Andrew Hastie (Canning, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Defence) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

For the residents of Lakelands, Madora Bay, San Remo and Meadow Springs, the wait is almost over. In 10 days the long awaited Lakelands train station will finally open. This piece of infrastructure is the result of years of tireless advocacy from the North Mandurah community—a community who fought hard for this project despite opposition and criticism from WA Labor. Lakelands and its surrounds is home to more than 20,000 people, mostly young families. Lakelands has a number of schools, with another planned to open in nearby Madora Bay in 2025.

This Liberal funded station was planned before the construction of the Mandurah train line and will fill a 23-kilometre gap between Mandurah and Warnbro. It will be a time-saver and opportunity-maker for locals, making the lives of many a whole lot easier. One Lakelands resident, Tony, told me he would regain 90 minutes of valuable time with his family each day once the station opens, because locals like him will no longer be forced to waste time travelling south before heading back north.

The Lakelands train station didn't happen overnight. In fact, some residents have been waiting decades for this station to arrive. I first heard their frustrations while door-knocking eight years ago. Their message was clear. They were promised a train station, and they were upset that it hadn't been developed. When the suburb was developed nearly two decades ago, residents were sold lots on the promise of a train station. They were told that they would have access to public transport at their fingertips, meaning no sitting in traffic at peak hour or putting up with the challenges of a congested train station in central Mandurah.

But more than a decade later there was still no train station in Lakelands, and they were angry that Labor wasn't listening. Their wishes were being ignored by their state Labor MPs, so together with my community we built a strong grassroots campaign to secure funding. What did WA Labor do? They relentlessly opposed this. The McGowan government was intent on building a station at Karnup instead of at Lakelands, and this was despite then Minister for Planning and Infrastructure, Alannah MacTiernan, stating back in 2008: 'We made it very clear in the master plan that future stations would be built and that one of the stations would be Lakelands. We stand by that.' Ms MacTiernan went on to say: 'I agree absolutely. I can understand that the communities of Lakelands and Madora Bay would like a new railway station. It would be very good for them.'

Indeed, that same year the member for Mandurah, David Templeman, said: 'Frankly, Mandurah needs a new train station. My preferred location is the locality of Lakelands.' It's worth noting that, for years, the member for Mandurah sat across from Premier Mark McGowan at the cabinet table without securing a single dollar for the station. That is not something the community will forget. Labor's opposition to the train station continued with transport minister and recently factionally anointed Labor deputy leader Rita Saffioti mocked federal Liberal support for the project as 'embarrassing' and a 'shallow commitment'. This is extraordinary, given the former coalition government delivered $64 million—80 per cent of total funding—to get this project off the ground. Others in Labor dismissed it as 'the train station no-one needs'. The evidence is clear. Labor had to be dragged kicking and screaming every step of the way. It's embarrassing that they now want to take credit for a project they fought so hard against.

Labor's late change of mind only happened because locals refused to back down. So let me say this very clearly. If it was up to Labor, if it was not for the community's hard-fought campaign, we would not be opening this train station this month. As a community we fought hard. Faced with a united local campaign and the $64 million that I secured from the former coalition government, Labor had no choice but to come to the table. We made them listen. They didn't want the train station, but we are delivering it in ten days time. I'm very excited by it. I grew up in Sydney, and I lived three minutes from a train station. My parents put me on a train at 10 years old, and I still remember the freedom I felt using public transport. So for many kids, particularly in Mandurah, and for many people who waste time and lose a lot of time sitting in traffic and congestion, this train station is a game-changer. I fought for it, I represented you here and I'm glad that, together, we are delivering it.