The McGowan Labor Government has secured additional Commonwealth funding for Western Australian road and METRONET infrastructure in the last Budget before the Federal Election.
The funding boost responds to a number of infrastructure project funding requests consistently put forward by the McGowan Government over the last two years.
The State Government has been keen to put forward as many proposals as possible, and to develop business cases and funding submissions for projects that had previously not been on the radar.
Part of the new funding will go towards topping up Commonwealth contributions or matching State funding for projects such as METRONET level crossings, Tonkin Highway upgrades in the south-eastern suburbs, Mandurah train station multi-storey car park, Albany Ring Road, Karratha-Tom Price Road and Bunbury Outer Ring Road.
Other funding has also been put towards projects identified by the State Government, such as replacing the Fremantle Traffic Bridge and developing the business case for the Outer Harbour through Westport.
The McGowan Government continues to work hard to submit business cases for each project, which has helped provide preliminary cost estimates to secure funds in some cases.
As stated by Transport Minister Rita Saffioti:
“This announcement shows our proactive approach to working with the Federal Government on infrastructure has worked.
“Before the McGowan Government took office, Western Australia was mired by weak Federal-State relations and lacked a coherent transport plan.
“The previous government simply did not do the work to get the projects funded.
“Under the McGowan Government, Western Australia has a strong plan for METRONET and roads, and we’ve successfully leveraged more Commonwealth funding as a result.
“Western Australia now has 15 nationally significant projects or initiatives on Infrastructure Australia’s Infrastructure Priority List, compared to just seven in 2016.”
