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Two more Morrison Government, congestion busting projects have been announced in Perth’s east under the $4 billion Urban Congestion Fund.
The two projects will enable significant upgrades at:

• the intersection on Great Eastern Highway and Old Northam Road in Sawyers Valley;
• the intersection on Great Eastern Highway and Old Northam Road in Wooroloo;

The Morrison Government has budgeted $3 million for the project.
The Urban Congestion Fund eliminates local hotspots and alleviates traffic headaches across the country.
Minister for Cities, Urban Infrastructure and Population Alan Tudge said the projects would help streamline traffic flow along the busy Great Eastern Highway.
“We want people to be doing what’s important to them, rather than sitting in traffic,” Mr Tudge said.
“The Liberal Nationals Government has boosted investment in congestion-busting works.
“These projects also strengthen our Government’s firm commitment to ensuring Western Australia gets its fair share of infrastructure funding, now and into the future.”
Member for Hasluck Ken Wyatt AM said: “These commitments are set to make life easier and safer for Hasluck families and businesses on one of the State’s most important transport routes.
“People will be able to get home sooner, to spend more quality time with their loved ones.
“The Morrison Government has listened to what our local communities are calling for – and this investment is part of our comprehensive plan to deliver for all Australians.”
The projects build on an additional $1.6 billion of our Liberal Nationals Government’s investment into critical road and rail infrastructure across Perth and regional Western Australia in the recent budget.
“This includes $20 million to construct the Lloyd Street extension and bridge in Midland, which will make a massive difference to traffic flow in one of our most important shopping, commercial and health precincts,” said Mr Wyatt.
About $13.6 billion has been invested by the Liberal-National Government in West Australian road and rail infrastructure since coming into Government, including $4.8 billion over the past two Budgets.
Funding for key WA infrastructure projects in the recent Budget also includes:
Level Crossing Removals

• Oats Street/Welshpool Road/Mint Street Level Crossing Removal (Federal Government investment: $207.5 million)

Roads

• Albany Ring Road (Federal Government investment: $140 million)
• Fremantle Traffic Bridge (Swan River Crossing) (Federal Government investment: $115 million)
• Tonkin Highway projects (Stage 3 extension; Great Eastern Highway to Collier Road; Kelvin Road, Hale Road and Welshpool Road East intersection upgrades) (Federal Government investment: $348.5 million of additional funding bringing our overall commitment to those three projects to $929 million)
• Bunbury Outer Ring Road—Stages 2 and 3 (Federal Government investment: $122 million of additional funding taking our overall commitment to $682 million)

Roads of Strategic Importance Initiative

• Western Australian section of the Newman to Katherine Corridor (Federal Government investment: $70 million)
• Western Australian section of the Alice Springs to Halls Creek Corridor (Federal Government investment: $75 million)
• Karratha to Tom Price Corridor (Federal Government investment: $248 million)
• Wheatbelt Secondary Freight Network (Federal Government investment: $70 million)
• Western Australian section of the Port Augusta to Perth (Federal Government investment: $50 million)
• Pinjarra Heavy Haulage Deviation—Stage 1 (Federal Government investment: $22 million)

Urban congestion fund

• Thomas Road and Nicholson Road in Oakford (Federal Government investment: $10 million)
• Transforming Freeways—widening and introduction of Intelligent Transport System (ITS) (Kwinana and Mitchell Freeways) (Federal Government investment: $50 million)
• Lloyd Street Extension (Federal Government investment: $20 million)
• Abernethy Road Upgrade (Federal Government investment: $13.25 million)
• Lakelands Station (Federal Government investment: $10 million)
• Shorehaven Boulevard / Marmion Avenue Intersection Upgrade (Federal Government investment: $2.5 million)
• More Parking Bays at Mandurah Station (Federal Government investment: $16 million)

Major Project Business Case Fund

• Future Road and Rail Connections for Perth (Federal Government investment: $25 million)—to investigate future road and rail links to support the growth of the transport network in Perth
• Westport project (Federal Government investment: $10 million)—development of business cases and corridor preservation to support the Westport: Port and Environs Strategy, which is currently being developed by the WA Government.

