan said he wanted to right the wrong made by the premier, Colin Barnett, when he signed the contracts. The legal advice Labor received from the former WA solicitor general Grant Donaldson indicated that renegotiating the Roe 8 contract would incur a modest cost.
“It was a reckless and irresponsible move by the Liberal party and I now call on the premier to do the right thing for once and halt all Roe 8 works until the election,” he said. McGowan described the project as a “monumental waste of money” that made no sense in terms of planning, the economy or the environment, and called on the premier, Colin Barnett, to halt work until March.
“Roe 8 and Perth Freight Link are dud projects. They don’t make planning, economic or environmental sense and it simply doesn’t solve the long-term congestion issues in our suburbs. The Perth Freight Link has become a key election issue and McGowan said the public had a choice between supporting Labor’s comprehensive plan or the Liberals’ short-sighted road to nowhere.
“Our decision is ultimately based on the fact that WA cannot afford wasting billions of dollars on a truck highway that will eventually end at a port that is soon to reach capacity.” But the transport minister, Bill Marmion, said Labor had a “silly idea” and the cost of breaking the contract would be about $40m.
The Perth Freight Link is one of the state’s key election issues and has been part of an ongoing legal battle involving the Save Beeliar Wetlands group, with a hearing scheduled for Friday in the federal court. The deputy premier, Liza Harvey, said McGowan’s plan was his most reckless decision yet and insisted that the Perth Freight Link would ease congestion.
McGowan said the public had a choice between supporting Labor’s comprehensive plan or the Liberals’ short-sighted road to nowhere. Harvey said Labor would be throwing away $1.2bn worth of federal government investment, which is tied to the project, and 3,360 jobs would be lost.
Labor will instead use the money to start work on bringing forward the $145m funding for the Armadale Road dual carriageway between Anstey Road and Tapper Road, and a public transit corridor will also be provided. But McGowan said he expected the commonwealth to back WA Labor, just as it supported the Victorian Labor government’s decision to scrap the East West Link.
A further $166m will go towards building the Armadale Road bridge, linking North Lake Road and Armadale Road over the Kwinana Freeway. “We would expect and in fact demand that the commonwealth respect the will of the people of Western Australia,” he said.
A $95m investment will also be made to build two new overpasses on Wanneroo Road: one at the intersection of Ocean Reef Road and the other at the intersection of Joondalup Drive. Labor would take $236m from the Perth Freight Link to spend on three projects, with some funding already previously assigned, and McGowan said they would create jobs.
With some of the funding already assigned for the three projects, only $236m will need to be reallocated from the Perth Freight Link. This would include bringing forward funding for the $145m Armadale Road dual carriageway between Anstey Road and Tapper Road, $166m for the Armadale Road Bridge, and $95m to build two new overpasses on Wanneroo Road.
The Greens’ Lynn MacLaren said it should not have taken a looming election for the ALP to make its position on the Perth Freight Link clear but she supported the decision.
The City of Cockburn mayor, Logan Howlett, said the city and thousands of Roe 8 protesters were delighted, adding that the council had maintained its strong stance against the wanton destruction of the wetlands and banksia woodlands, and the adverse impact on Indigenous culture and heritage.
The project has also been part of an ongoing legal battle involving the Save Beeliar Wetlands group, with a hearing scheduled for Friday in the federal court, after a lost bid in the high court.