Andrew Hastie (Canning, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

This morning I rise to address a matter of public record. On Saturday morning an article was published by the ABC on the funding of Lakelands train station. The journalist reported that plans for a proposed station further north in Karnup had been switched to build the Lakelands train station. The article said:

Karnup, in a state Labor electorate, looked likely to be built first, courtesy of a 2017 election promise by Mark McGowan.

That is, until an announcement in November last year by Prime Minister Scott Morrison that his Government would contribute $64 million towards a new $80 million station at Lakelands, in the electorate held by Federal Liberal MP Andrew Hastie.

In sharing the article to Twitter, the journalist who wrote it summarised her article by saying: 'How political games can have a dramatic impact on people's lives.' This mirrors the narrative pushed by the member for Brand, who has accused this government of impropriety. In fact, the member for Brand shared the ABC's story to her Facebook page soon after it was published on Saturday morning. But an important piece of information was not declared by the ABC in the article. It is understood that the journalist who wrote this story is married to the member for Brand's media adviser.

The ABC didn't seek comment from me before publishing this story. Had it done so, I would have taken the opportunity to talk about my community's efforts to fund and build Lakelands train station. Many residents of Lakelands have waited a decade for this promised station to be built. I first met some of them while doorknocking in 2016. Since that time I have campaigned for their interests. Hundreds of houses were doorknocked. Thousands of leaflets and letters were distributed. Community meetings were held. One passionate resident even staged a hunger strike for Lakelands train station, and that man is now a councillor for the City of Mandurah. If asked, I would have told the ABC about my years of lobbying government to fund Lakelands station. Three different infrastructure ministers have visited Lakelands to see the proposed site, listen to councillors and hold community meetings. I have argued for this station in 10 different speeches to parliament since 2017. The article suggests that Karnup had a longstanding commitment attached to it and Lakelands did not. This is wrong. The federal government committed $2 million to a business case in 2018, and Malcolm Turnbull, the then Prime Minister, came to Lakelands for the announcement. By the 2019 election the federal government had already committed $35 million towards building Lakelands train station. Labor had committed nothing. The choice was clear. Labor lost in Lakelands with a 5.7 per cent swing against them. Had the ABC called, I would have pointed to the project's public support from the state member for Mandurah, a WA cabinet minister. The ABC mentioned that Karnup is in a state Labor seat but failed to mention that Lakelands is also in a state Labor seat. Is the ABC suggesting that the federal government is pork-barrelling for Minister Templeman's re-election or is it suggesting he has no influence upon the decisions of the state—

Rob Mitchell (McEwen, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

In accordance with standing order 193, the time for members' constituency statements has concluded.