Premier's Statement

Mr Daniel Pastorelli (Landsdale—Parliamentary Secretary) (3:10 pm) : It is so good to be back here in Parliament for 2026 and I rise to address the Premier's Statement. It was probably one of the best Premier's Statements in living memory for me. I know the Premier tried to talk it down at the start of his statement, but I thought it was a sensational address. Before I get underway, I take the opportunity to wish many people right across Western Australia a happy Lunar New Year, with a particular shout-out to the many East Asian and South-East Asian communities, including Chinese, Vietnamese, Korean and Singaporean communities throughout Western Australia. I hope they enjoy their celebrations and that they and their families have good health, prosperity and luck in the Year of the Horse. I particularly acknowledge and mention the Tet celebrations at Paloma Park in Marangaroo on the weekend just gone. Paloma Park is in the member for Girrawheen's electorate, but it is right on the border of my electorate as well. We had two incredibly fun-filled nights at Paloma Park on the weekend. Congratulations to the Vietnamese community for putting on such an incredible celebration for all people across the Vietnamese community and throughout the northern suburbs of Perth. I return to the Premier's Statement, which reinforced this government's agenda for our state: a WA Labor government delivering for the future of our state. It is backing local jobs, backing local businesses and diversifying our economy to keep WA the strongest state in the nation. As the Premier said just before, it is all about jobs, it is all about housing and it is all about health. It makes me reflect on 2025 and how the year concluded from a parliamentary perspective. It brings me to 6 November last year when the Premier, the Treasurer and the Minister for Health Infrastructure announced the Building Hospitals Fund, a $1.5 billion fund to support new hospitals being built in Western Australia. I must say that the announcement came with a difficult but necessary decision, and that was the decision to discontinue the redevelopment plans for the Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre. I must give credit to the Premier and the cabinet for that decision. Obviously, the government spent a lot of time exploring and investigating if a redevelopment of the convention centre could take place. It became very clear that such a significant investment decision—I think it was $1.6 billion—could not be justified at that point in time. Instead, that funding was redirected to a $1.5 billion hospital. It must be said, when it comes to the convention centre, that one thing that really weighed on the government's mind was the impact of the redevelopment on people here in Western Australia and the significant disruption to the business events industry, given all the events that were booked at the convention centre that would have to be cancelled or postponed as a result. There would also be an impact on congestion through the city and through the suburbs. That plan required an investment of over $500 million in road and rail infrastructure. I commend the government for that announcement on 6 November. The $1.5 billion Building Hospitals Fund meant that our total investment when it comes to health infrastructure is now at $5 billion over the next four years—$5 billion. That is the biggest hospital-building program that this state has ever seen. There are hospitals being built right across Western Australia. The $470 million for Bunbury Regional Hospital is the biggest investment Western Australia has ever seen in a regional hospital. That is now coming out of the ground. Of course, the women's and babies' hospital, which you can now see being built if you drive down the Kwinana Freeway, is a $1.8 billion project. It is an incredible achievement, after over 100 years at King Eddy's, to see that hospital come to life. If the Liberals and Nationals had their way, the hospital would have been delayed even further. I think it was up to another decade of delay if they tried to cancel our decision to build it in the southern suburbs and instead build it in the central location. There is Bunbury Regional Hospital, the women's and babies' hospital and Geraldton Health Campus. I know the member for Geraldton would see that being built every single day, and that will soon open for the great people of Geraldton. As part of the women's and babies' hospital, there are also the significant upgrades to Osborne Park Hospital in the northern suburbs, which is something that I very much welcome. We also have the Albany Health Campus redevelopment that was committed to at the election, which we will now deliver on, of course. There is the Midland Health Campus redevelopment, which is a huge expansion of hospital services for the eastern suburbs. There is also the Meekatharra Hospital redevelopment—the list goes on. That $1.5 billion Building Hospitals Fund unlocked three particular projects. One was the Mount Lawley private hospital being purchased by the government and bringing more than 100 beds into the public hospital system. There was also the, I think, courageous decision to build a brand-new hospital in Peel instead of redeveloping the Peel Health Campus. That is something that the member for Dawesville and the member for Mandurah have advocated for, for such a long period of time. It will minimise disruption for existing staff and patients while building a brand-new, state-of-the-art hospital for the Peel region. The third element of that announcement on 6 November was Royal Perth Hospital, the signature hospital for our city and our state. Instead of another job of patching up the ED, a courageous decision was made to build a brand-new emergency department on Wellington Street. I was talking with some constituents—staff at Royal Perth Hospital—over the summer break, who were so happy and relieved about that decision because it means the existing ED can continue