Bill Shorten has backed state opposition leader Mark McGowan’s Metronet plan, which will potentially see Mandurah linked to Thornlie through a new train line and a new station in Karnup.
Mr McGowan announced the new Karnup station in September last year, following calls from residents for a more accessible train link between Mandurah and Rockingham.
The federal opposition leader announced, if elected, the federal Labor government would `pledge $1 billion to the project – $760 million until 2020, with a further $240 million available over the subsequent two years.
During a doorstop on Monday morning, Mr Shorten said the project would alleviate the growing traffic congestion in and around Perth, including between Perth and Mandurah.
“All the people who come from the north and the south, they know the congestion is one of the great frustrations which stops people spending more time with their families,” he said.
“Congestion obviously leads to greater costs for business.
“Only Labor has a plan to put the public transport needs of Perth first.”
Mr Shorten also said the plan would create jobs and release workforce pressure caused by the faltering mining industry.
“Everybody knows that WA's been hit by the downturn in the mining boom and we need to see real jobs, real jobs created to help the community transition from the peak of the mining boom to a post-mining boom state economy,” he said.
State Labor leader Mark McGowan said Perth public transport had been ignored too long by the Liberal Party at a state and federal level.
“Infrastructure Australia has made it clear that Perth will have seven of the ten most congested roads in the country by 2031 if we don’t start to do something,” he said.
“Metronet will create thousands of jobs by establishing a pipeline of ongoing work and delivering local content and local jobs.”
However, Transport Minister Dean Nalder said this morning the plan was nothing more than an attempt for votes by taking funding out of one project and putting it into another.
“I think Metronet is just a slogan, there’s nothing substantial about it,” he said.
“A lot of the projects they’re talking about have been on the Public Transport Authority project list for a period of time.
“We’ve tried really hard to find a solution for the people [in the Southern Suburbs]... and there are major environmental issues that need to be worked through.
Mr Nalder said the Perth Freight Link plan, which includes development of new harbour infrastructure in Kwinana, was capable of providing for growing traffic into the next decade.
“We just think that any plan made on the outer and inner harbours and public transport system needs to be questioned and looked at very carefully.”
