New Perth Lord Mayor Bruce Reynolds says redevelopment remains vital despite government axing $1.6 billion project

Perth’s new Mayor Bruce Reynolds says the long-awaited overhaul of Perth’s convention center remains “incredibly important” to the city’s economic future, despite the WA government officially canceling the $1.6 billion redevelopment project last week.

In 2024, the state government announced it would renovate the aging centre, built 20 years ago, to create a “world-class, iconic waterfront destination”.

However, the government confirmed in a media statement on 6 November that the redevelopment would be abandoned, citing rising costs, including more than $500 million in transport improvements to accommodate construction.

The money has been reallocated to building hospital infrastructure across the province, including Mount Lawley, the Royal Perth Hospital and three new hospital projects in Peel.

Reynolds said he couldn’t blame the government for the City of Perth prioritizing hospitals, but stressed shelving the project would not be sustainable in the long term.

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“A world-class convention center remains incredibly important to Perth,” Reynolds said.

“This is one of the key pieces of infrastructure that helps us attract major conferences, investments, trade delegations and global attention.

“I said in our previous conversation that this would be a trampoline of opportunity, and I still believe that.”