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No question too dumb: an idiot's guide to Roe 8 (and the alternative)

Emma Young

There's a pressing question about the Roe 8 road project through Beeliar Wetlands – even more pressing than whether those protesters are jobless layabouts or concerned citizens.

It's whether we know everything there is to know about the project.

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A Senate inquiry has ruled that Roe 8 works are proceeding unlawfully - but the government disagrees.

We know there is a huge environmental cost. But there's also the $2 billion actual dollar cost of Roe 8 and 9, and the unknown cost of Roe 10. 

The government has not explained major discrepancies between Roe 8's environmental report and its business case, which raise concerns that the project is a rush job based on massaged figures that could hang WA taxpayers out to dry. 

They merely responded the modelling was accurate. 

They have not explained why a swath of time-stamped photographic documentation of fauna being killed and overlooked by contractors does not constitute a breach of environmental law at the site, despite the contrary finding of a Senate inquiry.

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They merely responded there were no breaches occurring at the site.  

They say there will be economic benefit and congestion, but the public must take their word for it.

So we don't have all the answers. But for the dazed and confused, we have some of them. 

FAQs

Are Roe 8 and the Perth Freight Link the same thing?

Is it a bird, is it a plane? Where did this project come from?

Why do we need a solution at all? 

What exactly does Labor promise instead?

What role does this potential second harbour play?

How much would it cost Labor to break Roe 8 contracts?

Will the federal government let Labor just spend the billion on something else?  

What does the RAC think?

What does Infrastructure Australia think?  

What did the 2016 Senate inquiry conclude?

What did the 2017 Senate inquiry conclude?

How many jobs does each plan promise?

Has this kind of standoff pre-election happened before?

What do councils think?

Answers

Are Roe 8 and the Perth Freight Link the same thing?

Roe 8 is stage 1 of the Perth Freight Link.

It's what the Liberal state government is clearing land for right now: The extension of Roe Highway by 5.2 kilometres from its current end at Kwinana Freeway, through Beeliar Wetlands to Stock Road in Coolbellup. 

Roe 9 is stage 2, a three-kilometre tunnel from the Stock/Winterfold roads intersection in Hilton through to High Street, East Fremantle. It would run beneath homes in Hilton and White Gum Valley and connect to Stirling Highway.

The federal government has not received the business case for Roe 9. 

Together Roe 8 and 9 are projected to cost $1.9 billion - $1.2 billion federal funding and $700 million state funding.

Stage 3, Roe 10, or how the traffic will get from Stirling Highway, across the river and through Fremantle to the Port, is unplanned and uncosted. 

This plan is supported by the transport industry and the City of Melville.

The Perth Freight Link plan.

The Perth Freight Link plan. Photo: Supplied

Is it a bird, is it a plane? Where did this project come from?

Sustainability expert and Curtin University professor Peter Newman is a former board member of Infrastructure Australia, which assesses state submissions for federal infrastructure funding.

He says WA is notorious for not proposing projects.

"The response was, we prefer the cocktail party approach, where if politicians come to town we lobby them and get some money," he told the crowd at a recent transport forum in Perth. 

"The Perth Freight Link just dropped out of the sky; it was not from Infrastructure Australia or any planning, it was just a gift from Tony Abbott. When you do that kind of planning you can expect major problems."

IA noted in its subsequent assessment that PFL was not mentioned in major state planning strategies. 

In his "Infrastructure Prime Minister" stage, former PM Tony Abbott announced the PFL in the 2014 federal budget alongside other captain's call picks, the East West link in Melbourne, dumped after Labor won an election, and the controversial WestConnex toll highway project in Sydney. 

The Australian National Audit Office has since found each of those two controversial projects shotgunned normal assessment processes. It has not yet evaluated the Perth Freight Link.

Labor powerbroker Alannah MacTiernan has described the PFL as having "arrived like a UFO in the May 2014 Budget."

East Fremantle mayor Jim O'Neill, Cockburn mayor Logan Howlett, Fremantle mayor Brad Pettitt, Federal Labor MP Alannah MacTiernan, Ben Elton and Greens Senator Scott Ludlam

East Fremantle mayor Jim O'Neill, Cockburn mayor Logan Howlett, Fremantle mayor Brad Pettitt, Federal Labor MP Alannah MacTiernan, Ben Elton and Greens Senator Scott Ludlam Photo: Aaron Bunch

Why do we need a solution at all?  

In a nutshell, Fremantle Port is in a tricky area that's hard to reach and is already very built up. 

WA is growing fast. The economy is growing, the population is growing, road transport is increasing, more trade is going through Fremantle Port Inner Harbour and the existing road network is constraining productivity.

