exclusive
Rita Saffioti’s tourism dream for WA revealed: Inter Milan, wrestling and the Ellenbrook train line

She has her hands on the State’s finances and needs to make sure the trains and buses run on time. But new deputy Premier — and Tourism Minister — Rita Saffioti also wants more visitors to WA. Ms Saffioti is wasting no time and is dreaming big. She has revealed to The Sunday Times she wants to kick a major goal by getting top-flight Italian football side Inter-Milan — featuring Argentinean World Cup winner Lautaro Martinez — to Perth. “The dream would be land an Italian soccer team (to Perth),” she said. “To get every passionate soccer fan to come to Perth. “The Coldplay example shows that if you can get them just to come to WA, you will get thousands of people from over east. “So the dream is to land an Italian soccer team. I watched Inter Milan play Napoli in Milan in January with my kids — 85,000 people were there.” The minister said previous successes when English Premier League teams had played in Perth were a blueprint for the future. Four EPL teams — Manchester United, Leeds, Aston Villa, and Crystal Palace — played in Perth last year, bringing 14,480 visitors from outside of WA. This year, Tottenham, under new Australian coach Ange Postecoglou, are heading to Perth to play West Ham at Optus Stadium on July 18. “This is turning out to be a major event because of Ange’s involvement,” Ms Saffioti said. And in news that will have wrestling fans salivating, Ms Saffioti has revealed discussions with World Wrestling Entertainment are developing strongly to bring a major wrestling event such as WrestleMania to Perth. As revealed by The Sunday Times in May, WWE heavyweights were recently in Perth to look at facilities with a view of bringing one of the world’s great spectacles to Perth. The likes of Australian-born wrestling sensation Rhea Ripley and YouTube star-turned-wrestler Logan Paul — who was mobbed when he came to Perth in February for the UFC — could well be part of a WWE extravaganza at Optus Stadium. A WWE Perth show would build on the success of this year’s UFC spectacular in February which, along with other events such as performances by Sting and the Red Hot Chili Peppers, attracted more than 9000 people, with a total hotel room weekend spend of about $6 million. “Wrestling would be huge,” Ms Saffioti said. “There are very strong negotiations (with WWE) with the wrestling. “My understanding is that it’s looking very promising, but we haven’t completely landed it yet.” It has been a tumultuous two weeks in State politics following former premier Mark McGowan’s decision to quit politics. Roger Cook is now the Premier, but Ms Saffioti has emerged as one of the State’s most powerful figures as Deputy Premier, Treasurer, and Transport and Tourism Minister. She bristled at suggestions her workload was too much. “I don’t know what people have been doing over the past six years,” she said. “I have been working pretty hard — and I had at least three big economic portfolios for the past six years: ports, planning and transport. “So managing workloads is something I have been managing effectively from day one. “I was actually quite surprised by the conversation (that I have too many portfolios).” Working hard is something Ms Saffioti has done all of her life. Her mother and father, Nicodemo and Giuseppina Saffioti, ran a family orchard in Roleystone, and Ms Saffioti has fond memories of herself and her sister Connie working on the property. “From a very young age, all I can remember is working on my school holidays in the orchard,” she said. “My dad’s biggest criticism of anyone was laziness. He hated lazy people. He also hated two-faced people.” Ms Saffioti’s journey to the 13th floor of Dumas House has been decades in the making. After graduating with an Economics degree at Curtin University, she spent time in Canberra working for the Department of Finance before returning to WA to work for the WA Treasury. She went on to become an economic adviser to former premier Dr Geoff Gallop, chief of staff to former premier Alan Carpenter and eventually the member for West Swan in 2008. At heart, she remains that girl from Roleystone whose best education was watching her Italian-born parents etch out a new life in Australia, fuelled by hard work, self-belief and determination. Ms Saffioti says bringing up three young children — Grace, 13 and twins Alessandro and Lucia, 11, gives her plenty of grounding. “I wake up about 5.15am. I sort all their breakfast out. I do cooked breakfasts, because my view is if I can get them to eat well in the morning that is a good start to the day,” she said. “Then I do all their lunches. And then I get them ready. As I am separated, that brings another level of difficulty because there are a lot of things you have to do yourself.” As Treasurer, Ms Saffioti will play a key role in the 2025 election. Striking the right balance between making sure the State’s billion-dollar-plus surpluses adequately address problems in the State and not returning WA to the days of budget deficits and growing debt will be a challenge. Regardless, Ms Saffioti said she is fully aware of the challenges facing many WA families. As someone who has a mortgage, she can fully understand why a 12th interest rate hike this week has many families worried. “I sought to refinance (my home loan) already because of the impact,” she said. “It is hard. I do the shopping. You realise how some things have increased (in price).” On Sunday, Ms Saffioti will open the new Lakelands train station south of Perth. Government sources say talk she would shed the transport portfolio in the Cabinet reshuffle was “laughable”, with Ms Saffioti desperate to see through to the end Labor’s much-lauded Metronet projects. “There is no way Rita would have wanted to stand back and watch someone else cut the ribbons on her projects,” a source said. Ms Saffioti admits delivering the multi-billion-dollar Metronet project, which includes building a series of new train lines, stations and crossings in areas like Ellenbrook and Yanchep, has been challenging. The 2023-24 Budget revealed a $1.2b escalation in the price tag of four Metronet projects — the Morley-Ellenbrook line ($528.1 million), the Yanchep rail extension ($375.3m), the Thornlie-Cockburn Link ($243.8m) and Bayswater Station ($107.4m). “I accept there have been cost overruns,” Ms Saffioti said. “But I always say, anyone who has been out there putting up a pergola, fixing their kitchen cabinets, will tell you everything has cost more.” Ms Saffioti said building the Ellenbrook line, in particular, was not just about delivering a promised project. For her, it is personal, having invested several years of her life working towards it. “There is no way I will not deliver that line,” she said. “We are planning for construction to finish at the end of next year.”

The West Australian exclusiveRita Saffioti’s tourism dream for WA revealed: Inter Milan, wrestling and the Ellenbrook train line

exclusive
Rita Saffioti’s tourism dream for WA revealed: Inter Milan, wrestling and the Ellenbrook train line