CONSTITUENCY STATEMENTS

Ms PRICE (Durack) (09:54): For more than 20 years the people of Broome have been waiting for a safe, all-tide boating facility. Time and time again they have been promised action, yet still nothing has been delivered. Broome is the jewel in the crown of Western Australia's north, a world-class tourism destination, the gateway to the Kimberley and home to some of the most spectacular coastline in the country.

It also has one of the highest numbers of boat owners in WA, yet it lacks a proper safe boat ramp or boating infrastructure. In 2022 the Cook Labor government announced a welcome $77 million project at Entrance Point. Two years on, construction has not started, and approvals remain incomplete.

This delay is totally unacceptable. Broome faces some of the world's largest tides—up to 10 metres—combined with strong winds and swell. Launching and retrieving boats under these conditions is dangerous and places locals and visitors at risk.

I recently met with the Broome Fishing Club with the Leader of the WA Liberal Party, Basil Zempilas. The club made it even more clear: this facility is urgently needed. Their heartbreaking stories of damaged vessels and near misses highlight that this is a real safety issue not just an inconvenience.

The Cook Labor government has had more than enough time. It must stop the excuses, finalise approvals and get on with delivering the safe, modern boating facility Broome has been promised for over two decades. Quite simply, the Broome boating community cannot wait any longer.

In the town of Carnarvon in the Gascoyne region of my electorate of Durack, bananas are not just fruit; they are a livelihood. Families have been growing them for generations, working through floods, droughts and cyclones. They've survived it all through hard work and their resilience.

Carnarvon's banana plantations produce nearly 80 per cent of all bananas consumed in WA, and much of the work is still done by hand, with bunches weighing up to 50 kilograms. Today on National Banana Day—shout-out to the bananas out there!—it's worth reflecting on the hard work of these families and the new threat that they now face. The federal department of agriculture is reviewing a request from the Philippines to import their bananas.

Do you know what's really bananas? It's that the Albanese government is even considering this proposal. Australian growers already produce more than enough high-quality fruit to supply our domestic market year-round.

Allowing imports is just unnecessary, and it's downright dangerous. Exotic diseases like moko or black sigatoka could devastate farms, wipe out crops and put Carnarvon families out of work. Our farmers, our families and our communities must come first.

I call on the government to deny the request and protect Carnarvon producers.