Liberal road pledge not enough and neglects regional WA

25 October 2007

The RAC has welcomed John Howard's $400million commitment to WA roads but has said the funding is simply not enough to fix the dilapidated condition of the State's national roads or help address the State's worsening road toll.

The RAC's executive manager of member advocacy David Moir said key regional priority projects such as sections of the Great Eastern and Great Northern Highways had been overlooked and the cash injection was nowhere close to the $3billion he said the State deserved after years of neglect.

"For along time we have been the forgotten state when it comes to Federal Road funding and while the commitment by the Liberal party is a start it is well short of what is needed to fix our roads," he said.

"This funding package focuses on the metropolitan area but what is also needed is a Federal commitment to fix WA's regional roads. This is where motorists are dieing and this is where funding can make a big difference."

The RAC said other roads that needed attention in the State were sections of the Brand Highway, Kwinana Freeway and the Old Coast Road section of the Perth - Bunbury Highway between Lake Clifton and Bunbury.

The RAC also wants to see an investment in the North West Coastal Highway north of Geraldton to open up the major economic route between Perth and Karratha as well as a $500million commitment to the Perth Outer Harbour in Kwinana- the construction of a link to a new harbour to facilitate export trade and to improve transport efficiency and road safety.

"WA contributes a massive one third to Australia's export income and Mr Howard's recent allocation does not reflect WA's major contribution to Australia's economy," said Mr Moir.

"For many years now Western Australia has been grossly under funded when it comes to Federal investment in our road infrastructure. We want a road network that reflects the impact WA has on Australia's wealth.

Mr Moir said that even though WA had more than a fifth of the Auslink road network, it currently received about one tenth of the funding pot.

"We currently receive only 11 per cent of federal road funding but Western Australia has 22 per cent of all Australia's AusLink road network," said Mr Moir.