Dr JENSEN (5:52 PM) —I wish to speak about the road and rail debacle in Western Australia and the fact that just about every aspect of this debacle impacts on my electorate of Tangney. I am speaking of the rail line from Perth to Mandurah, the Peel Deviation, Roe Highway stage 8, the Fremantle Eastern Bypass and associated noise standards. Quite frankly, Tangney residents are sick of it. The whole situation is an absolute mess in WA, and this is of Minister Alannah MacTiernan’s personal making. We have a litany of disastrous decisions by the Gallop government regarding infrastructure development and planning that, as I have said, have had a significant negative impact on the lives of people living in the electorate of Tangney.

Quite a few years ago, the Gallop government made the decision to run the railway line down the middle of the Kwinana Freeway. This was decided more or less on a whim, without adequate planning or consultation, which is situation normal for Minister MacTiernan. As a result, the Mandurah rail link is significantly over budget—and this was predicted years ago. Not only that, but when you have a look at the planning regulations you will see that the route they have taken is illegal. The Labor government lied in parliament, as it is actually a major scheme amendment—not a minor scheme amendment—under the major region scheme guidelines. For example, the noise report did not take account of freeway realignment. What has occurred is that they have the railway running down the centre of the freeway, and they have shifted the lanes of the freeway itself at least 10 metres outwards, so that is obviously closer to the houses. There has been no account taken of this freeway realignment or of the concrete barriers that are adjacent to the railway itself, reflecting the road noise up to the residents.

The EPA was completely inept in studying this. All it considered was the sound levels associated with the railway itself. I view this as the EPA following a political agenda, not serving the public interest. I made a previous speech on the lack of rigour of the environmental impact statement on the Kwinana desalination plant. The EPA really needs to be picking up its act in this regard. Additionally, there was no consideration—in terms of planning and whether this was a major or minor scheme—about the car parking at Leach Highway and South Street in my electorate, which is going to have a considerable effect on not only the noise associated with the railway/freeway but also the traffic volumes coming in from South Street and Leach Highway. Also, the railway and the associated freeway realignment contravene World Health Organisation guidelines on acceptable noise standards. Thus, the WA government could potentially be held criminally negligent, as would be the case in parts of Europe.

Additionally, as I have mentioned previously, the cost of the railway has blown out by hundreds of millions of dollars. This has a flow-on effect. The purpose of the Peel Deviation is to bypass Mandurah, which is one of the fastest growing areas in Australia. The Peel Deviation was put on the backburner. As a result of this and the fact that essentially the planning for the Peel bypass was totally inadequate, once again there has been a blow-out of $110 million in the cost of the bypass. And now the state government expect us, the federal government, to cough up half their blow-out. One thinks of the Dickensian, ‘Please, sir, can I have some more?’ or more demandingly or shrilly, in the case of the Gallop government, ‘Canberra give us our fair share’—a series of ads that they are putting on TV and that they have on billboards. Canberra should only offer a fair share—in other words, half—of the cost that is put by the state government. In fact, the federal government have done better than that. The initial figure given by the state Labor government on the cost of the Peel Deviation was $300 million. We not only offered $150 million but topped it up to $170 million. But now, as I have said, the cost is $450 million and rising again.

These are clearly some of the hallmarks of a totally inept government. Additional examples that significantly affect my electorate are the noncompletion of Roe Highway stage 8 and the deletion of the Fremantle Eastern Bypass despite decades of planning and massive community support. This is the single biggest issue in my electorate. The Fremantle Eastern Bypass was deleted to benefit the re-election of members such as Alan Carpenter. Never mind pork-barrelling in order to help members; this is putting the entire swine herd in a massive transporter.

As a result of the increased noise levels on Leach Highway, South Street and so on, many residents experience noise levels of over 80 dBA, despite WHO guidelines indicating that noise levels of above 40 to 45 dBA at night have negative public health outcomes. Not only is there a cost in the negative impact on health but this also clearly results in the lower productivity of these people in the workplace.

The state government’s lack of concern about the health of residents in my electorate goes further. The political decision to push trucks off Leach Highway to get yet another member re-elected in the last state election—that is, Riverton MLA Tony McRae—means that this traffic will be pushed down to South Street, or Roe Highway when it is completed, back onto the freeway and back up to Leach Highway. This will exacerbate an already untenable position. This demonstrates that Alannah MacTiernan—or perhaps it should be Alannah ‘MacBlowout’—could not plan her way out of a paper bag. However, if there is some political expediency, this Gallop government will do it. Or, if it is expedient to abandon it, it will abandon it, regardless of costs either financial or in terms of community wellbeing.

In summary, we have a state government riding roughshod over sensible planning in an ideological zeal. They are unconcerned about the negative health and economic effects of their ineptitude and negligence. They expect the federal government to bail them out when they are unable to undertake planning and costing 101. I absolutely support the federal government’s position of not simply rolling over and paying for the incompetence of an inept state government. We will not meet half the cost of MacTiernan’s ineptitude. I urge my constituents not to simply let the state government hoodwink them that the federal government is holding out. Hold those responsible to account—the state government. Pressure them not only to be truly responsive to community demands but also to carry out their infrastructure development in a competent manner that includes proper economic costing and taking requisite notice of the health effects of their planning. I also urge them to pressure MacTiernan to adequately deal with noise from these infrastructure debacles where this is causing negative health impacts.