Mathias Cormann (WA, Liberal Party, Minister for Finance) Share this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Smith for that very important question. The Perth Freight Link project is a very important project not only for Western Australia; it is a project of national significance. It will help us drive stronger growth and stronger job creation by getting our products to market more efficiently and at a lower cost, more safely and, of course, with less disruption to local communities along the transport routes to Fremantle port. That is why the Australian government have committed nearly a billion dollars as part of this $1.6 billion investment. It finally creates a long overdue, world-class freight link between the strategic industrial areas of Perth and Fremantle port. I know it is enthusiastically supported by Senator Ludlam, who I see is nodding. It provides travel time savings of almost 10 minutes from the Kwinana Freeway to Fremantle port and delivers economic benefits of more than $3.9 billion to the Western Australian economy.

Why is this project so important and why does it contribute to growth and jobs? Because Australia is a trading nation. Western Australia is a trading state with about 10 per cent of the population and it contributes 47 per cent of Australia's merchandise exports. Of course Fremantle port is a critical part of the trading infrastructure of Western Australia and Australia. But the challenge that we have is that, with a growing population and a growing volume of freight being taken from the industrial areas around Perth and the north of Perth to Fremantle port, more and more of that traffic is utilising local arterial roads that are not designed for that purpose. We need to ensure that we get our produce to port and to markets in the most efficient, safest, least-costly way that causes the least amount of disruption to communities across Western Australia.