Press conference - Kenwick, Perth

MATT KEOGH: …Intermodal Terminal in Kenwick in the south eastern suburbs of Perth. This is an excellent new piece of infrastructure that’s been contributed to by both the Commonwealth and state government that, for my local community here, is not only going to see great job generation but improved traffic congestion – the safety and time of journeys through our local community, especially on our major highways through here in Perth’s south east. And it’s really wonderful to be joined today by Catherine King, the Federal Minister for Transport and Infrastructure, as well as the Deputy Premier of Western Australia and State Minister for Transport. A great demonstration of how the Albanese Government and the Cook State Labor Government are working together with industry to develop important infrastructure connections in Western Australia, here in Perth supporting the local community and making sure that Western Australia continues to go from strength to strength. I’m now going to hand over to Catherine King. 

CATHERINE KING: Thanks. Thanks, Matt. It’s terrific to be here with Matt, with Stephen, but also my good friend and colleague, Deputy Premier Rita Saffioti, who we work very closely together on infrastructure projects such as this. 

This is a terrific project. It is delivering more freight on rail. We know that WA is really punching above its weight when it comes to getting trucks off our road and freight onto rail, increasing the share of freight that is going by rail here in this state, and that can only be good. Can be good for people who are driving on local roads – getting those trucks off the roads – but also delivering freight more efficiently across this state and interstate as well. 

This $25 million intermodal project here really is a game changer for the way in which freight moves around, not just in the Port of Fremantle but, of course, will be really critical in the new economic development – the new project of Westport that will be coming to Western Australia over the course of the coming years. Getting more freight on rail means less congestion, fewer trucks on our roads, better for road safety, but also better for productivity and also better for our climate, because we know rail is a much more efficient and effective way of moving our freight around this country. We’re very pleased to have partnered with the Western Australian Government on this project. 

I’m going to hand over to Rita now, and then we’ll be happy to take some questions.

RITA SAFFIOTI: Thank you very much. Look, moving trucks off roads, putting freight on rail has been a major commitment of ours. In 2016-17, 15 per cent of the freight was going on rail, we’ve increased that to 20 per cent, and this type of intermodal will help increase the amount of freight on rail up to 30 per cent. 

We’re doing that through the development of intermodals, and this is a key part of our strategy. As I said, not only does it make sense for the existing Fremantle port, but it also fits in with our plan for Westport. We’ve already seen 107,000 truck movements off our roads since coming into government, and that’s one of the reasons we want to keep moving forward, is to get more trucks off roads and more freight on rail. As I said, it makes a lot of sense across all different parts. 

This project has been worked on for many years from industry and also from government. As I said, there’s been planning and the delivery of the freight and logistics park, the intermodal, also the art facility which we moved from Bellevue, it’s been a significant project to support the Western Australian community. More jobs in the region and, importantly, more trucks off roads. We’ve already achieved our target of a 20 per cent, but we want to now move further. This intermodal will support thousands of trucks off our roads and will continue safer and less congested roads. 

MATT KEOGH: We’ve got Murray Cook from Arc, who’s just going to say a few brief words as well. 

MURRAY COOK: The Kenwick Intermodal Terminal is a fantastic example of the work that can be done between industry and federal and state governments to provide a facility that will see rail modal share increase from 20 per cent towards 30 per cent, and a long time into the future up to 50 per cent. It is a fantastic and genuine financial and social benefit for the West Australian community to see trucks off road and containers moving by rail. And Arc Infrastructure is extremely pleased to be able to do this project with both federal and state governments and industry, and we look forward to many future rail projects across the state’s freight rail network. Thank you.

MATT KEOGH: Guys, just before Murray finishes, any questions for Murray about today’s announcement? No. All good. Any questions for Minister Saffioti?

JOURNALIST: Minister, do you have an ask on the Federal Government ahead of today’s road safety summit? Are you planning to ask them for money? 

RITA SAFFIOTI: Well, we’ve partnered very strongly with the Federal Government on the road safety program and that is widening our roads, having audible edge lines, audible centre lines, widening the shoulders. So, we’ve continued that partnership. More recently, there was more funding injected by the Federal Government in relation to road safety, and we’ll continue to work there with them on road safety improvements across our network. 

JOURNALIST: What’s your response to a Liberal senator suggestion yesterday that the GST be used as a way of enforcing housing targets for the states? 