Australian energy, seafood and marine environment industries are set to benefit from a $70 million grant from the Morrison Government.
The funding is to set up a new Blue Economy Cooperative Research Centre to bring together national and international expertise in aquaculture, marine renewable energy and marine engineering as part of a collaborative effort between industry, researchers and the community.
Minister for Industry, Science and Technology Karen Andrews said that the Blue Economy CRC, which will be headquartered at the University of Tasmania in Launceston, would develop innovative and sustainable offshore industries to increase Australian seafood and offshore renewable energy production.
“The Liberal National Government has undertaken to double the current value of our aquaculture industry to $2 billion a year by 2027 through the National Aquaculture Strategy.
“The activities and outcomes of the CRC will directly address a number of key priority areas identified in the strategy – our aim is to improve the competitiveness, productivity and sustainability of Australian industries.
“The CRC Program is a proven model of industry and research cooperation that produces impressive commercial results.
The Blue Economy CRC will focus on five key areas identified by industry: Offshore Engineering and Technology, Seafood and Marine Products, Offshore Renewable Energy Systems, the Environment and Ecosystems and Sustainable Offshore Developments.
It will provide for 50 Postdoctoral fellowships and 50 PhDs across the five research areas to train cross-discipline specialist scientist and engineers unique to the aquaculture, offshore renewable energy and engineering sectors.
Liberal Senator for Tasmania Richard Colbeck said the Blue Economy CRC would leverage one of Tasmania’s key competitive advantages.
“As an island state with strong research capacity, we are globally competitive when it comes to marine-based industries and this new initiative supports jobs across Tasmania.
“The CRC will create 100 high-level research, science and engineering jobs in the state and is already set to attract an additional $258 million of investment in Tasmania’s economy from world-class companies and institutions.”
The CRC, which has national and international partners, has generated more than $258 million in cash and in-kind contributions from participants to add to the $70 million grant, which will be paid over 10 years.
Around $747.9 million in funding has been committed CRCs since the Liberal National Government came into office in 2013 and this latest funding further builds on our commitment to strengthening Australian industry, strengthening our economic growth and helping to create 1.25 million jobs in the next five years.
Marine-based industries, widely referred to as the ‘Blue Economy’, service a sector that provides over 390,000 jobs.
The Coalition Government continues to make significant investments in science, research and innovation – smart, strategic investments that will deliver stable support for our researchers and entrepreneurs across the coming decade.
The CRC Program is competitive and merit-based. For more information visit www.business.gov.au/crc

Bill Shorten is delivering another cruel hoax to patients to justify another Mediscare campaign in an attempt to make himself Prime Minister.
Bill Shorten’s attempt to scare people about pathology ignores the facts:
 

• 99 per cent of people seeking a pathology test from their GP are covered by Medicare and bulk billed
• Pathology funding has increased by more than $572 million since the Coalition was first elected.
• It will grow to over $3.4 billion in 2021-22
• The Government invested $2.95 billion in Medicare benefits for approximately 145 million pathology services last year alone, an 8.5 per cent increase.
• These funding boosts mean patients will pay less for pathology services.

 
Pathology bulk billing rates for out of hospital services have increased from 97.7 per cent under the Coalition to 99.3 per cent last financial year and continue to grow, up to 99.4 per cent in the first half of this year.
This is perhaps his silliest scare campaign yet.
He’s pretending an increase to over 99% is a crisis when in fact it is an extraordinary outcome.
Not only is it a ridiculous campaign given an increasing bulk billing rate at over 99 per cent, it doesn’t offer patients any extra money. But it will give large corporates more money.
And in another admission of failure, Labor has now conceded it’s much promised funding for a new state health agreement won’t occur until at least 2025 – not until after the next agreement.
The Morrison Government is delivering an additional $31 billion, with six of the states and territories already signed on to our new agreement.
Overall health funding is growing, with $24 billion over the forward estimates to treat cancer plus $1 billion for cancer research, with a proton beam therapy centre being established at the South Australian Health and Medical Research Centre to deliver the most advanced treatment.
But people should remember Bill Shorten’s track record.
As Assistant Treasurer he failed to manage the budget, and as a result, he stopped making medicines available on the PBS.
If you can’t manage the economy, you can’t manage health.
The Morrison Government is delivering a strong economy to fund the essential health services, including more than $10.6 billion in new medicine listings.

