How WA Labor has changed its tune on Barnett government projects since coming to power
Updated
Over its years in Opposition, WA Labor repeatedly condemned the Barnett government's decision to spend hundreds of millions of dollars on iconic projects in and around Perth's central business district — such as Elizabeth Quay.
"My opponent [then-premier Colin Barnett] talks about 'transforming' the city. But is he really? Do you transform a city by building monuments and vanity projects?" Mark McGowan said during a 2015 speech.
The then-opposition leader obviously posed those questions for rhetorical reasons, but a press release the new Labor Government issued just three years later might suggest a different answer to the one Mr McGowan had in mind that day.
"The construction of the Elizabeth Quay waterfront precinct, the sinking of the railway line between Northbridge and the CBD, thousands of new hotel rooms, as well as a flourishing dining and entertainment scene have made Perth a fantastic place to be, both for locals, and for visitors to the State," that press release stated.
And it is not just Elizabeth Quay and those CBD projects where Labor has changed its tune in the past year.
In opposition, Labor was scathing of the decision to build the $1.8 billion Perth Stadium in Burswood.
"It is significantly more expensive, it is hampered by extremely limited public transport options, inadequate parking options and no capacity to hold big weeknight and Friday night games," Mr McGowan said in 2013.
But neither Mr McGowan — who described the stadium as 'magnificent' in his speech on the day the venue opened — nor Tourism Minister Paul Papalia could have been more glowing in their praise of the facility after coming into government.
"This is going to be the best stadium in the world when it opens and it is right here in Perth," Mr Papalia said ahead of the venue's opening.
Praise really takes off
Labor was also far from complimentary about the deal the former government struck with Qantas to launch direct flights from Perth to London — a theme that continued into the early days of the McGowan administration.
"Like so many deals done by the Liberals, this looks like a dud for the WA taxpayer," Mr Papalia said last April.
But Mr Papalia was singing from a different songbook by the time the first flight took to the air last month.
"This historic flight opens up a new era of travel … Perth is now officially the western gateway to Europe and we are looking forward to increased numbers of visitors from Europe to experience Perth and our extraordinary state," Mr Papalia said.
According to Liberal leader Mike Nahan, the Government is seeking to take credit for projects it has realised are very popular.
"Do you know what it's called? Gross hypocrisy," Mr Nahan said.
Changing tune familiar
Yet while the changes in stance might amuse or frustrate some voters, it is not the first time a government has eased off its criticism of a project that it had strongly condemned while on the other side.
Labor vehemently campaigned against the Northbridge Tunnel — built by the Court Government of the 1990s and early 2000s — but softened its stance once Geoff Gallop came to power and it gradually became harder to imagine Perth functioning without it.
Likewise, in the early 2000s, one Liberal frontbencher dismissed the Perth to Mandurah railway as "an absolute waste of taxpayers' money" and another called on the Gallop government to "can the whole bloody project".
But patronage soon soared and, within a few years of coming to power, the Barnett government was making substantial spending promises to "ease pressure" caused by the high number of passengers using it.
Mr Barnett also ridiculed the Kwinana desalination plant as a "poor, if not the worst, option to solve our current and future water shortages" while in Opposition in 2004, but substantially expanded the use of the technology once he came to government and declared it had made Perth "basically drought-proof".
Labor's language since the election about signature Barnett government projects, such as Elizabeth Quay or the Qantas deal, has undoubtedly shifted significantly.
But they are not the first new government to do that, either — and they almost certainly will not be the last.
Topics: states-and-territories, government-and-politics, perth-6000, wa
First posted
