WA Liberal senator Matt O’Sullivan isn’t going to get drawn into a debate on whether Fremantle council botched an opportunity to get funding to fix Arthur Head.

The senator took a tour of the site with state Liberal candidate Miquela Riley and Fremantle Society president John Dowson last week, checking out WA’s oldest building – and also the ugly scaffolding that skirts the site to protect visitors from falling rocks.

During the tour Mr O’Sullivan revealed he’d contacted Fremantle council about projects that could be brought forward to stimulate the economy with federal cash.

Arthur Head wasn’t on the council’s list, which had Mr Dowson raising an eyebrow, particularly as the council had last year asked the society to help look for possible funding. 

When the Herald asked Mr O’Sullivan’s office whether he’d imposed any guidelines that would have excluded Arthur Head, he dodged the question but noted Fremantle had received $293,902 to accelerate infrastructure programs.

“Quite rightly, the city have a range of shovel-ready projects, with a high economic return on investment,” Mr O’Sullivan said.

“There is no doubt the Round House at Arthur Head is of critical cultural significance not only locally, but to Western Australia more broadly. Along with our local Liberal candidate Miquela Riley, I toured the site and saw first-hand it is in a serious state of disrepair and needs critical investment to ensure it is preserved for generations to come.”

by STEVE GRANT