Chris Bowen and the Labor Party were caught out last week relying on dodgy assumptions as the basis for their Housing Tax that will send house values down and the cost of rent up.
Today it has been revealed that these assumptions were deleted from the official Labor policy document on the ALP website overnight.
Labor’s Housing Tax would reduce the value of your home, push up rents and harm the economy.
Not only has Chris Bowen has been exposed for using inaccurate figures to justify his Housing Tax, he has now been caught out trying to cover his tracks.
He didn’t even have the decency to front up to the Australian people and explain the error at the heart of one of Labor’s key policies – instead choosing to delete it under the cover of darkness.
The error that Labor has deleted from the document relates to a significant underestimation of the extent of investment in newly-built housing and therefore an overstatement of the revenue that might be raised by its plan to end negative gearing on established housing.
An archived version of Labor’s original policy reveals the dodgy assumptions that were deleted:
“The most recent Australian Bureau of Statistics data shows that 93 per cent of new investment loans go to people purchasing existing housing stock. This means that the vast bulk of investment does not increase supply or boost jobs. All it does is increase demand and the price of the existing homes, allowing investors to use tax subsidies to outbid owner occupiers and first home buyers from existing properties.”
This was rebuffed by the ABS which said: “If you wanted to have those numbers you wouldn’t be able to get them from our statistics -because we don’t collect them.”
Despite around 1.3 million Australian investors who use negative gearing being hit by Labor’s policy, Bill Shorten has dodged questions on why the bulk of the policy has been deleted from Labor’s website:
QUESTION: Can I ask on those 90 excluded pages about our capital gains and negative gearing changes, you say there’s new assumptions so they need updating, how did the assumptions change the costings on those two programs, and assuming they’re not affected, would you release the 90 pages so we can have a look?
BILL SHORTEN: Listen, I think the original question comes from a story I read in the Financial Review, and it was followed up by a question here. We said and I went and checked when I saw the story, how come this page is down? They said they’re updating it. I can’t add any more at this point.
It is simply unacceptable to the 58,000 teachers, 42,000 nurses and 19,000 police and emergency service personnel who negatively gear that Bill Shorten has no answers for them on his so called signature policy. Every Australian that owns a home or rents a home deserves an answer.

Once again, Labor is trying to rebadge the Coalition’s policy as their own – this time, the Government’s Defence Policy for Industry Participation.
The Coalition Government’s Local Industry Capability Plan (LICP) is already delivering more jobs to regional Australia.
In August 2017, following consultation with local businesses, the Coalition Government launched the LICP pilot for defence infrastructure and facilities projects. The LICP provided greater opportunities for local tradies and suppliers to secure work as part of our massive defence infrastructure investment.
This program has been so successful that it has now been incorporated into the broader Defence Policy for Industry Participation, launched by the Minister for Defence Industry, Senator the Hon Linda Reynolds CSC, in Perth in March 2019.
For the first time ever, it is this Government who has put in place policies that are making it easier for local tradies and suppliers to get involved in Defence projects – both capability acquisition and infrastructure and facilities projects.
In Queensland and the Northern Territory alone we have seen companies tender for defence infrastructure work using over 80 per cent of their workforce from the nearby local region. Creating opportunities for local businesses and providing certainty for local jobs.
Over the last twelve months, as a result of the Coalition’s $200 billion investment in Defence capability, upwards of 990 subcontractors have been engaged on defence infrastructure and facilities projects, of which 714 have been local contractors, representing an achievement rate of 72 per cent of work and $1.7 billion going directly to local communities across Australia. A further 4,280 subcontractor packages have been identified that will see upwards of an additional $5.2 billion worth of work going to the local market place under this initiative alone.
Only the Morrison Government can be trusted to deliver defence capability and infrastructure. The Morrison Government is investing in Australia’s defence industry, creating a smarter and more skilled workforce and a stronger economy, while building our defence capability. This is in stark contrast to Labor who slashed the Defence budget to the lowest level since 1938 when they were last in government.
The Defence Policy for Industry Participation can be found here: http://www.defence.gov.au/

Employment opportunities for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians have been bolstered in the Mackay Region through the Liberal-Nationals Government’s investment in local jobs.
Minister for Indigenous Affairs, Nigel Scullion, and the Member for Dawson George Christensen, said today the investment of more than $1.4 million in Global Product Search would provide for up to 154 jobs.
Mr Christensen said he was pleased to announce the Commonwealth Government was investing in the region and helping to address the skills shortage by giving more workers the opportunity for work in the mining sector.
“Global Product Search is a fantastic local organisation and this investment from the Liberal-Nationals Government has been tailored to the needs of our region to maximise opportunities for our Indigenous jobseekers,” Mr Christensen said.
“I have had the opportunity to see how Global Product Search undertakes their training and meet some of the trainees who are being provided with these opportunities.
“I am very pleased that the Liberal-Nationals Government’s strong economic management means it can reinvest the dividends of a strong economy back into local solutions such as this one.”
GPS manager Warren McGraw said it was an exciting step for the company.
“Global Product Search is dedicated to further assisting with the engagement and creation of long term careers in the mining industry for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees,” Mr McGraw said.
“We will adapt our very successful pre-existing ‘new-to-industry’ training package to be specifically dedicated to Aboriginal & Torres Strait employees within Queensland to assist in them in gaining long term fulfilling employment.”
“These targeted grants are community-led initiatives that connect Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander job seekers to real jobs and is part of the Government commitment to get more Australians into work,” Minister Scullion said.
“The very best form of welfare the Government can provide is a job, and this investment is about supporting the Government’s efforts to close the gap in Indigenous disparity.”
Funding for this project has been allocated out of existing resources in the Indigenous Advancement Strategy and complement other Government programs which have resulted in a 23.3 per cent in the number of Indigenous Australians with a job since the 2011 Census and 30 per cent increase in the number of Indigenous entrepreneurs in small business.

