WA Premier says upgrade to Perth Convention Centre not value for money, after plans scrapped

The most senior leaders in the WA government are insisting a cancelled upgrade of the Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre (PCEC) would not have been value for money, despite the deputy premier describing the building as a "cockroach".

The government announced on Thursday it would divert the project's entire budget towards three major hospital upgrades — a pot of money said to be "at least" $1.6 billion.

At least $35 million had already been spent on planning the major revamp of the convention centre, in an attempt to make it more attractive to business and the public.

Instead, the government will use part of the funds to take over the privately owned St John of God Mount Lawley Hospital to add up to 100 extra beds to the public health system, and build a new facility at the Peel Health Campus site in Mandurah.

It would also build a new six-storey block on the northern side of Royal Perth Hospital, with a two-storey emergency department, while the other four floors are marked for general use.

Not value for money: premier

The government is defending the decision to scrap the convention centre project, which the premier said was made late last month, upon criticism from business and tourism stakeholders, and the opposition.

At a press conference on Friday announcing further details about the health projects, Roger Cook sidestepped questions about why it needed to choose between the two given WA had posted successive multi-billion-dollar budget surpluses.

He insisted the project would not have been value for money.

"We have to make choices, that's what government has to do," he said.

"It's a constrained site, it's a very complex site, we have a lot of engineering challenges."

The premier denied he misled the Wyllie Group, which is one of the two leaseholders of the convention centre and has been a strong advocate for its redevelopment.

"We worked very closely and worked in good faith with the Wyllie Group and other stakeholders at the PCEC to bring it to bear … we're all disappointed that we've come to the point we have," he said.

"We would have loved to have seen that project go ahead.

The premier argued events would have had to be cancelled, while the Deputy Premier Rita Saffioti, who last year described the building as a "cockroach", said construction would have an unacceptable impact on road and rail infrastructure in the CBD.

"We tried really hard to make this work — we really did," she said.

Asked why these issues weren't foreseen, the premier argued "it's only after you go in deep, and really do the studies and have a full understanding of it".

'Our city deserves better'

The premier's comments today stand in stark contrast to his own previous opinions on why the convention centre needed to be upgraded.

"Our city deserves better than a shed on the river and this will right an historic wrong," he declared when announcing the plans in January 2024.

Mr Cook said the PCEC was one of the "oldest and smallest" convention centres in Australia.

"If we are going to attract prosperous business events to Perth, we need to continue to upgrade the facilities we make available to them," he said.

A missed opportunity: opposition

Yesterday, Opposition Leader Basil Zempilas criticised the decision to scrap the redevelopment, saying it would have brought in $180 million annually and more than 70,000 international and interstate delegates.

While Mr Zempilas supported funding for the hospital development, he questioned why the state government's $217.5 million spend on the Burswood Racetrack, and tens of millions of dollars spent on establishing an NRL team, were prioritised over the PCEC.

"I'd love to see the three business cases for the rugby team, for the race track and for the PCEC redevelopment laid out next to each other so that we could all decide with all of the information before us," he said.

Mr Zempilas said the money allocated for the rugby team and the race track "could have gone to the PCEC redevelopment, and it's for others to decide what would ultimately bring in the most net gain".

He warned Mr Cook will lose the faith of the public if he repeats the "pattern" of not following through on his announcements.

"Don't make the announcement, don't have the press conference, don't get everybody all excited and rock backwards and forwards on your heels like you're the cat that got the cream, show the pretty pictures and then say, 'oh it was too difficult we're not going to do it'," he said.

"That's not how you lead premier."