Prime Minister to visit Esperance, Crook

Author: Tony Crook
Published on: 08-August-2011

Nationals WA Federal Member for O’Connor Tony Crook MP has confirmed that Prime Minister Julia Gillard will visit Esperance this Thursday, August 11.

Mr Crook has lobbied the Prime Minister to visit the electorate of O’Connor, where she will be briefed on a number of significant local infrastructure projects.

The Prime Minister is expected to visit Esperance on Thursday morning where she will take a tour of the Esperance Port and meet with community representatives.

“Having the Prime Minister visit Esperance to view the town’s infrastructure needs is a wonderful opportunity for the Esperance community,” Mr Crook said.

Mr Crook said a tour of the Esperance Port would provide the Prime Minister with a greater insight into the infrastructure needs of the Port and demonstrate how Esperance would tie in to the PortLink project.

“The Esperance Port plays a pivotal role in the PortLink project,” Mr Crook said.

“Connecting Esperance to the rest of the nation through the PortLink project is a major undertaking and it is important for the Prime Minister to understand the full scope of this nation-building project.”

The Prime Minister will also be briefed on the redevelopment of the Esperance Foreshore.

“The Esperance community have highlighted the Esperance Foreshore redevelopment as a key regional infrastructure project, and I understand they have made an application for this project to the Regional Development Australia fund,” Mr Crook said.

“I hope that by allowing the Prime Minister to see the importance of this proposal firsthand she will be able to utilise her influence to deliver a positive outcome for the region.”

Shire of Esperance CEO Mal Osborne said he looked forward to providing the Prime Minister with a greater insight into these projects.

“It is a privilege to have the Prime Minister visit Esperance. We will be taking this opportunity to brief the Prime Minister on our key projects as well as outlining the assistance we are seeking from the Federal Government to implement vital infrastructure in Esperance,” Mr Osborne said.

“As Esperance has recently been named a SuperTown, we are very keen to demonstrate our capacity to grow, in terms of population and economic development.”

Mr Osborne said the Esperance Shire would also take this opportunity to thank the Federal Government for providing funding for the Roads to Recovery Program; Homecare; and the Esperance Port Access Corridor.

Mr Crook said his position on the cross bench has allowed him to negotiate with both sides of Parliament to deliver better outcomes for regional Western Australia.

“Securing a visit from the Prime Minister to O’Connor would have been a much harder task sitting in Opposition,” Mr Crook said.

“I recognise the value of this visit and I will be leveraging this opportunity to deliver a positive outcome for the people of O’Connor.”

It is expected the Prime Minister will visit Albany on Thursday afternoon to be briefed on the role Albany will play in the Anzac Centenary Commemorations in 2014.

See this article on the member's website