A REVIVED Liberal plan for the controversial Roe 8 highway extension in Perth would not introduce a toll booth for vehicles but there would be a levy cost for trucks, the West Australian opposition says.
The McGowan government axed the road project when it came to power in 2017 but the opposition is seeking to make it an election issue again in 2021 following an announcement at the Liberal state conference at the weekend.
Opposition leader Liza Harvey told 6PR radio on Monday that under the plan “there will be a truck toll but not a commuter toll”.
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She later issued a statement clarifying her use of the word “toll”, which is commonly used to describe road booths, saying “there was never going to be any toll”.
“There will be a levy exclusively paid by the heavy haulage industry – a levy which the industry has readily agreed to because it knows Roe 8 and Roe 9 will mean significant productivity gains for their industry,” Ms Harvey said.
“74,000 cars and 7000 trucks a year would be removed from local roads and significantly improve road safety and congestion if this project goes ahead.”
Ms Harvey said the federal government was still willing to provide $1.2 billion for the highway extension, which would create 10,000 jobs.
But Premier Mark McGowan said tolls, which do not exist in WA, were the same as levies.
“It’s the thin edge of the wedge. Once you put it in place on a truck, an easy revenue raising measure is to put it in place on cars and that’s exactly what would happen,” he told reporters.
“If you go and Google the definition, a toll is the same as a levy … so they’re going to open the floodgates to tolls in WA.”
Transport Minister Rita Saffioti added that the Liberals had been in government for eight years yet never delivered Roe 8.
The previous Barnett government had started clearing the Beeliar Wetlands, prompting protests before Labor won the election in a landslide and abandoned the project.
The McGowan government last year introduced legislation to rezone part of the wetlands to parks and recreation, but Ms Harvey said on Sunday that the Liberals were confident of blocking it with the help of crossbenchers.