Liberals' sad history on Perth to Bunbury Highway

2/10/07
The State Opposition and Federal Governments' attempts to claim credit for the State Labor Government's Perth to Bunbury Highway were an insult to the electorate's intelligence, Planning and Infrastructure Minister Alannah MacTiernan said today.
"During its eight years in office, the State Liberals did nothing to get this vital road project up and running and have provided not a skerrick of support since," Ms MacTiernan said.
"As we promised during the election, when Labor came to power we started acquiring the land for the new highway and rezoning it so the project could get started.
"Then it took us four years to get some support from the Federal Government which eventually committed to the project but did so kicking and screaming all the way.
"We only received that commitment when the 2004 federal election was right on the Federal Government's doorstep.
"Right from our first letter to the Federal Government in 2001, we projected a start date of 2006 and we have achieved that date.
"While the Federal Government has promised $2.3billion to fully fund a similar project in Queensland they are only prepared to provide $170million of the total $631million of this project."
The Minister said that road works on the Perth to Bunbury Highway were ahead of schedule and there was no doubt that, as promised, the highway would be operational in 2009.
"The highway will boost the efficiency of the north-south road network and ensure regional transport routes are quicker and safer," Ms MacTiernan said.
"When completed, the project will reduce the travel time between Safety Bay and Lake Clifton by up to 34 minutes."
The Minister said the new Perth to Bunbury Highway was a very complex and massive project with 70.5 kilometres of road, 12 bridges and five underpasses.
"The Opposition has demonstrated, yet again, that it has no idea about the complexities - in terms of design, construction and inflationary pressures - associated with major infrastructure projects in our State," she said.
"If it wasn't for this Labor Government, the highway would never be built."
Minister's office - 9213 6400