Territory Labor have been embarrassingly caught out stealing the Coalition’s successful defence procurement policies.
CLP Senator Nigel Scullion and CLP Candidates Kathy Ganley and Jacinta Price, have accused Territory Labor of extreme hypocrisy for shamelessly copying and rebadging the Coalition’s Defence Local Industry Capability Plans policy as their own.
Senator Nigel Scullion said that Labor could not be trusted on defence spending given they cut more than $18 billion out of defence when they were last in office.
“It seems Territory Labor also think that the whole purpose of defence projects is to prop up Michael Gunner’s failed government rather than to build the defence infrastructure and capabilities we need to keep Australians safe.
“One thing I do know about Territorians is that they can see through a hollow promise a mile away and they are not as stupid as Territory Labor thinks they are.
“They know that the $8 billion in Territory defence projects the the Coalition Government has funded between 2016-2026 have been carefully developed through our Defence White Paper.
“It’s also pretty bloody obvious that Luke Gosling has been asleep at the wheel for the past three years if he didn’t know about the Coalition’s success on local procurement,” Senator Scullion said today.
CLP Candidate for Solomon, Kathy Ganley, said through responsible budget management, the Coalition had not only worked hard to restore Territory Labor’s savage $18 billion defence funding cuts, and ensured that local Territory companies, contractors and tradies won a fairer and bigger slice of the work.
“The Defence Local Industry Capability Plans introduced by then Defence Minister Marise Payne in 2017 have been a game changer for Territory businesses and have been a resounding success story.
“Under the Coalition’s policies, more than 90 per cent of Northern Territory defence contracts have gone to Territory business, contractors and workers.
“So not only are we investing more than Labor ever will into the defence infrastructure Australia needs, but more Territorian workers and businesses are better off as a result of our efforts,” Ms Ganley said today.
CLP Candidate for Lingiari, Jacinta Price, said that Labor can’t be trusted when it comes to the defence and security of our nation.
“Remember not only did Labor cut $18 billion from defence, but they completely lost control of our borders which saw 50,000 boat arrivals and more than $10 billion in detention cost blowouts.
“Our defence personnel who risk their lives, and indeed all Territorians, will be appalled at Labor’s attempt to use defence projects to somehow prop up the worst Territory government since self-government,” Ms Price said today.
The Coalition is investing $8 Billion in Top End Defence infrastructure.
The Northern Territory is home to over 5,500 Defence personnel and has a number of key operational bases, including HMAS Coonawarra, Robertson Barracks, and Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) Bases Tindal and Darwin.
The Territory is a big beneficiary of the Coalition’s Defence spending including:
 

• Larrakeyah Defence Precinct Redevelopment Program. This $495.5 million program will upgrade critical base infrastructure. Expected expenditure on this project is $81.2 million in 2019-20.
• Provide new and upgraded facilities and infrastructure to support the introduction of the P-8A aircraft around the country, including at RAAF Base Darwin. Expected expenditure in the NT on this project is $63.9 million in 2019-20.
• Jindalee Operational Radar Networks (JORN) Phase 6 Facilities Project. This $50.7 million program is scheduled for completion in late 2020. There will be priority works near Alice Springs. Expected expenditure on this project is $33.0 million in 2019-20.
• Upgrading air traffic management supporting infrastructure at RAAF Bases Darwin and Tindal. Expected expenditure in the NT on this project is $26.5 million in 2019-20.
• Growler Airborne Electronic Attack Capability Facilities. Expected expenditure in the NT on this project is $20.0 million in 2019-20.
• Explosive Ordnance Logistics Reform Program at RAAF Base Darwin. Expected expenditure in the NT on this project is $2.7 million in 2019-20.
• Joint Health Command Garrison Facilities Upgrades at Robertson Barracks and Larrakeyah Barracks. Expected expenditure in the NT on this project is $13.9 million in 2019-20.
• RAAF Base Tindal Redevelopment Stage 6. Construction is planned to commence in early 2020 and be completed by late 2024.
• United States Force Posture Initiative RAAF Base Tindal Airfields Works and Associated Infrastructure. Construction is planned to commence in early 2020 and be completed by late 2024.
• The Armidale class patrol boat in-service activities undertaken in both Darwin and Cairns with an expected expenditure of $116 million in 2019-20.