12th Oct 2015, 4:07 PM – Senate Motions - Perth Freight Link - Delay

The same number of senators voted for and against a motion introduced by West Australian Senator Scott Ludlam (Greens), which means it failed.

Motion text

That the Senate—

(a) notes

(i) that a Supreme Court action was lodged on Thursday, 10 September 2015, against the approval given by the Western Australian Minister for Environment (Mr Jacob) to the Roe 8 extension Stage 1 of the Perth Freight Link, and includes significant new revelations of bias and conflict of interest on the Environment Protection Authority board, potentially tainting the entire assessment process,

(ii) the opposition to this project by over 30 separate residents' and community groups, at least 3 local councils, and almost 15 000 individuals via petitions since 2008,

(iii) the well documented flaws in the federal environmental assessment process, including flawed surveys of the iconic Black Cockatoo, and

(iv) the failure of the Government to release key documents to inform public evaluation of this project; and

(b) calls on the Minister representing the Minister for Infrastructure and Regional Development:

(i) to reprioritise $925 million in federal funding allocated to this project to actual solutions to Perth's freight task, including investment in freight rail and the Outer Harbour, and

(ii) to urgently request That the federal assessment be delayed until such time as the judicial review in the Supreme Court has been completed.