RITA SAFFIOTI: Well, I think it’s pretty clear that Peter Dutton and the Liberal Party don’t support the GST deal for WA. And these recent comments, again, reinforce that the Federal Liberal Party would work to tear down the GST deal. I’ll say another point too, across the state it’s actually the Liberal Party that’s blocking housing developments, and the National Party. Both working to overturn our reforms and wanting to block housing developments to support housing in Western Australia. So, there’s two fronts – the Federal Liberal Party wanting to tear up the GST deal and, of course, in the state a Liberal Party and a National Party that want to rip away power from the state government and block housing projects across the state. 

JOURNALIST: Is it a form of inter-governmental blackmail?

RITA SAFFIOTI: Well, it’s just plain wrong. And threatening the state is not the right thing to do and, as I said, look– the Federal Liberal Party has shown he doesn’t support the GST deal. And having these comments just in the last 24 hours shows that they would tear up the GST deal and undermine the work that’s been done for many years to get the GST deal in place. 

JOURNALIST: Minister, Oasis. Any plans to lure one of the biggest bands in the world to Perth? 

RITA SAFFIOTI: Look, you know, it’s– Oasis are very, very big as we know, and the excitement already about the existing tickets they’ve gone on sale has been incredible. Many people from my era love the band, there’s a lot of love for that band. But we’ll continue to, in a sense, monitor what’s happening, and see what’s happening in relation to overseas tours and any tours into Australia.

JOURNALIST: Are you engaged in any conversations, though, with Live Nation and with Oasis?

RITA SAFFIOTI: We’re monitoring the situation to make sure that we know what’s happening in relation to the Oasis tours, so we’re– our agencies are monitoring the situation to see if they are coming to Australia and what possibility there would be to have them here in WA.

JOURNALIST: There is a bit of a budget, though, isn’t there, to maybe lure them here– to get them here?

RITA SAFFIOTI: Well they do– I think it would be– look, sorry. I don’t know exactly the financial situation in relation to what’s been put forward, but of course other states and WA would be in the same situation. Our budget settings are stronger than other states, and we’ve seen the success of many of our events. We’ve seen the success of Coldplay, international football, WWE, UFC, and I think Western Australians are getting quite used to having major events in this state. And we’ll continue to monitor all different types of concerts and events to see what we can continue to bring to Western Australia.

JOURNALIST: Sorry, has an offer been made? Has an offer been made? A financial …

RITA SAFFIOTI: Not that I know of, no.

JOURNALIST: Do you have concerns that further delays to nature positive laws could result in more uncertainty and stifle investment in WA?

RITA SAFFIOTI: Well, I think from what I understand is that the Federal Government is looking at the proposals and making sure that they don’t impact developments in this state, and I think that’s a good thing. So, in relation to the delays, I think that’s taken in more– sorry, that’s having– making sure they consider more about what’s happening in this state and making sure it doesn’t impact negatively on the development of new jobs and opportunities in this state.

JOURNALIST: For the third tranche to be put off until after the federal election, which doesn’t even have a date yet, I mean, it’s– the can’s getting kicked down the road, isn’t it?

RITA SAFFIOTI: Well, I think if they’re undertaking more consultation and considering more the impact it would have in Western Australia, I think that’s a positive thing.

JOURNALIST: Has a consultation already happened? I mean, the views are [indistinct] in WA …

RITA SAFFIOTI: [Talks over] Well, I think further consultation to make sure that any proposal takes into consideration, first of all, what the state is doing in relation to its environmental agencies and its progress, and also making sure that the projects in Western Australia and new jobs and opportunities aren’t impacted by the new laws.

JOURNALIST: The state’s view on live sheep exports was ignored. Are you confident the state’s view on nature positive laws won’t be ignored by the Federal Government?

RITA SAFFIOTI: From what I’ve seen, in relation to the comments from the Prime Minister, is that he’s very much taken into consideration any– the impacts of such laws on Western Australia to make sure that we continue to drive the new developments, the new projects that create jobs and opportunities, help federal and state budgets, and really make sure Western Australia continues to be the economic powerhouse of the nation.

MATT KEOGH: I have two more questions for Minister Saffioti, guys.

JOURNALIST: You made a number of comments in your Bush Summit speech about the GST and allocation of federal funding. Are you planning on raising that with the Treasurer when you– I assume you’re meeting with him?

RITA SAFFIOTI: Well, there’s the key issue is the Commonwealth Grants Commission review, and this is the key point. So what I raised in the Bush Summit, for example, with some of the absurdities I believe exist in the Commonwealth Grants Commission formula. There’s a major review in 2026 by the Productivity Commission, and we’ll be working very hard to highlight some of what we think are the absurdities in relation to that. For example, in relation to how they allocate costs for managing national parks. They do that on a population share, not a per hectare share. In relation to royalties, how we’re penalised because we have iron ore while coal royalties are given a far more generous assumption. So, we’re going to be working, in relation to the Productivity Commission review, about how we can highlight and change some of those formulas and equations which have penalised Western Australians for many, many years to make sure we have a proper Commonwealth Grants Commission review that really takes into account the serious costs of delivering WA. For example, I think we would all argue that the Kimberley is far more remote than a town 300 kilometres away from Hobart – so currently that’s what’s being considered. That’s what we’re being judged on. Our towns in the Kimberley are being treated on a cost basis as the same as a town a few hundred kilometres outside of Hobart.

