Premier Colin Barnett has committed a future Liberal government to build the long-proposed Perth-Darwin Highway adding to a string of expensive transport projects the competing parties have promised.
The project would see traffic redirected away from the Swan Valley onto a new highway.
The 37km long project would run from the Tonkin highway termination at Reid highway to the Great Northern Highway at Muchea.
Mr Barnett said his government would “allocate $196 million to complete the necessary land acquisition and approval process and get construction under way.”
Opposition Labor leader Mark McGowan questioned where the remaining money for the project would come from.
“Mr Barnett announcing a project with only $196million of the $800million required smacks of desperation,” said Mr McGowan.
He also said that if Treasurer Troy Buswell was going to use federal money he would have to explain where it would come from with Federal Nation Building money already earmarked by Mr Buswell for use on the proposed rail-line to the airport and the MAX light rail system.
Mr McGowan said Labor believed it was a Commonwealth responsibility to fund a majority of the project and said if elected he would actively pressure Canberra.
