Mark Bishop (WA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise tonight to talk about changes that have occurred over the last five years in my duty electorate of Swan in Western Australia. In the past, the Swan electorate was very much defined by its boundaries: Perth airport to the east, the Canning River to the south, the Swan River lies to the west with Perth just beyond and in the middle is Curtin University. Like many electorates, residents regularly express concern about the issues of law and order, safety around train stations, traffic congestion and black spots. Of course, like most inner-city electorates throughout Australia, there is also the issue of airport noise. As can be imagined, federal politicians from both sides have made many promises on this issue in successive campaigns. They are after all important issues.

They go to the quality of our lives in our homes and in our communities. But, as a government, we are tasked with looking at issues that extend beyond our electorates. For example, we need to look to the economy and how the decisions that we make impact on jobs. We need to have a clear understanding of what we want to achieve in areas such as education and infrastructure. We all know resources are finite, although expectations are not, so having a clear vision and understanding of what you want to achieve is quite an important starting point.

In the electorate of Swan over the last five years a quiet revolution has been taking place. That revolution has been made possible by funding from the federal government. I am especially proud of what federal Labor has achieved over the last five years. Oddly enough, so is the member for Swan. I know this to be the case because he continually lists those achievements in his newsletters. He seems particularly pleased with federal Labor's funding for the upgrade, from four lanes to six, of the Great Eastern Highway, a project the Howard government for 12 long years said they would not fund because it is a state road. The member for Swan lists this as an achievement—as he said, 'ditto to our commitment'. But, as we all know, it is much easier to make a commitment when you do not have to find the funds.

It was short-sighted of the Howard government not to invest in this road. But we have not made the same mistake, because it is not just any old road, it is the road that leads you from the eastern states and takes you through the wheat belt region and past Perth Airport. It then takes you through a regenerated residential area to the door of the city. It is one of five major roads that service what is commonly known as the centre of the supply chain in Perth. This is an area that encompasses Perth Airport and the Kewdale industrial estate. It is an area where aviation, road and rail all link. It is the busiest distribution hub for freight, not to mention its role in moving people around. It is such an important precinct that mining companies have now established many offices within it.

Our investment in that upgrade to the Great Eastern Highway is only one part of our story. We have long recognised the strategic importance of airport precincts to Western Australia's economy. For that reason federal Labor is providing almost $700 million for the Gateway project. This project will improve the road links around the airport and the adjacent industrial estate. The project will include the construction of five new interchanges and upgrades to the Tonkin, Roe and Link highways. Ultimately it will lead to improvements in access, safety and transport efficiency. Our investment in these two projects is over $1 billion.

But there is more. It is a little known fact that Australia is a world leader in radio astronomy. The Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder project, ASKAP, and the international Square Kilometre Array project, SKA, in the Murchison region will put Western Australia at the forefront of this technology. Federal Labor's $80 million investment in the Pawsey Centre will ensure that Technology Park is recognised as a major research centre both within Australia and internationally. The Pawsey Centre is a purpose-built facility to house a new supercomputer. In effect, it will be a state-of-the-art data centre and the brain of the ASKAP telescope and, later, the SKA telescope. Three hundred and fifty researchers from 150 international research centres have already booked time to use the ASKAP. It is very exciting stuff. If you look a little deeper, the supercomputer will increase capacity for computational research in areas such as geosciences, biosciences and nanotechnologies. This is where the industries of the future begin. Federal Labor's investment in the Pawsey Centre at Technology Park means this work is going to occur in our very own backyard.

None of this happened by accident; it took clear vision. It also took a determination to prioritise investment in innovation and infrastructure. This leads me, of course, to the National Broadband Network. Much has been said about the value of the NBN, but I can tell you that this is a project whose time has come. Our commitment to the NBN made possible the regional background that will carry data from radio telescopes in the Murchison. It ensures funding for upgrades to the national research networks. It also means this vital infrastructure link will go through our streets to our homes and businesses. It was my privilege at the end of 2012 to see the first NBN fibre cable hauled through the streets of Victoria Park. This is the first suburb in the metro area to see the green cabling, and 15 more suburbs will soon follow. Most of those suburbs are in the Swan electorate. Federal Labor is helping to build a technological hub at one end and we are improving and making efficient the transport hub at the other end.

This is only some of the work that we have done over the last five years; I have not even touched on the $94 million that we have spent on our local schools, money that went to the construction of new libraries, new science labs, new music rooms and, yes, even new school halls. I attended nearly all of the functions and, believe me, not one principal, teacher or parent said it was a waste of money. They all simply said: 'Thank you very much, Senator. Pass on our thanks to Prime Minister Gillard.'

We have invested a further $15 million in trade training centres at five of our secondary schools. I would be happy to speak about the success of the Building the Education Revolution program at another time. We also met our 2007 commitment to open a Medicare office in Belmont. The member for Swan, oddly enough, also lists this as an achievement in his newsletter. I am not sure why he thinks a Labor government delivering on a Labor commitment is his achievement. Maybe it is because the Howard government did not care much about Swan. After all, what did they do?

The same cannot be said for the Gillard government. We will leave a lasting legacy in the Swan electorate for residents, communities and businesses.

It is no longer an electorate defined by its boundaries. Today, because of a lot of the work we have done, it is defined by its opportunities, its innovations and its jobs. I am very proud of what we have achieved over the last five years and I look forward to being part of what will undoubtedly be achieved over the next five years.