Michael Keenan (Stirling, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to inform the House that the Western Australian state Labor government is, astonishingly, about to turn down $10 million of Commonwealth money to fix a black spot in my electorate of Stirling. For many year years, the state Labor government and the federal Labor Party have promised to fix this black spot, where Reid Highway intersects with Mirrabooka Avenue. For years they have refused to live up to their responsibilities. The excuse they have been using is that the Commonwealth government has refused to meet them in providing this funding.

This is a 100 per cent state government road, and it is a 100 per cent state government responsibility. But, in desperation to get this done for my constituents—because people are being injured and killed at this black spot on a regular basis—I lobbied heavily for the government to provide some funding. So, in this year’s budget, $10 million has been allocated to fix this black spot. You might think that the state Labor government would say, ‘That’s fantastic; the Commonwealth government are now helping us to meet our responsibilities.’ But, no, apparently they are not going to match the Commonwealth’s funding offer. This is despite the fact that, for years, they have been promising my constituents that they would fix this black spot and build an overpass.

I would like to give the House some examples of where they have promised this. During the February 2005 election campaign, the member for Yokine, Bob Kucera, distributed a flyer headlined ‘Traffic black spot solution: Bob Kucera delivers overpass construction commitment’. In the brochure it said:

The Gallop Labor government has thrown its support behind the construction of an overpass at the intersection of Reid Highway and Mirrabooka Avenue—one of the state’s worst traffic black spots.

There is a picture of Bob Kucera at this overpass bragging about how he secured the money to build it. Of course, there were some carefully worded weasel words within the paragraph. It said that the Commonwealth government would need to find matching funds for this overpass to go ahead and that the state government were not prepared to fulfil their responsibility without the commitment from the Commonwealth.

In March 2006, Bob Kucera spoke to the Business News, which is a local paper in Western Australia. When asked why no overpass had actually been built, even though he had issued a brochure promising to do it, Bob Kucera said:

Without a commitment from the federal government for half the cost, it would be pretty difficult for the state government to do it.

If they come to the party tomorrow, there is a very strong case to get on with it.

Yet, since the commitment has been made by the federal government for $10 million, the member for Yokine has said absolutely nothing. It turns out now that the state Labor government are not going to accept this funding offer. They have until tomorrow to accept it; otherwise it will be spent elsewhere.

Indeed, the federal Labor party have expressed their concern to my constituents about this particular black spot. I have a brochure here. The member for Melbourne was so concerned about this black spot that he went down to have a look at it with Bob Kucera. This is a brochure that was issued to constituents in my electorate. It reads:

Labor’s federal shadow finance minister, Lindsay Tanner, was in Stirling recently to find out about the Mirrabooka Avenue-Reid Highway traffic black spot. At the 2004 election federal Labor to work with the state government to build this overpass and save lives. Local people need this black spot fixed but the Howard government just will not listen. He is so concerned about it.

If the member for Melbourne is so concerned about this black spot in my electorate then why won’t he pick up the phone to his state Labor counterpart in Western Australia, the Minister for Planning and Infrastructure, Alana McTiernan, and ask her to accept the Commonwealth’s money and fulfil her commitment—and I challenge him to do that.

In the 2004 election a brochure was issued to my electorate which says ‘Government to fix WA’s worst black spot: the Reid Highway and Mirrabooka Avenue intersection’. This is a Labor party brochure put out by Jann McFarlane, who was then the federal member for Stirling. A letter she wrote to my constituents headlined, ‘Labor to fix Mirrabooka Avenue-Reid Highway Black Spot’ said:

A Latham Labor government has pledged $6 million to build an overpass. This project is strongly supported by the state Labor government and both governments will work together to deliver this vital project.

Yet never once, in all this bleating about this black spot, has one dollar been allocated by any relevant government to actually build this overpass. The first time it will ever happen will be after the 2007 budget, yet the state Labor government have said that they are not going to match this— (Time expired)