Greg Hunt (Flinders, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Climate Change, Environment and Urban Water) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It gives me great pleasure to rise in response to events on the Mornington Peninsula within my electorate of Flinders and to set out a three-point plan to protect the peninsula. This is in relation to certain planning congestion and public transport challenges we have. The three-point plan, firstly, is about there being no high-rise for Hastings and no high-rise for the peninsula. Secondly, it is about better public transport. And, thirdly, it is about better public safety.

In turning to the first of these issues about the idea of planning for the peninsula, we need to understand the character of what the Mornington Peninsula is, should be and can be for Melbourne, Victoria and Australia—not just over the next 30 years but over the next 50 years and 100 years. We need this sense of higher purpose and vision. To me, and to those people who live on the Mornington Peninsula, who recreate on the Mornington Peninsula and who believe in the Mornington Peninsula, its role is not as a dormitory for Melbourne but as a place of sanctuary. It has a wonderful balance between coast and rural hinterland for the residents who take their place on the peninsula, who believe that the peninsula should not be overcrowded and should not lose its fundamental character as a place of essential environmental protection and who believe that it is one of the great urban environment sanctuaries of the world. Places such as the Monterey Peninsula come to mind. The Mornington Peninsula has a place in that pantheon, along with areas such as Willunga in South Australia. These are examples of how we can combine rural living with population on the edge, as a sanctuary for our urban places.

There is a proposal, outlined this week, for high-rise in Hastings on the Mornington Peninsula, and I want to make a clear stand that I am against that. On my watch, in my time, it is my duty and my responsibility to stand against this. I support the idea of the three activity centres for the Mornington Peninsula area in Hastings, Somerville and the Rosebud area, but that does not mean high-rise. There is a place for responsible medium-density building up to three storeys, as has been the case in Mornington. Mornington residents in McCrae and Rosebud have stood against high-rise, and exactly the same principle should apply to and be available to the residents of Hastings and Somerville. No high-rise for Hastings; no high-rise for Somerville. Let us give these people a break and preserve the essential characteristics of the Mornington Peninsula while being responsible and giving a sense of hope and aspiration for the future about what the peninsula can be.

This brings me to the second point, and it is about public transport. To designate these three towns and centres on the Mornington Peninsula as activity centres without additional state public transport has been a mistake. What we need to see is a comprehensive network of support from the state government, support which will assist with connections between these towns, and between these towns and Frankston and Melbourne, for residents of the Mornington Peninsula. If we are to reduce our reliance on automotive transport, if we are to reduce congestion, if we are to give people the sense that public transport is there to help them, then above all else the state needs to ensure that there is adequate support for the Mornington Peninsula, with additional services between the towns on the Mornington Peninsula and between the Mornington Peninsula and Frankston and Melbourne—so for Rosebud, for Mornington, for Hastings and for Somerville. Better, more frequent public transport is the responsibility of the state.

This brings me to the third area of our plan for protecting the peninsula—that is, the very simple idea that there has to be adequate public safety. At this moment in time the No. 1 public safety road challenge is what is known as the Baxter Tavern intersection in Baxter. This has been rated by many surveys as one of the state’s most dangerous black spots. It sees the confluence of a number of roads; it has enormous congestion. Money was promised at the last state election and money has indeed been allocated, I am told, but there has been no delivery. The Baxter Tavern intersection needs to be fixed. Work needs to commence; there is no excuse for the delay. Correct and protect this intersection now. (Time expired)