MATT KEOGH: Last question, guys, for Minister Saffioti. We’re all good?

JOURNALIST: Back on this project, how much jobs is it going to generate in the South East corridor?

RITA SAFFIOTI: Well, I think it’s already generating hundreds of jobs, and it will continue to drive more jobs. Now, the key point here is not only the intermodal, the fact that there’s a– relocated Arc Infrastructure maintenance sheds, and they were relocated through the assistance of the State Government from Bellevue, because of the Bellevue manufacturing. So, we’ve got the Arc Infrastructure maintenance programs here. We have the Intermodal. We’ve got the– sorry, we’ve got the existing freight logistics park, and there’s plans to expand that park too. So, this has got to continue to create hundreds, if not thousands of jobs into the future.

JOURNALIST: And one last question, sorry. Roe Highway, can you tell us– what a nightmare. I mean, has it been an annoyance for a long, long time, hasn’t it?

RITA SAFFIOTI: Well, Roe Highway does carry a lot of freight east-west. It’s a key road that carries freight across our suburbs. And that’s why putting more containers onto rail will really reduce congestion and improve safety. We’ve already seen some great success in relation to removing the trucks off roads. And in relation to Leach Highway, some of our– we undertake assessments in relation to the amount of trucks, the average speed of trucks, and undertake all these congestion assessments. What we’ve been able to do is stabilise some of the truck movements on Leach Highway, but more generally on Roe Highway, having more trucks on rail will reduce the amount of truck movements. It’s as simple as that, and that’s why investing in these types of projects helps the entire community. And we’ll continue to subsidise the containers on the rail to make sure we continually incentivise putting more trucks on rail. And we’re also working at the other end, at Fremantle Port too, how we can simplify that– those movements to make sure it’s easier to lift a container off the ship onto rail rather than onto trucks.

MATT KEOGH: Thanks, guys. Questions for Minister King?

JOURNALIST: Thanks, Minister.

RITA SAFFIOTI: Thank you.

CATHERINE KING: Thank you.

JOURNALIST: Yes, you went through some pretty impressive stats during your speech. Can you tell us how beneficial this will be for taking trucks off roads and figures and that sort of thing, if you’ve got them still in the top of your head? [Laughs]

CATHERINE KING: Yeah. Well, we know that a train can take 96 containers, and that really means, if you think about how many containers go on trucks, a significant reduction in the amount of trucks on our roads. So, getting more of those containers onto rail really is a more efficient way of moving our freight around this country.

JOURNALIST: The national road toll is climbing quite sharply. We’ve got a bad year here in WA as well. Is there more money coming for road safety measures across the country?

CATHERINE KING: Yeah, well, obviously any death on our roads is an absolute and utter tragedy. It doesn’t just impact the family that are devastated by losing someone, or of course, we also see more people being injured on our roads as well. It affects the whole community. And so, it’s great to see the WA Government being proactive, calling a road summit and trying to work through what’s actually been happening here in Western Australia. But we’ve been partnering with the Western Australian Government for some time now on a specific road safety package which looks at shoulder sealing, rumble strips, those treatments of roads that really does improve that regional road safety. There was an additional $54 million for that program in the Budget.

But of course, the other thing that we’ve done is doubled Roads to Recovery funding to every local government in Western Australia. And that means those local roads that people are taking their kids to school on, going to work on, going about their daily business, that every council in Western Australia now has double the amount of money progressively to be able to spend on those local roads, and they’re the roads, predominantly, we all drive on every single day. We’ve also, of course, increased the amount of money that is in the Infrastructure Investment Program; for black spots funding so that funding people can apply for treatment of those really dangerous and difficult intersections, as well as making sure we’ve got more money available for that black spot road funding program.

But again, we want to– we’ll work with every state and territory government. We want to see the road toll come down and continue to work with state and territory governments on how we might do that together.

JOURNALIST: Given concern over what’s happened at the Blayney gold mine, do the Nature Positive laws need to be resolved sooner rather than later?

