WITH the federal election in its final stages, both major candidates in the Fremantle race have made last-minute promises to help garner support.
If the Labor government are re-elected, new ‘Cockitrough’ cockatoo watering stations will be installed in various locations including Munster, Success, South Lake, Banjup, and Lake Coogee, according to current Fremantle member Josh Wilson.
Additionally, the Friends of Clontarf Hill in Beaconsfield will be granted $35,000 to install a Cockitrough alongside a new solar PV battery system, water tank, and fencing.
The Cockitrough ‘network’ will “provide a permanent source of fresh water” for the area’s cockatoo species, as well as offer a reduced predation risk.
• Labor is promising funds for cockitroughs if it wins, providing water along the migratory routes of black cockatoos.
Mr Wilson credited the City of Cockburn for initiating the Cockitrough development under its Black Cockatoo Conservation plan, as well as the Friends of Clontarf Hill for campaigning for its installation.
“The endangered Carnaby’s and Red-Tailed Forest Cockatoos are an awesome natural feature of our skies and reserves across Cockburn and Fremantle because they are attracted to what is the most complete remaining chain of bushland in the southwest metropolitan area, the Beeliar Regional Park system,” Mr Wilson said.
“While we are fortunate that the Beeliar Regional Park and adjacent reserves and bushland weave through almost the entire length and breadth of the Fremantle electorate, it is an ecologically fragmented landscape, and that presents challenges for these wonderful cockatoos that forage and roost in our community.”
Independent candidate Kate Hulett announced this week she would use the balance of power in a potential hung parliament to “demand” federal funding for the Fremantle/Murdoch light rail link.
The proposed link, which would run from Murdoch through Samson, Hilton and Beaconsfield, was proposed by the five councils comprising the South West Group and is also considered a “national priority” by the Infrastructure Australia.
Ms Hulett says the federal government has “done nothing” towards the rail link since it was prioritised in 2021.
It would be “magic” for the electorate if it is built, she said.
“[The link] will reduce congestion, improve access to hospitals and universities, encourage infill, revitalise our suburbs and free up car bays downtown,” Ms Hulett said in a statement to the Herald.
“Infrastructure Australia agree, rating this project in our electorate as a national priority.
“If I’m elected with the balance of power, I will make the next Labor government deliver this vital public transport link for Fremantle.”
by KATHERINE KRAAYVANGER