to operate. Staff, patients and visitors can continue to use that ED without disruption while we construct the new building. I give credit where credit is due to the Minister for Health Infrastructure. Those two projects—Peel Health Campus and the Royal Perth Hospital emergency department—are already looking to be contracted very soon. The $5 billion hospital building program includes a hospital that is very close to my electorate and close to my heart, and that is the Joondalup Health Campus. It is the campus where my two children were born. Joondalup Health Campus has been undergoing a $308 million redevelopment—a significant redevelopment for both the public and private wings. Only last week I joined the Premier, the Minister for Health and some of my colleagues up at Joondalup to open the new private hospital services that will become available now for many in the northern suburbs. There are 52 additional private hospital beds that will take pressure off our hospital system, but there are also some mixed theatres for both public and private use. The scale of the investment in Joondalup is significant. I am so pleased to see that project continue to roll out. It is a transformational project for the northern suburbs. In the health space, from a legislative perspective, last year we had the passage of the landmark Assisted Reproductive Technology and Surrogacy Act—a significant achievement. I want to congratulate all those people involved, particularly the health minister, for seeing that piece of legislation through. Also in the legislative space towards the end of last year, it is important to acknowledge the biggest reform to the approvals process for major developments in WA's history through the State Development Act—laws that will help us get things done. They will help us unlock strategic projects and fast-track approvals, creating jobs here in this state. It is all about taking the opportunities right in front of us and seizing the moment so that we can secure our state's future and our children's future. That is what it is all about. They are the values of this Cook Labor government. Speaking of opportunities, progress at Perth Park continues at a cracking pace, with site establishment works now well underway. I also acknowledge today the release of Infrastructure Western Australia's assessment of the business case for Perth Park. It has endorsed the business case for this project, which will provide ongoing economic activity and economic returns to this state, with a benefit–cost ratio of 1.822. I also want to spend this time acknowledging and congratulating the South Australian Government for securing the MotoGP, taking that global event off Victoria. That was only possible because it wound back a decision of a former Liberal government in South Australia to cancel the Supercars event on the streets of Adelaide. They brought back the Supercars race as part of the Adelaide street circuit and now, as a result of its success, they can go and get these other huge global events—an incredible success story in South Australia. These projects are all about diversifying our economy, and that is what this government is focused on. I also want to reflect on the Government Mid-year Financial Projections Statement handed down by the Treasurer just before Christmas—an incredible set of numbers from the Treasurer. The domestic economy grew by 3% over the year to September, outpacing national growth—again highlighting the strength of the Western Australian economy on a national level. An important point to highlight on that economic growth is that two-thirds of that was from the private sector. It is not just about government investment; it is the fact that we have created an environment here in Western Australia where the private sector is investing capital and creating jobs for local Western Australians. Of course, there are the financial numbers—the eight consecutive operating surpluses and net debt noted as being $3.4 billion lower at 30 June 2025 compared with the same time as the budget. That is an incredible achievement. Net debt is currently $30 billion despite this WA Labor government investing $62 billion in asset investment over the last eight years. Net debt still remains lower than what we inherited from the Liberals and Nationals. We have also been able to keep our Aaa credit rating, securing again after the Liberals and Nationals lost it. The midyear review had some incredible announcements. Obviously, there was the $2 billion boost to health services, including the Building Hospitals Fund; $435 million to boost housing supply and help improve affordability; $500 million for important community services, including funding for the Stolen Generations Redress Scheme, which is something I am very proud this government has been able to deliver; $623 million for community safety, including funding for a new youth detention facility; and $165 million in cost-of-living initiatives, which are being greatly welcomed by the public of Western Australia. That brings me to 1 January and the Go Anywhere Fare, an important cost-of-living initiative delivered by this WA Labor government. It will now cost you only $2.80 to go anywhere across the suburbs of Perth. It really means something to people. For people in my electorate of Landsdale, it means savings of hundreds of dollars. We all know that fare is under threat because we all know that it is in the Liberal Party DNA to wind it back. It would wind back not just the extension to two-zone fares; it would wind back the extension to nine-zone fares. Do you remember how much that would cost you, especially if you are coming from Mandurah, member for Mandurah? We all know the history of the Liberal Party in this state. It hiked up public transport way above inflation and introduced parking fees at our train station car parks. It is this Labor government that brought back public transport to 1980s prices—a fantastic achievement. Obviously, in regional Western Australia, we