CATHERINE KING: So, what– of course, we’re trying to do with the Nature Positive laws is two things really: make sure that we have good protections in place for protecting nature, the nature that we all go on camping holidays in, we recreate in, ensure that we’re protecting our endangered species; but at the same time, continuing that incredibly important economic development in every state and territory. So, getting that balance right is a really complex thing to do. And so, really, what we’re trying to do with the third tranche of the Nature Positive laws is continue that consultation to get that balance right. And of course, different states and territories are in different positions around that. We recognise just how important it is in terms of the development here in the West that we get that balance right, and that’s why we’ll continue to consult on those laws.

JOURNALIST: If it becomes a compliance only body, though, what’s the point?

CATHERINE KING: Well, again, what we’re trying to do is get that balance right between protecting and ensuring that we continue to have really great places for people to be able to camp in, to recreate in, and protecting the nature that we all love, at the same time is ensuring we continue to have that economic development here, not only in the West, but across the country.

JOURNALIST: So how long do you need to get the balance right?

CATHERINE KING: Again, we will continue to work and do that consultation to get that balance right.

JOURNALIST: Is it fair that state governments are shouldered with 50-50 cost splits on infrastructure projects when in the past it’s been 80-20?

CATHERINE KING: Look, absolutely. We announced over a year ago that we would be moving forward with new projects on a 50-50 basis, because what has happened over time is the Commonwealth is now investing much more, much more in public transport projects like Metronet here over in the West, like the Suburban Rail Loop over in the South, and many of the rail projects. And they are big infrastructure developments, including Sunshine Coast direct rail over in Queensland. So, we’re putting more money into those sorts of projects, and now we’re also asking the states to share the costs and the risks of ensuring that we are able to do more with the dollars that we have.

The Commonwealth’s share of investment in infrastructure has grown. There’s been no cuts to infrastructure funding at all. It’s $120 billion infrastructure pipeline over 10 years. It’s now grown to $125 billion. That money will continue to be there. What we’re wanting to do is have more projects in regional areas and share that risk with all of the states and territories going forward.

JOURNALIST: WA road funding does peter out over the forward estimates in the last budget. Why is that?

CATHERINE KING: What actually happens with the forward estimates is they’re much more aligned to delivery of projects. And as we know, there is a significant capacity constraint happening right the way across the country at the moment, and many states and territories have had to smooth the pipeline of infrastructure investments and the forward estimates reflect that. But the Infrastructure Investment Program has grown now to $125 billion across the 10-year pipeline that it is.

JOURNALIST: Do you agree with Jim Chalmers’ view that the RBA’s interest rates are smashing the economy?

CATHERINE KING: Well, our view very firmly is that the RBA is independent of government and it needs to, obviously, take careful consideration of what is happening in the economy. Our view, firmly, is that we are doing the lifting that we need to do as a government to ensure that we’ve got the settings right in terms of trying to get inflation down. It’s why our cost of living relief is really very focused on trying to relieve pressure on households. But at the same time, we really do know that interest rates are causing significant concern to people and the RBA needs to take that into account as it makes its deliberations.

JOURNALIST: By telling the RBA to take that into account, aren’t you undermining its independence? 

CATHERINE KING: Not at all. We’re expressing a view, as governments can do.

JOURNALIST: Just on the state and federal, you say you told them a year ago that it’s 50-50, but New South Wales and Victoria are unhappy, according to the ABC’s reporting. Is it proof that the most dangerous thing in Australia is being between a state government and a bucket of money?

CATHERINE KING: Oh, certainly. I really enjoy the projects that we invest in with state and territory governments. These are partnership agreements where we share the risks of those projects. We share and are co-investors. And of course, states then go about delivery of that project– of those projects. And that Infrastructure Investment Program pipeline has increased over the time that Labor has been in office. And what we’ve been focused on is making sure we can actually deliver projects, making sure we understand cost pressures that are happening with state and territory projects, invest in those cost pressures, but also continue that significant investment in new projects.

The pipeline I inherited, frankly, was an absolute and utter mess under the Liberal Party. And you’ve already seen what the Liberal Party would do to infrastructure when you actually look at the massive cost blow-outs, the underfunded projects that I had to deal with when I came to government. We now see that Peter Dutton is a significant threat to the economy of Western Australia, with the comments they have made about the GST. The GST provides over $35 billion worth of federal funding into the economy of Western Australia. The Albanese Labor Government has been absolutely steadfast that we support the deal in terms of the GST and of course, the No Worse Off deal as well that we’ve stretched out for another three years. But Peter Dutton is absolutely and utterly a threat to the economy of Western Australia, with the threat– with the comments they’ve made about the GST.

JOURNALIST: Thanks so much.

CATHERINE KING: Thank you.