PRIME MINISTER: Well thank you, thank you very much Reece. It is great to be here with all of my colleagues and like you, I acknowledge that we are on the lands of the Noongar people, and we acknowledge their long custodianship of these lands and their elders past and present.
My friends, the 21st century economy is full of the greatest opportunities in human history. There has never been a greater time for Australia to seize those opportunities and right at the heart of our means to do so, is great connectivity. We have to be able to move people, freight, goods. We have to be able to communicate to travel. Connectivity is everything in the 21st century economy.
Here we have with the Gateway Project brought in early, brought in 12 months early and below budget, a great collaboration between the Federal Government and the State Government - $676 million from the Federal Government, $310 million from the State Government.
Here we have a great project completed which brings Perth airport closer to the city and the people of Perth and the people of Western Australia closer to the world. It is a critically important piece of infrastructure, part of that linkage of connectivity that enables us to take advantage of these the most exciting times, the times of the most rapid economic growth, the most rapid scale of growth in human history.
In addition to that, we are also announcing today a commitment of a further $261 million to another vital piece of infrastructure here in Perth - the Perth Freight Link. This too, will link Perth and Western Australia and all of the goods, all of the exports that come to Perth and Freemantle, it will lift them quickly, efficiently, and in a manner that reduces congestion and reduces disruption and inconvenience to residents. It will link them to that Fremantle Port.
That $261 million coupled with additional funding from the State Government will enable the tunnel to be built that will ensure that that link, that Perth Freight Link better delivers on the connectivity at the same time, improving the liveability of Perth. Because fundamentally these cities, these big cities of ours in Perth, the great dynamic city, the capital of Western Australia, these cities must be liveable, they must be efficient, they must be able to connect to the world, and people must be able to connect and move around them efficiently.
Liveable cities. Efficient cities. These are the great drivers of economic growth. So right across the board, we’re investing here, partnering with the State Government in ensuring that we continue to enable Western Australia and Perth to grow and prosper in these exciting times in the 21st century economy.
It’s a great future for Western Australia and these investments Gateway and Perth Freight Link ensure that in the years to come Perth will be even stronger, more connected and better able to take advantage of these remarkable opportunities.
So, I am delighted to be here with my colleagues Mathias Cormann, Julie Bishop, two great Western Australians, Dean Nalder the State Transport Minister, and of course Darren Chester our Federal Transport and Infrastructure Minister. And Ken of course, the local Member, the Member for Hasluck and Assistant Minister for Health.
The Western Australian contingent in the Federal Parliament are formidable advocates as you have seen for their state. Powerful advocates for their State. They recognise the key role that Western Australia has in delivering Australia continued success in these the most exciting times in human history.