Rob Mitchell (McEwen, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

The amendment actually speaks about putting a business case forward, so this is about getting the East West Link done. We just heard from the missing link that he has not even read the amendment, because he does not know what it is about. He has just come in here, blah-blah-blahed and delivered nothing. It just shows that he is full of wind but has nothing to him. He is all froth and no substance.

This is a potentially good project. I say that because it is a project that is still in the early stages of planning, in that Infrastructure Australia have not received the business case. Mr Abbott promised $1.5 billion to begin building this road, saying that Infrastructure had told him that the East West Link was the No. 1 priority. He not only said that once but repeated it many times, and that is plainly untrue. It is untrue because Infrastructure Australia have not told him that. He went out and deliberately and knowingly misled the community by saying that he had taken the advice of Infrastructure Australia, when they had not received a business case. Isn't that against everything that the Liberals espouse? They say, 'Oh, you must have a proper business case.' Their hypocrisy is endless.

When it comes to infrastructure, this government can stand tall because federal Labor has more than doubled the annual infrastructure spending from $89 to $201 per Victorian. We have spent an unprecedented $6.8 billion from our six-year Nation Building Program to renew states' road, rail and public transport. We are determined to try and take the politics out of infrastructure funding decisions. We have a proper process—and that is what we are asking for—where projects get assessed before funding decisions are made.

You only have to look at the Victorian Liberal government to see that they could not manage a chook raffle in a pub, let alone a multibillion-dollar road project. Look at the road project history in Victoria, such as the lie that is the Kilmore bypass. The Liberals promised to build a $130 million bypass to take truck traffic off Kilmore and Wallan streets to improve traffic flow. In announcing the project, the then Liberal leader and the local MP said that if they got elected they would scrap the link road that was being proposed. The roadworks now being proposed are not a bypass but a destruction of heritage areas in Kilmore and a destruction of sporting precincts, and now the proponent, who was the Liberal MP, is cutting and running, trying to distance herself from this disaster.

Kilmore Racing Club chairman Lawrie Boyd said:

… sports grounds used since the 1850s were at risk of being damaged or lost.

''The majority of the community are appalled by the thought of slicing up a public reserve and recreation area that's been there since 1853,'' …

He said the options put forward by the Liberal government cut straight through the equine district, which is the largest employer in town. So they asked: 'Why won't the Liberal government listen to the community's voice? Why the deceit?' That is a question that is being asked of the Liberal candidate in McEwen, who was the driver behind this bypass option.

And now they say that they want to deliver a tunnel road that will cost billions of dollars and cost Victorian users tolls of around $10 each way for a couple of kilometres. This east-west road tunnel, which The Age points out has a cost-benefit ratio of 0.5, not only will not make a return for the community but will not make an economic return for private investors. The private consultants stand to gain a lot. They are going to gain about $294 million in the next two years to put together reasons why this should be built.

We know that the Victorian government is desperate to be seen to be building something but not to pay for it. To promote the idea that the tunnel is not simply about facilitating access to the city for drivers, to limit the destruction of Royal Park from new exit and entrance points, unrealistic requirements are being written into the specifications. There are no off ramps into the city, which goes to say that what Mr Tudge has put forward is absolutely false. It is an appalling project, and it would be appalling if that were made into the final project. As The Age pointed out on 15 May:

The east-west tunnel is a road to a loss. The only question is who will lose and by how much—

whether it is the public through taxes or motorists through tolls.

Compare that to the rail project which has been put up: the Melbourne Metro. Mr Abbott went out and said that the Commonwealth government has no history of funding an urban rail and he thinks it is important that we stick to our knitting. Mr Abbott was again proven wrong, because the Commonwealth does have history in supporting rail projects. The rail projects that are being put forward, like the Melbourne Metro, will deliver an extra 24,000 passengers per day. That will take cars off the roads and ease congestion.

They have shunned the northern suburbs by cutting out the funding for the Moondah rail extension, which is overdue and much needed, and also the Sunbury line. If you have a look at the cost per person and capacity per hour, the metro rail tunnel will cost $83,000 to $150,000 per person, whereas this road project will cost $416,000 to $555,000 per person. (Time expired)

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