permanently reduced Transwa fares; we slashed them by 50%. That saves someone travelling from Kalgoorlie to Perth $100 on a return journey. Of course, there is the regional airfare cap policy—a nation-leading policy that the Liberals and Nationals just cannot stand because they never did anything. They complained about it when they were in government but they did not do anything about it. We took a stand. We said, "No, this is not right; regional Western Australians shouldn't be paying that much if they need to travel to Perth or travel around regional WA." We intervened. It is an incredibly successful initiative that is locked in under the Cook Labor government, but we know that it is under threat by those opposite. As we moved into the new year, obviously there was a huge achievement—the opening of the Edith Cowan University city campus. That incredible achievement was delivered by the state and federal governments and, of course, Edith Cowan University. I want to congratulate ECU for what it has been able to do there. I think that will be the single biggest change for our city since the former WA Labor government introduced the small bar reform back in 2006. That really changed the shape and vibe of our city, but this piece of infrastructure will bring all those students into the city, and all that activity will be a game changer. Then there is the film studios out in the north-eastern suburbs of Perth. Obviously, I am very fond of them because they are not too far from my home in Landsdale. It is another incredible achievement, with that $290 million investment positioning WA as a leading destination for screen production. It includes funding for 10 years to support management and operations. It was a big task to do what we did and I am so proud that we have achieved that now. I cannot wait to see what else happens out at the film studios into the near future. (Member's time extended.) Mr Daniel Pastorelli: Perth Film Studios is going to unlock new opportunities for talent and innovation in our state. It is going to provide real career pathways, providing work and training for actors, camera operators, costume and set designers, sound and lighting technicians, video editors and make-up artists. It is all about diversifying our economy and supporting new jobs here in Western Australia. Congratulations to all those involved in that incredible achievement for Perth. Of course, we have seen the Liberal–National alliance criticise and mock the film studios by asking why we would invest this type of money in a film studio. I thought, "The Liberal and National Parties normally contradict each other quite a bit, but hold on a second, I'm sure the former Lord Mayor of Perth advocated for film studios to be built in our city!" I remembered that that was right—he did. He is "Both ways Basil". That brings me back to not that long ago. Withdrawal of remark Mrs Kirrilee Warr: In this place, we are meant to refer to members by their title or their electorate. The Acting Speaker (Mr Stephen Pratt): I will uphold the point of order. Mr Daniel Pastorelli: I withdraw that, Acting Speaker. The Acting Speaker: Thank you. Proceeding resumed Mr Daniel Pastorelli: It reminded me of the former Lord Mayor, the now Leader of the Opposition, who, in 2022, somehow found his way on a Qantas flight to Rome. Obviously, the WA Labor government secured with Qantas a direct flight to Rome. The City of Perth had absolutely nothing to do with it but somehow he ended up on that flight. He took the news crews to some studios in Rome and said that we should have film studios like that in the city of Perth. An article in The West Australian of 29 June 2022 headed "Lord Mayor Basil Zempilas pushes for replica of Rome's Cinecitta studios in the heart of Perth" states: World-class films could be produced on the banks of the Swan River, under a push by Perth Lord Mayor Basil Zempilas. He even suggested locations on where it could go on our river. I quote the former Lord Mayor of Perth: "Wouldn’t that be something," he said. "As you enter the city and cross the causeway, there are our film studios. That was only a few years ago, but now as opposition leader he comes in here and mocks and criticises us for investing in film studios in Perth. That is the type of person the Leader of the Opposition is. At a local level, there were some big moments in Landsdale. Towards the end of last year, we had the opening of the new Landsdale community hub—Dordaak Kepup, which means place of living waters. The facility is a new library and community centre in Landsdale overlooking Broadview Lake. This project has been a long time coming for Landsdale. I was pleased to see the Deputy Premier was able to join me at the opening last year, along with former member for Landsdale Margaret Quirk, who helped champion this important project during her time as member for Landsdale. I want to acknowledge the City of Wanneroo and Mayor Linda Aitken for pursuing this project. There were a lot of naysayers. A lot of people said that we should not invest this money in this project and that we did not need it in Landsdale, but the facility is just incredible. It is an $18 million project in the heart of Landsdale. It provides event and meeting spaces, and a youth-focus facility with a range of spaces and programs to support learning, creativity and social connection. No matter what a person's age, there is something for them there at the new Landsdale community centre. The new $40 million redevelopment of Ashdale Secondary College is going at a cracking speed. We saw a huge amount of construction over the summer break. It is a very exciting project. It will have two storeys of specialist teaching blocks with new science labs, IT classrooms and a digital learning area, a STEM lab, food and tech studios, and new training spaces. It is a huge redevelopment of Ashdale Secondary College. I want to acknowledge Mrs Jacquie Bogunovich for her leadership. It is an incredible achievement and I cannot wait to