Bruce Billson (Dunkley, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Sustainable Development and Cities) Share this | Hansard source

Madam Deputy Speaker Burke, you perhaps are one of many from our area of Victoria who awoke this morning to this screaming headline in the Herald Sun on the Frankston bypass. It is welcome news; I hope it is accurate. The newspaper says that the Frankston bypass, something we have canvassed many times in this place, will be built. It will be a toll-free bypass and the article in the newspaper says that the Rudd government will fund half of it. This is welcome if not surprising news. Today I seek to draw out whether this is a positioning by the state Labor government or whether the Rudd government has decided to apply some of that Herculean surplus that was left for it by the Howard government to this very important local project.

The Herald Sun carries the detail of the project in some clarity and clearly makes the case for its need. It concludes in its editorial that a toll-weary community down our way will welcome this $700 million project, half the funding of which is to come from the state coffers and Mr Brumby will tap the Prime Minister for the balance. It is terrific if there is $350 million of federal money going towards this project.

Madam Deputy Speaker, you might recall in the lead-up to the last election that the Howard government pledged that, if re-elected, we would contribute significant funds to this project and we were condemned for making a commitment to the project until those vital costing and EES processes had been concluded. How ironic that the EES process has not been concluded, the costings have not been finalised and yet we have this screaming headline in the local paper.

I found it amusing to look back over some articles, particularly when Martin Ferguson, the then shadow minister for transport, was quite critical of the Howard government showing its clear commitment to this project and outlined the very key criteria that needed to be addressed to see the project move forward. These were about an environmentally responsible alignment. I am pleased that my suggestion to realign the northern end of the bypass through the old Keith Turnbull Research Institute, protecting much of the Pines flora and fauna reserve, has been embraced. There are areas of wildlife corridor where elevated sections of freeway are required. There is also the importance of sound barriers to protect the local residents and the need to provide for active transport modes for those wanting to either walk or use a bike along that pathway. It is necessary to make sure that the bypass is connected to both the Frankston Freeway and the EastLink Tollway.

Madam Deputy Speaker, you may be aware that the EastLink consortium did offer, to the state government, to build it by extending their concession over the EastLink Tollway. That was declined. The Howard government’s proposal to part-fund the project was condemned by Labor, and now we are greeted with this headline. I hope this headline is true. I hope we can believe that there will be a toll-free Frankston bypass. I do hope that the funding claimed in this article is accurate and that the Rudd government has made a decision to get behind the project, because as all of the media coverage shows we have had to drag Labor kicking and screaming to the project. I hope there is a bright light at the end of the tunnel. (Time expired)

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