Jordon Steele-John (WA, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

I would like to speak to the letter responding to the order for the production of documents relating to the Bunbury continental shelf marine survey. In reading this document, relating to a survey undertaken by the University of Western Australia around renewable technologies in our state, I was prompted to reflect on an email that I received from a constituent, raising with me a matter relating to the area surrounding the University of Western Australia and a project proposed for the area involving renewable electric transport. This constituent is involved in a sailing team called Lost at See. Lost at See is a blind sailing team that represents WA at regattas and around the world. They work in association with Sailability, the only WA sailing program for inclusive and adaptive sailing. They sail from Matilda Bay next to UWA and support sailors in our local community through international World Sailing events and the Paralympics.

They're concerned right now about the state government's decision to locate a terminal for electric ferries at Matilda Bay, with the location impacting their training ground on the Swan River. This important sporting club has been told that the inclusive program will now have to stop due to risks to sailors. Those risks are from high-speed ferries moving through the area every 15 to 30 minutes. This is, of course, devastating to the sailors who participate in this program. Sailing is an opportunity for independence and, as they have told me so clearly, an opportunity for joy.

I can say one thing: the Greens are very concerned with the current location of the terminal in Matilda Bay. It has several problems. The existing Nedlands Jetty, further down the river, would to me seem a much better place to locate this piece of infrastructure, especially if the ferry service is extended west in future years. We are calling on the government to do better planning and consultation with the community in relation to this project. Indeed, having looked through the consultation papers, it seems clear that, when people were asked to engage, they said quite definitively that, because of these flow-through impacts, they did not want this terminal to be located in this precise location.

In a similar vein, I'd also like to mention the WA state government's intention to build a motorsport racetrack by 2027 at Burswood Park. This project comes with a hefty price tag—some $217 million—and it will have such a huge environmental impact on Burswood Park. Why is the state government prioritising building a racetrack rather than investing in the urgently needed hospitals, schools and support programs needed for those struggling to find housing. Why is this government spending $217 million of WA taxpayer funds on a racetrack where we have ambulance ramping as we have never seen it before, when we see a housing crisis that is causing so much stress to so many, when there are good programs run by volunteers and by community workers trying to support people and burning themselves out, because there are not enough supports provided by the government? Funding isn't provided, but funding can be found if priorities are rearranged in line with community needs. This is an arrogant decision from the government to press ahead with this project, and it blatantly ignores the community in suburbs like Victoria Park, Burswood and those just across the river in Claisebrook and East Perth.

I want to conclude by giving a thankyou to the Save Burswood Park Alliance and the hundreds of people who turned up to the recent community meeting. I know we will continue to fight to protect their local green space and to push for the reallocation of public funds towards hospitals and towards housing.