Vince Connelly (Stirling, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Fremantle for bringing the motion today and enabling all of us to talk about our wonderful state of Western Australia. I'm sure those opposite—I have some Western Australian colleagues—would acknowledge all Western Australians and the incredibly hard work they've done during our, thankfully, very short lockdown. Whilst we haven't done it as difficult as some other states—and certainly not as difficult as some other countries in the world—we know that this COVID pandemic is disrupting homes, families, businesses and organisations right around the country. We've had a recent taste of that, so congratulations to all Western Australians and also, of course, to emergency services, police, health workers, aged-care workers and all those who are on the front line. It's particularly pleasing, of course, that, as of today, the formal commencement of the rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine is occurring in our home state of Western Australia and around the country.

To come to the motion today, it also provides an opportunity for me to talk about the Morrison government's commitment to infrastructure projects both in WA and around the country. We should consider, firstly: why is this government investing in infrastructure? Fundamentally, we know that good, well-planned infrastructure can only be built with, often, assistance from federal government and, typically, in partnership with states as well. There are a few things I'll touch on where those partnerships are in place and are certainly delivering for our local community.

It's also part of the reason why the Morrison government has expanded and brought forward a lot of the expenditure related to that $100 billion Infrastructure Investment Program over the period of 10 years. However, this sort of investment is not new. In fact, since coming to government in 2013, this government has actually invested a figure of $15½ billion in infrastructure in Western Australia. And now, in the most recent 2020-21 budget, the Australian government announced $1.1 billion to infrastructure projects in WA. This includes, also, $45 million towards the Stirling bus interchange, with construction due to start in late 2021. The Stirling bus interchange, in my electorate of Stirling, is a great example of cooperation between the state and the federal government, working collaboratively for the benefit of our local community. The project will upgrade the Stirling bus interchange, which is on the Joondalup line, as well as the associated interchange infrastructure. The federal government is spending $45 million of the required $90 million for this project. This will inject tens of millions of dollars into the local community and will, of course, also support a great range of jobs. It will benefit all of those people who use our public transport network to travel daily, whether that be for work, for visiting others in the community or for leisure as well.

Another major project in my electorate of Stirling—and it also borders on Curtin as well—is the Stephenson Avenue extension. The involves an extension of Stephenson Avenue from Scarborough Beach Road through to the Sarich Court intersection. The Morrison government has allocated $82.5 million towards the overall cost of $165 million—with, again, the state partnering for the remainder. This project commenced in August 2020 and is due for completion by the mid to end of 2023. So there are just a couple of examples in Stirling where we have seen the federal government's infrastructure investment really making a difference on the ground.

I also want to talk about the Perth City Deal. A deal was signed on 20 September last year, and it includes $1.5 billion over 10 years, in partnership with the state government, to deliver economic stimulus, jobs and liveability outcomes throughout the Perth CBD. This will create jobs and it will support further private investment. We are investing $414 million in that Perth City Deal to make transformative investments in the joint vision agreed between all three tiers of government.

In summary, whether it has been from an economic, health or any other standpoint, our government's resolve continues to be that we support the Australian public and that we grow our economy through this pandemic recovery period.

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