No joke. Opposition says Labor's $217 million Burswood budget must be put to the test
The Opposition has poured doubt on the Government's costings for the controversial project, which was announced in February during the election campaign and doesn't yet have a formal business case.
The West Australian's Ben Harvey, in his Sunday Times column, said he was 'so certain the race track won't come in on time and budget' that he pledged to run a lap fully nude on the race track's opening day if he was wrong.
Government Minister Jackie Jarvis suggested the tongue-in-cheek bet would be extra motivation to keep spending in check, before realising he was betting the budget would blow out.
'It's an entertainment precinct, I'm not sure that's the type of entertainment we had in mind,' she told reporters on Sunday.
'It's a quandary. I mean we want to be careful with taxpayers' money, we might just have to have a closed track option that day!'
Opposition Leader Basil Zempilas is confident the nude run won't happen, declaring the project will run over budget.
'The Minister admitted to me the $217 million dollar cost of the project is a guess based on draft assessments,' he said.
'This is a Government who don't listen and don't care, they do what they want and spend what they want. And they don't follow the rules.
'Minister Saffioti couldn't even confirm in estimates if the race track will be assessed by Infrastructure WA.'
Labor confirmed a business case for the Burswood entertainment precinct is 'in development' during Budget estimates, when the Premier was put under pressure to explain why the plan has not been submitted to Infrastructure WA for independent assessment.
'I can confirm that the proposal has not been submitted, and Infrastructure WA has not yet been provided with a business case for assessment,' Mr Cook said.
'Obviously it is a project that at this stage is estimated to be over $100 million once the design and business case has been completed. It would, as a matter of course be referred to Infrastructure WA for its views.'
A group of companies was awarded the contract to design and build the project this month, as the Cook Government aims to finish the racetrack in time for the opening round of the V8 Supercars in 2027.
The consortium that includes Seymour Whyte, Civmec and Aurecon was the same group behind Perth's Boorloo pedestrian and cycling bridge that opened in East Perth in December and was $50 million over budget.
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