Everyone agrees these issues are pressing. But Labor's solutions are markedly different.

Roads in the southern suburbs are under pressure.

Roads in the southern suburbs are under pressure. Photo: Paul Rovere

What exactly does Labor promise instead?

Labor has vowed to scrap the PFL, end the existing contract Main Roads has signed to build Roe 8 and reallocate all remaining funding (about $1.7 billion) to its own congestion-related projects, three immediate and one longer-term.

Immediately:

1) Construct Armadale Road dual carriageway between Anstey Road and Tapper Road ($145 million from forward estimates.) Includes create public transport corridor.

2) Build the $166 million Armadale Road Bridge, linking North Lake Road and Armadale Road over Kwinana Freeway.

3) Invest $95million to build two new overpasses on Wanneroo Road, one at the intersection of Ocean Reef Road and the other at the Joondalup Drive intersection.

Longer term, it has committed $20 million and a taskforce for planning its longer term Freight and Trade policy including planning for the construction of a harbour at Kwinana. 

It says heavy freight traffic through Fremantle and surrounding suburbs will be reduced as Fremantle Port reaches capacity and freight is transitioned to the new Outer Harbour.

It has promised to maintain Fremantle Port as an operational port in public ownership.

Supporting this plan, as well as most of the concerned councils, are the RAC, Conservation Council of WA and other conservation groups.

Mark McGowan has a different vision.

Mark McGowan has a different vision. Photo: Supplied

What role does this potential second harbour play?

Governments of both stripes have for many years acknowledged need for an outer harbour at Kwinana to take the brunt of freight in the longer term future as there is consensus Fremantle Port will reach capacity over the next decade.

The most recent Regional Development Australia report; Perth and Peel Economic Development Strategy and Infrastructure Priority Plan identified an Outer Harbour in Cockburn Sound as a "game-changing initiative" and has warned that without its development, WA will be "held back".

The City of Kwinana's proposal for an outer harbour showed a second port could be made operational within a decade for around the same amount of investment currently committed to the Freight Link.

Labor talks more about its commitment to the harbour here. 

The government has not signalled any immediate plans to progress with an outer harbour and has progressed a Bill to privatise Fremantle Port, a plan not supported by its National Party coalition partner.

Fremantle port is set to be sold if the Liberal government stays in power.

Fremantle port is set to be sold if the Liberal government stays in power.

How much would it cost Labor to break Roe 8 contracts?

WA Labor says it sought independent legal advice from former WA Solicitor General Grant Donaldson before deciding to break the Roe 8 contract.

This advice indicated the move would only have a "modest cost".

Transport Minister Bill Marmion has estimated it could cost $20-$40 million, but Labor countered that Mr Marmion was betting on a particular clause being included in the contract, which their lawyer advised was not.

Labor says its final costings will include an allocation for contract renegotiation.

Will the Federal Government let Labor just spend the billion on something else?  

A spokesman for federal Urban Infrastructure Minister Paul Fletcher said the $1.2 billion committed by the Federal Government was "specific to the project" and could not " simply be re-allocated".

But the federal government recently released the $1.5 billion in funding to the new government that canned the East West Link in Victoria, allowing it to be spent on other projects - a parallel situation. 

"We would expect the same treatment as Victoria received and I would not take any notice of the blusterings of ministers, federal ministers, before the state election," leader Mark McGowan has told media.  

Minister Fletcher.

Minister Fletcher. Photo: Louise Kennerley

What does the RAC think?

Perth Freight Link was not on the RAC's top five priority list and it had consistently called for the full business case to be released, Corporate Affairs manager Will Golsby said. 

"In 2014 when it arrived in the Federal Budget there was a lack of information," he said.

"We were not aware it would be announced in the Federal budget, we asked for the information then.

"The project has also changed. It started as Northlink, the scope changed with a change of minister, then it was Roe 8, now there is discussion around Roe 9. There is a lack of information across the board to make an informed decision ... confusion around the project, the staging, where it starts and stops, getting to the port, and issues around the port. There are all these different timelines around the ports. What we want to see is all the stats, all the facts, so people can make an informed decision.

"The community needs some certainty.

"Perth is 150 kilometres by 50 kilometres. One road in, one road out. The forward planning needs to be done. 2031 might sound a long way away – but it is crunch time for infrastructure in this state."

It's crunch time for infrastructure in a sprawling capital city, the RAC says.

It's crunch time for infrastructure in a sprawling capital city, the RAC says. Photo: Andrew Meares

What does Infrastructure Australia think?

