Joanne Ryan (Lalor, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I'm using this constituency statement today to speak about a vital infrastructure project for many in my growing community. In the last eight long years, my community has been neglected by a government focused on holding seats, rather than delivering for all Australians and I ask in this place: are we missing out because, on government spreadsheets, we're marked in red and not blue? The growth in Wyndham has been phenomenal. The fastest-growing area of Melbourne and the third highest growth area in Australia. The growth is sustained and dramatic. It is also challenging. Pre-pandemic forecasts said Wyndham would reach 300,000 people this year, and half a million residents by 2041, and 70 per cent of this growth is in Wyndham Vale, Tarneit, Werribee and Truganina. But this growth is failing to be met with infrastructure funding from the Morrison government. This means locals are spending longer in traffic and less time at home with their families.

In contrast, the state Labor government has been investing in better public transport options, removing level crossings and improving intersections, and building the West Gate Bridge tunnel, giving people from the west alternatives to that bridge. When federal Labor was last in government, they invested $4 billion in major infrastructure projects benefiting our community. This was led by now opposition leader Anthony Albanese as minister for infrastructure. That's because only Labor invests in the west.

The growing communities in the north and west of Wyndham deserve more than they're getting from this tired Morrison government. That's why, today, I'm renewing my calls for federal funding for the Wyndham West Link. The project provides links between growing communities and connects them to the freeway. The first stage of the project will link the new communities around Werribee and Wyndham Vale with a bridge over the railway lines and connection to the freeway. This will save precious time for those commuting to Melbourne and Geelong, by connecting them to the freeway. It will ease congestion on suburban streets, because commuters will not travel through the heart of Wyndham to access the freeway. The project will also link Tarneit and Wyndham Vale, with a fourth and more direct bridge over the Werribee River, meaning Wyndham's major growth corridors will be connected by both rail and road. It will save time and ease congestion by avoiding travel into Werribee, only to head back out.

A trip on the Labor-funded Regional Rail Link takes seven minutes to travel between Tarneit and Wyndham Vale stations. This same commute in a car yesterday, in a quiet lockdown period, took 25 minutes.

On completion, this piece of congestion-busting infrastructure will also ease traffic on roads in the heart of our city. This project is vital for our growing community. That's why I promised the project, should Labor have been elected at the last election, and that's why I'm encouraging the community to join my campaign to fight for this vital infrastructure. We pay our taxes to Canberra. We deserve to see some of that returned to our community, rather than being used to shore up marginal and safe Liberal seats.