Janet Rice (Victoria, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That the Senate—

(a) notes:

(a) that the Prime Minister labelled Victoria‘s state election a referendum on the former government‘s proposed East West Link toll road, and

(ii) the change of government in Victoria which has resulted from that election; and

(b) calls on the government to redirect the $3 billion in Commonwealth funding allocated for the East West Link to public transport projects in Victoria that have been assessed by Infrastructure Australia and that have demonstrated benefits exceeding costs.

Question negatived.

Claire Moore (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Women) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I seek leave to make a familiar short statement.

Stephen Parry (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Leave is granted for one minute.

Claire Moore (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Women) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Once again, the Greens political party is walking both sides of the infrastructure debate. Labor neither favours roads over rail nor rail over roads, as recommended by experts. We need both to deal properly with needs, not just for some parts of our cities but across our cities, and also needs in regional Victoria. That is why we established Infrastructure Australia.

Labor allocated $3 billion to the Melbourne Metro Rail Project, based on Infrastructure Australia's advice that the metro was much better taxpayer value than the East West Link. Labor also funded M80 projects and managed motorway projects, based on high net benefits. These were also cut.

Given that the Greens political party has backed the Infrastructure Australia model, we are again surprised by a motion that seeks to supplant expert opinion. Labor supports the modal solution that gives the community the best value and supports these funds being spent in Victoria.

Janet Rice (Victoria, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I seek leave to make a short statement.

Stephen Parry (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Leave is granted for one minute.

Janet Rice (Victoria, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Prime Minister called the Victorian election 'a referendum on the East West Link', and it was. The people of Victoria voted overwhelmingly for investment in public transport, not a massive, polluting tollway.

This motion was asking the government to listen to the views of Victorians and to reallocate the $3 billion currently committed to the East West Link into public transport infrastructure projects—projects that have a greater economic benefit to Victoria than the east-west tollway, projects that have been assessed by Infrastructure Australia and projects that will begin to address the lack of investment in public transport that Victoria has endured over the last 50 years.