Source: Prime Minister of Australia
MADELEINE KING, MINISTER FOR RESOURCES: Good morning everyone. Can I say, it’s a delight to have the Prime Minister, my friend Anthony Albanese, back here in Perth for, I think it’s his 40-something-th time. Thanks so much for being here today, Prime Minister. And also to my very good friend, the Premier of Western Australia, Roger Cook, and my other very good friend here today, Deputy Premier, Minister for Infrastructure and many other things, Rita Saffioti. It really is a great announcement that the Prime Minister will take you through in a moment around over $500 million of investment from the Federal Government combining to add up to a total of over $1 billion of federal-state commitments to the road upgrades for the Anketell Road industrial area. I want to take a moment to quickly thank my Federal Cabinet colleague, the Minister for Infrastructure and Transport, Catherine King, who has supported this project. She understands how important this road infrastructure is for Western Australia.
Now, last night I travelled from the airport along the road this morning. I travelled along Anketell Road once again to get here to the city. I visit the Kwinana industrial area very often as the Member for Brand, the powerhouse of Western Australian’s economy for many decades, continuing to this day. This upgrade will change lives. It will change the ability of transport and our truckies to get commodities into that area out. But for all the times, I know the Premier has witnessed this himself as many others have, you can get stuck in traffic at the end of a shift getting out of Kwinana. The many hundreds of workers there can get stuck at the end of the day for around 40 to 50 minutes. It’s endlessly frustrating. So, this is a game changer for all those workers in Kwinana as well as those really important road transport links from that industrial area over toward Abercrombie Road and Rockingham Road. So, I want to thank the Prime Minister for his commitment to Kwinana and to Western Australia and to making their economic powerhouse just even be bigger and better. And so with that, I will hand over to our Prime Minister. Thank you.
< ANTHONY ALBANESE, PRIME MINISTER:
Strong environmental safeguards will remain in place with projects required to meet the Commonwealth’s environmental standards, and all bilateral agreements will be subject to assurance by the new National Environmental Protection Agency, which will commence its work on 1 July this year. This is landmark performance following on from the legislation we passed last year, putting it into practise that view that we had very strongly, which is that our environmental laws were not fit for purpose. They weren’t fit for protecting the environment. They weren’t fit for giving business and industry certainty to progress. And this is about common sense reforms to remove duplication and to deliver environmental outcomes that are clear and consistent. In addition to that, as Madeleine has said, a very excited local member, $1.1 billion for crucial road connections to the proposed future Westport container terminal in Kwinana. Joint funding, $552 million from each level of government, to get this done.
On top of productivity and making a difference, better roads are also safer roads. They make a difference for people, whether they be local residents to get around, or whether it be the workforce to get around. Moving people and freight will be far more efficient as a result of this joint commitment, consistent with the strong partnership that my Government has with the government here in Western Australia to make a difference in recognition that WA is a driving force of our national economy. It will continue to be so for the period ahead and these partnerships are so important moving forward. And I’ll hand over to the Premier and then Minister Saffioti.
< ROGER COOK, PREMIER OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA:
And this funding will deliver the first stage of significant upgrades of Anketell Road. It includes expanding the road to four lanes between Leaf Road and Abercrombie Road and grade separation of Rockingham Road, and it will provide significant support to local traffic. And as Madeleine says, and we’re both very familiar with the congestion that you build around that area, particularly at the beginning and end of shifts. So, this is going to be an important opportunity to ensure that we improve significantly the transport infrastructure which supports the Western Trade Coast, which is a key part of the local economy. And it will support our joint $700 million commitment towards the upgrade of Kwinana freeway, which will be a crucial entry point to the Western Trade Coast as well. To support Westport, I can also announce today that my government will commit a further $118 million in the upcoming budget.
That funding will include funding for land acquisitions to enable road construction, planning for marine import infrastructure, and funding of Westport’s current operations over the next four years. Together, these investments will ensure WA can become a renewable energy superpower by continuing to ensure that we have the necessary industry infrastructure and the transport infrastructure that supports it. Westport will be a national significant project, and it’s one about which we are very proud. It’s a long-term project, work has begun, and we are really starting to see progress. And we’re making progress under the leadership of the Transport Minister and Deputy Premier Rita Saffioti, and I now hand you over to her.
< RITA SAFFIOTI, DEPUTY PREMIER:
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