Matt O'Sullivan (WA, Liberal Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Fisheries and Forestry) Share this | Hansard source

I just walked in and heard the remarks of Senator Chisholm. I heard him talk about the investment in infrastructure around Stirling and Garden Island. The problem, though, which any Western Australian and anyone in the area will know, is that it's all well and good and it is important investment and infrastructure on Garden Island, but what we need is the enabling infrastructure in and around that area. We've got significant bottlenecks when it comes to traffic getting onto and off of the island. You've got what is essentially just a goat track once you get across the causeway into Rockingham, and the road literally runs through suburban residential streets. Now, we've got all of this increased traffic—trucks and all the expected increase in traffic that's going to come as a result of AUKUS—and we're not seeing any progress at all for what is necessary. The truth is that this is something that has been talked about for a long time. In fact, the Hepburn-Stephenson plan was set out in the 1950s and actually designated what's called the Garden Island Highway, and there is still an easement that goes through the area that is able to be built up as a significant road to enable traffic to get in and off the island. Again, this government has done nothing with it. They announced a feasibility study in 2025. This is something that we've known about for a long time. The feasibility study should have already been done, and what we should be seeing right now are the graders and the road construction crew building the necessary infrastructure that's in and around that area.

In addition, further up the coast is the Henderson precinct. Again, there were big announcements about what's going on and the important investment of what needs to happen there on the land side of what's necessary to support the submarines, shipping and the defence precinct there at Henderson. But, again, the enabling infrastructure that's necessary to allow that to reach its full vision is not happening. You've got the Russell Road, Cockburn Road and Stock Road intersection. Again, that is a very significant bottleneck. You only need to go down there early in the morning on any day of the week—these operations run seven days a week—and you will see the significant congestion that is there with all the tradie traffic going in and out of Henderson already. That is without the $12 million of investment at Henderson. The government needs to step up to the plate here. They need the enabling infrastructure.

I'll finish with this point: AUKUS needs a social licence as well. The community impacted the most by all of the development and all the opportunities that are going on are in and around those areas of Garden Island and Henderson. Those communities ought not be frustrated by what's going on in their local community. They should be seeing the opportunity, because there are wonderful opportunities, particularly for young people to take up the trades, the skills and the jobs that are going to be required for decades ahead. They should be excited about it, but they're frustrated by the lack of enabling infrastructure that's necessary—the pressure that's been put on housing. Unfortunately, we're not seeing enough.

Premier Roger Cook is here, talking to the government. He and the state government need to step up, with all the planning and everything that needs to happen, and actually work together with the federal government to actually get stuff happening, because there's not enough happening. We've just got feasibility studies and planning that really should have been done over the last few years and is only now commencing. It's not good enough. I asked questions about this in estimates just a few weeks ago, and we heard that it's only just commenced. It's not good enough. They've got to hurry up and move on because the social licence is absolutely essential for this project, AUKUS, to realise its full potential.