The independent statutory body, mandated to prioritise and progress nationally significant infrastructure, noted when it prepared its assessment in 2015 that while the Link option was shortlisted, then selected, from a range of lower cost options, a benefit-cost ratio was completed for the preferred option only ... not completed from additional options to determine if the preferred option provided the greatest net benefits".

It noted there were other options, including the expansion of the outer harbour at Cockburn Sound, and lower cost options including a $100 million Leach Highway/High Street upgrade.

"Further, the assessment of options has had limited reliance on objective quantitative evidence," it said.

It found "significant weaknesses" in the government's assessment of the benefit-cost ratio as 2.5 to 1.

This allocated 80 per cent of the weight to benefits and only 20 per cent to costs, meaning it would likely bias assessment "in favour of higher cost options".

It also noted "significant risks" around estimated costs and benefits, and that transport modelling underpinning economic appraisal of the project did not factor in the "inducement of additional traffic as a result of lower costs of travel."

The best Infrastructure Australia could conclude was that the benefit-cost ratio would be "better than 1:1." 

Government documentation shows that the benefits calculated mainly consist of cost and time savings for freight operators. 

How many jobs does each plan promise?

The government claims Roe 8 will create about 500 direct jobs and Roe 9 will create 1900 direct jobs.

WA Labor claims its three immediate roads projects will create more than 1440 jobs.

The City of Kwinana claims construction of an outer harbour will create 37,383 direct jobs.

WA is hungry for jobs and there are plenty promised.

WA is hungry for jobs and there are plenty promised. Photo: James Davies

Has this kind of standoff pre-election happened before?

Yes – the East West Link in Victoria caused similar confusion in the community and the Napthine government signed a contract immediately before the 2014 state election, knowing the opposition – now government – opposed the project.

The project was then abandoned after the election and the federal government, as discussed above, released the funding for other projects. 

Victorian acting Auditor General Peter Frost later found the business case did not provide a sound basis for the government's decision to commit to the investment and that key decisions during the project planning, development and procurement phases were driven by an overriding sense of urgency to sign the contract before the November 2014 state election.

"This highlights a risk to the integrity of public administration that needs to be addressed," Dr Frost wrote. 

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews officially scrapped the East West Link project, which attracted controversy and protests.

Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews scrapped the East West Link, which attracted controversy and protests. Photo: Pat Scala​

What did the 2016 Senate inquiry conclude?

An inquiry was done in 2016 by a Senate committee consisting of three Labor senators, one Liberal, one National and one Green found the project was flawed and "poorly and hurriedly conceived".

The inquiry said the project was likely to exceed the $1.9 billion projected cost and this was proved by the additional Commonwealth funding of $260.8 million to tunnel certain parts of the project.

The inquiry voiced a concern that the project did not incorporate a strategy to improve traffic flows through Fremantle to the port itself and predicted a bottleneck at Stirling Bridge.

"Upgrades to bridges into Fremantle alone could add as much as $500 million," it said.

"No solution has been proposed as to how the City of Fremantle - which already faces significant traffic flow problems - would handle increased volumes of freight transport through its urban and residential streets."

There was also great uncertainty about the proposed toll system and associated costs and revenue.

It said all these potential cost increases could vary the economic benefit the Business Case executive summary indicated.

The Stirling Bridge is one of Fremantle's key traffic links.

The Stirling Bridge is one of Fremantle's key traffic links. Photo: Google

What did the 2017 Senate inquiry conclude?

A snap Senate inquiry was called in February after a large volume of complaints, containing time-stamped photographic documentation of fauna being killed and overlooked by contractors, fell on deaf ears at state and federal agencies.

It found that clearing at the Roe 8 project site was proceeding in defiance of environmental law and called for a halt in proceedings, which has not eventuated. 

It recommended that the Australian National Audit Office investigate the Perth Freight Link and whether it represents value for $1.2 billion federal funding, as the WestConnex and East West Link projects were audited. 

Liberal members broke ranks to submit a dissenting minority report, seen in the same document. 

What do councils think? 

The South West Group of Councils includes Cockburn, Melville, Fremantle, East Fremantle, Kwinana and Rockingham.

The City of Melville is the only one to support the link.

The others staunchly oppose the Link, with the exception of Rockingham which has stayed out of things altogether.  

The group commissioned an independent report, whose findings were released late last year, which found that without the Freight Link there would be $820 million worth of alternative roadworks needed. 

Melville says this equals evidence the Freight Link is necessary.

The director of the group South West Group director Mick McCarthy told media at the time the group had chosen not to establish a position due to the internal disagreement.

The City of Armadale is continuing to campaign hard for the government to match Labor's promise to get on with the Armadale Road Bridge.

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