State Budget 2024: Price of major South West projects blowout as BORR cost increases by another $200m

A further $200 million for the Bunbury Outer Ring Road is one many price increases revealed in the 2024-25 State Budget for major South West projects. The BORR will now cost $1.46 billion to complete, a whopping $600 million more than was originally estimated. The controversial road had already been confirmed to have risen in price to $1.25 billion but material costs have continued to plague the project’s bottom line. It was also revealed the Bussell Highway duplication project will now cost $40 million more than first expected, rising to $125 million. The upgrade is a joint project between the State and Federal governments — split with 20 per cent from the State and 80 per cent from their Federal counterparts — meaning the State Government will fork out an extra $8 million. The Australind Railcar Replacement project has also seen its cost balloon with a 45 per cent increase for the two trains meaning now each one will cost more than $40 million. The replacement was supposed to cost $55 million for six rail cars making two trains — that cost is now $81 million. Away from transport, the Budget also reiterated the extra $173 million cost to the Bunbury Regional Hospital which was announced by Health Minister Amber-Jade Sanderson in April. The expansion to the hospital’s maternity, birthing and neonatal services will now come to a total of $451 million. The Bunbury Water Resource Recovery Scheme which was announced in 2020 as a way to recycle water to water Bunbury’s parks is now estimated to come into effect in 2028-29 financial year after being indefinitely delayed. Speaking about the BORR, Regional Development Minister and Bunbury MLA Don Punch said rising costs for construction led to the unavoidable increase in price. “There’s not a construction project anywhere that hasn’t experienced an increase in costs associated with material supply, all sorts of factors were contributing to that and we’ve seen that significantly in the post-COVID period,” he said. “It’d be a variety of factors, that can be construction costs associated with particular components of the outer ring road in terms of soil conditions, or construction of bridges. “Particularly as I said, material supplies is critical to it so on a scale of a project like the outer ring road, and the country that it is traversing, there are many factors that can contribute to the increase in cost.” The Budget had a number of other new measures targeted at Bunbury such as a $1 million fund for relocating the Bunbury BreastScreen WA clinic. $4m will go towards a new accessible fishing jetty and $1.6m will go towards creating an international conference in Bunbury over the next three years to promote the South West. Funds were also retained for the South West Aboriginal Medical Health Service at a cost of $18.3 million while $9.5 million will go towards reclading and structural improvements to Bunbury Port sheds.