Congestion in Perth
Right now in Western Australia it's just hit 5 pm. Thousands and thousands of Western Australians are sitting in cars along the Mitchell and Kwinana freeways and those other congestion points across the Perth metropolitan road network. As they sit bumper to bumper in my electorate, the member for Stirling's electorate and far too many other electorates, I would dare say that they would have some very harsh words for some of us in this place about some of the congestion challenges they continue to face.
Unfortunately, the picture that was painted by the Infrastructure Australia report Urban transport:crowding and congestion tells a story that only gets worse and worse. By 2031—that is, in less than 12 years—drivers will spend 60 per cent of their commute stuck in congested conditions. That's up from the current figure of 50 per cent in 2016. That's more time listening to AM radio—720 ABC or 6PR depending on whether you're a Jeff or an Ollie fan—rather than spending time with your family.
The latest Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia Survey found that over the past decade the average commute rose from 3.7 hours to 4.5 hours—4.5 hours in commute! It's not good enough. We do need to invest more in congestion busting, as some would say, or just lifestyle enhancing, infrastructure.
Transport infrastructure naturally fascinates. My son is almost two. Our dear friends Nadia and Bianca very kindly got him his first set of toy cars, and, unfortunately, also some of his first branded toys, and now I've watched Cars, Cars 2 and Cars 3 more times than I dare to recall! One of our favourite songs is Wheels on the Bus go round and round. But right now, again in the Perth electorate, those wheels on the bus are not going round and round. They are stuck in a congested environment.
It wasn't that long ago—a few leaders back—that the current government was refusing to fund public transport infrastructure in Western Australia. I'm glad that they eventually saw sense and funded the Metronet project. With the Perth-Bayswater-Morley-Ellenbrook line, we will finally see new track laid in Western Australia as that project starts rolling out later this year in my electorate. It will be a serious new line serving the people of the inner north, inner east and all the way up to Ellenbrook.
The more you look into the infrastructure challenges we face, the sadder and sadder the numbers get. One in six Australians spends more than two hours going to and from work every day. That's two hours of lost productivity. Of the $100 billion transport infrastructure program that we are lectured about day in, day out in this place, less than 30 per cent is actually going to be built in the next four years. We've got the Reserve Bank governor crying out for more investment. We've got a plan with shovel-ready projects that can be brought forward, making sure that Western Australians and other Australians stay in work and, at the same time, making sure we leave that great legacy of infrastructure. The other thing I have learnt is that, sadly, the $100 billion program doesn't, in fact, add up to $100 billion. Maybe Senator Mathias Cormann did the counting on that one!
When you look at some of the contrasts between the government's approach and the approach of the Labor Party, it's clear that Labor is the party in Western Australia committed to public transport infrastructure. I grew up in Fremantle. It is well known by everyone who lives in Fremantle that it was the Liberal Party that closed the Fremantle rail line. It sat dormant for years and years. It took a Labor government to reopen it. It's only because of Labor governments that the big congestion-busting projects in Perth have gotten started. Indeed, it was the Leader of the Opposition who got the Gateway project started. I congratulate the current government on opening that project, but it only started because of the work of Anthony Albanese. I mentioned the Metronet project, a project that makes sure that people in my electorate can get to Ellenbrook and people in Morley and Noranda can get into the city, halving, if not cutting to one-third, their commute into the CBD.
There are many more things to do. The member for Stirling and I probably agree that Scarborough Beach Road would be a great place for a light rail down to Scarborough Beach. I'd love to see an inner city light rail. I'd love to see more investment in the National Broadband Network so that it can actually achieve the vision of making sure we have fewer people in cars and more people taking advantage of clever working opportunities.