see the progress continue. We also have works underway at the very busy and congested roundabout at Kingsway and Mirrabooka Avenue on the border of Landsdale and Darch in the electorate. That is a really important east–west connector for people in my electorate and for people who drive north–south heading to the Landsdale and Wangara employment and industrial hub. That is a $900,000 project that this state government is supporting. I am very pleased to see that the works are progressing quite well. Thank you to the workers out there every day. I drive through that intersection nearly every day. It is progressing and we hope to see it conclude in the coming months. I also want to acknowledge the Kingsway Regional Sporting Complex. It is the heart of sport in the northern suburbs. I have a whole range of election commitments for local sporting clubs at the Kingsway sporting complex, from netball, footy, cricket, rugby, and, of course, the world game. It is important for me to take a moment to acknowledge the great people behind the Olympic Kingsway Sports Club whose season starts this Friday night at Dorrien Gardens. President Steve Nelkovski is a fantastic leader of that club. It is going from strength to strength and I am really looking forward to seeing my even more of the election commitments to improve the facility delivered in the near future. Congratulations to Olympic Kingsway because it has been selected as a training facility for the AFC Women's Asian Cup. It is quite exciting in Landsdale. The whole facility is fenced off and we are seeing high-quality teams come through to use that fantastic facility. I want to give a shout-out to the number one volunteer at Olympic Kingsway, Mandy Gordon. Mandy does so much for that club. She is the heart and soul of the club. I know that the players, coaches and all the other volunteers could not do the job if it was not for Mandy, so thank you, Mandy. The Asian Cup reminds me of another major event that Cook Labor government has secured. It is an incredible achievement and it is so pleasing to see that Perth is hosting the opening game and 10 matches in total, including the semifinal. It made me think of the last time we hosted the Asian Cup here in Australia, which was the Men's Asian Cup in 2015. Sadly, Perth was not part of that tournament. Australia went on to win that Asian Cup in 2015 but, unfortunately, Perth was never part of that tournament. The games were played in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane—sure, that is acceptable—but Canberra and Newcastle instead of Perth? That was strange. That was because the previous Liberal–National government did not back major events. It thought it would not worry about the AFC Asian Cup. It was a huge event on the eastern seaboard and Perth missed out of it, but not this time. This time we have the opening match here in Perth and 10 matches in total. I cannot wait to see the Matildas run on the field at Optus Stadium on Sunday afternoon. But that does not surprise me, though, given the opposition leader's negative position when it comes to the State of Origin in particular. The Liberal Party has never believed in the major events strategy. We know that the opposition hates AFL Origin, the Women's Asian Cup and the Perth Bears. I cannot wait to see the Perth Bears debut in 2027. Several members interjected. Mr Daniel Pastorelli: We will see if he is there. If there is a cocktail event, we know that the member for Central Wheatbelt will be there! We also know that the opposition hates motorsport. The opposition is a bit of a policy vacuum, but it is on the record that a Zempilas Liberal–National government—it scares me to say that; it gives you a shiver—will cancel the Perth supercars event at Perth Park. That is exactly what it would do. We will make sure that the motorsport community and the events industry is aware of the opposition's policy commitment to cancel major events. It has been a bit of a bizarre start to 2026 for the opposition team. Opposition members seem very, very angry. They started the year attacking the fact that we hired more teachers and nurses, which I thought was extremely bizarre. The public sector has grown by about 23% in the last five years, which makes sense, given the rapid population growth. It is important to note that the health and education sectors accounted for 70% of that growth—70%. According to the data released by the Public Sector Commission, we have seen the number of people employed in health grow by nearly 13,000. We now have over 13,000 frontline staff. That is incredible. Education has more than 6,500. I must commend the education minister, who has done a fantastic job to kick off the start of the school year. Given the huge influx of new students with our population growth, we had a teacher in front of every classroom. I remember the old dark days under the Liberal–National government when it could not find teachers. Students at the start of the school year did not know whether they were going to have a teacher at the front of the classroom. We are proud of the fact that we are hiring more teachers. We are proud of the fact that we are investing in education and supporting the growth of our education sector in Western Australia. It has been a very, very weird start to the parliamentary year for Liberal–National alliance. They seem to be a bit of a confused mess. The Leader of the Opposition has had a very shaky start. He is frazzled and he is fumbling. I look forward to the weeks ahead here in Western Australia. It is going to be a big 2026. The Cook Labor government's agenda is strong. It is focused on jobs, housing and health. We have the investment, we have the right budget settings and the economy is going from strength to strength. I look forward to seeing the Go Anywhere Fare continue to roll out across the suburbs of Perth. We have the opportunity to remind everyone across Western Australia that the Liberal–National alliance will wind it all back. Thank you.