Monique Ryan (Kooyong, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Victorian government's North East Link project was supposed to cost $10 billion. It's now up to $26 billion. It's possibly the most expensive road project in the world per kilometre. It's had significant and worrying environmental impacts on tree canopy and on habitat destruction in areas like Koonung Creek. Constituents regularly contact my office about the noise, light and dust from the 24-hour drilling, demolition and roadworks. Residents tell me that project managers and the state government are slow to engage with them and are often dismissive of their concerns. The local governments are effectively sidelined. The Victorian government has signed at least 7,000 nondisclosure agreements for more than $1 billion of compensation. For what? We do not know.

Last year, the federal government committed $3.2 billion to help complete the North East Link. Knowing what we know, or what we don't know, the infrastructure minister should withhold that federal funding until we get better public engagement and until we get some transparency from the Allan state government and from the building authority over its dealings with the public. We are all entitled to know where, why and how taxpayers' money is being used on state projects.