Legislative Council, Wednesday 28 May 2025

Ms FORREST question to MINISTER for INFRASTRUCTURE, Mr VINCENT

I appreciate the response the minister has provided regarding the Bass Highway works between Wynyard and Marrawah. The follow-up question I have from that is: what is the reason for the delay in the release of federal government funds to progress this works, being as it is not a new project at all?

ANSWER

Thank you, Mr President, and thank you to the member for Murchison for the question. It is an ongoing issue. It can be partly budgetary but also, when they are allocated, they have put new systems in place where more detail is sought.

We also have a new level of planning we need to do around environmental issues with all road projects now that wasn't there in the past. We are finding that quite a few different projects are held up with that process.

I can get you some more detail on that as quickly as I can, but there are several reasons why. Some of them are that they release the projects as required over time as they work through them, and they work on that priority list. The allocation of money to a highway may be - I can use the Arthur Highway the $200 million allocated to that on top of the state government money is over a 10 year time frame, not just the release of the whole money at the time.

I can seek for you a more detailed explanation on that section of the road and give you that answer later.

Bass Highway Works Wynyard to Marrawah - Funding Level Commitment

Ms FORREST question to MINISTER for INFRASTRUCTURE, Mr VINCENT

I would appreciate further information on this. My community is very interested in this, and it has been coming a long time. A further question he may be able to answer now, or at a later time if he cannot now: can we be assured that the funding is secure, and we are not going to see a diminution of the funding commitment? With the passage of time and increasing costs in construction of all things, including roads, does this mean that the project could be scaled back?

ANSWER

Mr President, I can speak from prior experience with the South East corridor that yes, the cost does blow out. The commitment remains on most projects. There are various deeds on the size of different projects, but yes, it is a commitment of the state government to make sure those sections of the road are still done.

Ms Forrest - The funding is secure?

Mr VINCENT - The funding is secure.