Kevin Andrews (Menzies, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I ask the Minister for Population, Cities and Urban Infrastructure if he could update the House on the $100 billion urban congestion fighting infrastructure fund, and in particular the projects in my electorate of Menzies and the great state of Victoria.

Alan Tudge (Aston, Liberal Party, Minister for Population, Cities and Urban Infrastructure) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Menzies for his question and for his strong advocacy of urban infrastructure projects in his electorate and across the great city of Melbourne. Indeed, his electorate of Menzies, like so many other areas across Australia, is benefitting from our $100 billion infrastructure program. They are large-scale projects as well as localised projects, all with the key aim of busting congestion, getting people home sooner and safer and supporting the economy.

The biggest single project, which is going on through the member for Menzies' electorate, is the massive North East Link. That's a project which would connect the M80 down to the Eastern Freeway and finally create a complete ring road around Melbourne. It is an incredible project which we have $1.8 billion committed towards. This project would actually save a commuter 30 minutes on their journey from the M80 down to the Eastern Freeway. It would take 15,000 trucks off the suburban streets in the member for Menzies's and the member for Jagajaga's electorates. Eleven thousand cars would be removed from the very busy Rosanna Drive, and 10,000 jobs would be created in the process. This is real congestion-busting stuff.

We also have localised projects in the member for Menzies' electorate as well, through our $4 billion Urban Congestion Fund, targeting those real local congestion pin points and traffic headaches. They include, for example, $10 million for upgrades to Fitzsimons Lane in Templestowe and Eltham. I know the member for Menzies says that this particular area is possibly biggest congestion headache in his electorate, and that people can wait up to 10 or 15 minutes to travel along that journey. This will fix that problem for them. On top of this, we are also improving 17 school pick-up and drop-off points in the Nillumbik area, where the winding roads often make drop-off points dangerous. We also have practical light upgrades to Tram Road in Doncaster, which will make this busy road safer, particularly for the seniors in the Applewood retirement village.

These are very practical local projects making a difference to residents' lives in the member of Menzies' electorate, right across Melbourne and, indeed, Australia. We are repeating this across the country. We have, in fact, got 160 major projects going on right now across the nation—in Melbourne and elsewhere—and we have more to do, with 120 in the planning process. With a huge $100 billion infrastructure program, we are on the side of people who want to get home sooner and safer and bust congestion. (Time expired)