Kelly O'Dwyer (Higgins, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

While historically Melbourne has benefited from thoughtful planning, there remain 172 level crossings within the metropolitan area in comparison to only eight in Sydney. Many of these crossings are positioned on or adjacent to Melbourne's busiest roads and major arterials. The Burke Road intersection and railway crossing is but one significant example in my electorate.

Railway crossings cause substantial delays to motorists, road based freight and public transport, while imposing capacity constraints on rail based public transport. Along the Dandenong rail corridor, the hands-down single largest issue facing constituents on a daily basis is the need to remove level crossings and the associated congestion. It influences key decisions—where people will shop, where they will send their children to school and how they will access work. I have heard this directly from constituents through my surveys, through my regular mobile office meetings at train stations and in Koornang Road Carnegie, through the community forum I held at Carnegie Community Centre, through telephone calls to my office and by simply by knocking on doors in the local area to say hello. The traders agree. Both the Murrumbeena Village Traders Association and the Carnegie Traders Association know that the railway crossings hurt business and impact the amenity of the local community.

The 2012 RACV Redspot survey ranks three Higgins level crossings in Victoria's top 10 worst congestion sites. They are (1) Murrumbeena Road, Murrumbeena; (4) Koornang Road, Carnegie; and, (5) Burke Road, Glen Iris. Since 2011 the Victorian government has been unsuccessful in seeking federal government support via Infrastructure Australia and the Nation Building Program for Commonwealth funding to augment the more than $400 million it has already committed to level crossing removals.

I congratulate my state colleagues for focusing on this issue. In their three years of government they will have removed five level crossings. In the previous state Labor government, over 11 years, only three level crossings were removed.

There is a broad agreement as to the nature of the problem and the need for action. How these projects are funded remains less clear. The magnitude of the costs and potential productivity dividend requires federal intervention. I am pleased to present this petition, with more than 1,151 signatures, which draws to the attention of the House the severe congestion caused by the regular closure of the level crossings along the Dandenong rail line, and I ask the parliament to give greater priority to their removal. I table the petition.

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