Zoe McKenzie (Flinders, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Tonight I rise to condemn the Andrews Labor government of Victoria for its failure to apply the $75 million in Commonwealth funds provided by the former coalition government to build an overpass at the intersection of Jetty Road and the Mornington Peninsula Freeway in Rosebud. The Jetty Road overpass has been a major point of focus for my predecessor, Greg Hunt, who secured the much-needed funds to get the project on the move; for me since before the election of May 2022; and, indeed, more recently, for our member for Nepean, the mighty Sam Groth, who committed the necessary state funds for a future coalition government in Victoria to make the overpass a reality.

The intersection as it currently stands bifurcates the Rosebud industrial estate from the primary residential area of Rosebud. The industrial area includes the Rosebud campus of Chisholm TAFE, where hundreds of students undertake study in critical trades such as building, electrical and plumbing; the Advance College, which teaches tens of local teenagers in vocational VCE and other introductory vocational courses; and a Goodstart learning centre for local families.

The previous coalition government committed $75 million towards the completion of an overpass and sound mitigation along the Mornington Peninsula Freeway three years ago. At that time, the then member for Flinders, Greg Hunt, said in the media:

"When you talk to locals on the Peninsula, the intersection of the Mornington Peninsula Freeway and Jetty Road is one of the major issues facing the community."

"Whether its locals travelling to and from work on weekdays or visitors to the Peninsula on the weekend, the intersection of the Mornington Peninsula Freeway and Jetty Road has been a traffic nightmare for locals for far too long," Mr Hunt said.

"This is one of the top issues in our local community and I recently ran a petition in local area, collecting over 500 signatures."

Three years on, no progress has been made, despite the funds remaining available over all of that time.

Sorry; I stand corrected. Last year there was some progress: the Victorian coalition announced an additional $100 million in the lead-up to the 2022 state election—and then we waited, and we waited, and we waited some more. We waited for the Andrews government to do something—anything—for one of the highest-ranking priorities in one of its most marginally held seats in Victoria. And we heard nothing. Sensibly, because now the people of Nepean know that they will not be heard by a Labor government in Spring Street, Sam Groth won back the seat for the Liberal Party with a mighty Flinders-matching margin of 6.7 per cent. That is because Sam listens, Sam acts and Sam serves.

But, with the Labor government now returned to power, the funds needed for Jetty Road remain uncommitted by the Andrews government. As it stands, a mere $5 million of the $75 million provided by the former coalition government has been invested in pedestrian safety improvements at Jetty Road. With glacial progress, the Victorian government Department of Transport and Planning has completed their planning and development works, and a business case has been submitted to the Albanese government for consideration. I do thank the Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government, the member for Ballarat, Catherine King, for the number of conversations she has had with me regarding the funding and the need for this critical infrastructure, but I was nevertheless sorely disappointed to learn that the remaining $66.5 million in unspent Commonwealth funds had been deferred until 2026-27. I fear an even greater postponement in the forthcoming May budget.

Given that these funds were committed back in 2019, local residents from Rosebud, Fingal, Rye, Saint Andrews, Tootgarook, Blairgowrie and beyond are rightly disappointed—and that is putting it mildly—with the length of time it has taken to get to this meagre stage of implementation. Together with Sam Groth, I am asking the state and Commonwealth governments to ensure that the next steps are prioritised to get construction underway. The residents of the Mornington Peninsula have dealt with the traffic congestion and safety issues at Jetty Road for far too long. Over summer, that intersection is pure gridlock. You can't blame the Prime Minister for coming to Portsea by helicopter, skipping the January bottleneck, which can add up to an hour to travel to Victoria's best beaches. A similar version of this is experienced every morning and every afternoon as locals leave the southern Mornington Peninsula for work, to do their shopping or just to collect their kids from school across the road. I will continue to fight for this much-needed upgrade on behalf of my Mornington Peninsula community, and I look forward to eventually seeing it done.