Bruce Billson (Dunkley, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Small Business, Competition Policy and Consumer Affairs) Share this | Hansard source

Thank you, Deputy Speaker. I was pleased to support the original motion about an important project for the great city of Melbourne, and I will talk to the amendment as well. It is bewildering to me—and I have been in this parliament for many years—but it seems that whenever it comes to major infrastructure projects, Labor is always late to the party. We in this place would remember the extraordinary battle that coalition members had to get the Scoresby Freeway off the ground. We remember the betrayal of Labor when they promised before a state election that there would be no tolls on the Scoresby Freeway but the freeway became a fee-way under Labor. They abandoned the commitment they used to try to show the electors of the east and south-east of Melbourne that they finally got the issue in relation to a toll-free Scoresby Freeway only to betray that electorate shortly after.

We have seen it again down my way. I have had to work year after year to try to get the Peninsula Link, the Frankston bypass, constructed. Labor ministers like Peter Batchelor said: 'There's no need for this. There's no case for it.' Have a look at the success of that project—one that was instigated by the Howard-Costello government. Peter Costello came down to the Dunkley electorate, stood at one of the most congested intersections on the continent of Australia in October 2007 and made a $150 million commitment to the construction of a toll-free Frankston bypass. That built the momentum of that project. Again, where was Labor? Running around saying it was completely unnecessary and would not add anything to the community. Yet we know in the Dunkley electorate and in the region what a vital carriageway that is for enterprise opportunities, for access to education, for people to access a livelihood and for the quality of the experience that many visitors to the region can have on the peninsula. It is a wonderful asset and a wonderful commitment. Again Labor was late to the party.

Here we see it again when it comes to this east-west project. This is an important project critically for the east and south-eastern suburbs of Melbourne. Those against it seemingly only think that what needs to be moved around the great metropolis of Melbourne is people. Moving people is an important task, but moving freight, businesses and enterprise is equally important. You never hear that being spoken about by those who criticise the east-west link.

The RACV has made it clear that it is a No. 1 priority. The state government has made it clear it is a No. 1 priority. There was chaos and mayhem when a recent truck accident on the Bolte Bridge brought much of the city to a standstill. Some of the representatives talk against the very project that would have given their constituents in that part of the community some relief and their businesses the capacity to continue to operate. They talk against it yet the evidence was enormous in people's eyes there. How could you be against that proposal?

You hear some people say that it is all about moving people, but that is only part of how a city functions. You cannot get a tradesperson to park their trailer on the back of a train to get to a job. You cannot get a manufacturer from my community moving their highly transformed and high-value products to the market on a train. The future prospects of the Port of Hastings will provide enormous relief in terms of congestion in and around the city, but you cannot move a container on a passenger train. You actually need capacity, infrastructure, resources and a balanced approach to your infrastructure planning.

This motion talks about that but the amendment seems to turn its back on the need to get that east-west project off the ground. Is it merely a very poor, timid effort by a dysfunctional and divided Labor government to turn its back on this priority? Is this just a smokescreen to try to make it look like they kind of care but not really care enough to do something about it? This election will not only be a referendum about an appalling government that has mortgaged our future and future opportunities for many who rely on the smooth movement of people, equipment, assets, business and product; it will be a referendum on the east-west tunnel—whether Labor back up its talk, its weasel words, its timid head nod to what is an important project while they try to create another distraction so people do not look at this important project.

For my community this project is important. It is about getting our assets, our enterprise, our business outputs and our opportunities better connected with our marketplaces wherever they might be. It is a further investment on the infrastructure strategy that we have pursued that has been opposed every step of the way by Labor. What is it about Labor? They always come late to the party on major infrastructure projects. We saw this with Scoresby. We saw it with the Frankston bypass. We are seeing it again here. At least they are consistent. (Time expired)

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