Paul Fletcher (Bradfield, Liberal Party, Minister for Urban Infrastructure) Share this | Hansard source

I want to address a number of matters that have been raised by members today. The member for Scullin raised questions about the funding that is available to the state of Victoria. I want to make the point that the Turnbull government has made it clear that there remains $3 billion of funding available to any Victorian government which chooses to proceed with the East West Link. When you add up the total funding commitments available from the Commonwealth government to the Victorian government, including that $3 billion, the proportion of funding going to Victoria sits at 21 per cent of the Commonwealth's infrastructure investment over this period.

I also want to make the point that earlier this year the Commonwealth announced a $1.5 billion Victorian infrastructure commitment. There is $500 million towards to a billion dollar upgrade of the Monash Freeway in Melbourne; $350 million to complete the upgrade of the M80 Ring Road in Melbourne; and $345 million for a Victorian rural and regional roads package. There is $220 million for the Murray Basin Rail Project, to transform a series of existing broad-gauge lines into standard gauge lines, to bring some lines back into service and particularly to facilitate the movement of produce from northern and western Victoria to ports and to export markets. There is $75 billion for an urban congestion package. We have also offered a commitment of money towards planning works on Melbourne Metro.

So in fact the Turnbull government has provided very substantial funding and we stand ready, as I have indicated, to provide additional funding should the Victorian government choose to proceed with the East West Link project. Certainly the elements of the funding package which we announced in April this year are very significant. For example, in relation to the Monash Freeway we have committed to investigating an extension of the widening of the Monash Freeway westwards towards Warrigal Road and eastwards towards Cardinia Road. That would build on work already underway and would deliver a very significant benefit to commuters in the south-eastern areas of Melbourne.

As the member for Scullin has rightly said, Melbourne is a very rapidly growing city and it is important that we upgrade transport infrastructure to assist people to move around the city efficiently. That is important from an economic efficiency and productivity perspective; it is also important from a livability perspective. We do need to recognise that one of Australia's great strengths is the livability that our citizens enjoy, including the citizens in our major cities. We need to make sure that our transport infrastructure planning addresses the continuation of that livability. That is certainly an important priority.

I would like to come to the comments made by the member for Grayndler in relation to investment in rail. I remind the House of the very extensive range of projects to which the Turnbull government has provided funding support in the rail space. There is $490 million going to the Forrestfield rail project, which is in Perth. That will better connect the Perth CBD to Perth Airport and to the suburbs surrounding the airport. There was $150 million announced for the Townsville Eastern Access Rail Corridor. There is $43 million for Flinders Link, which will enable the Flinders Medical Centre on the Flinders University campus to be connected for the first time to the Adelaide metropolitan rail network. Of course, there is a $1.7 billion commitment under the asset recycling initiative to the Sydney Metro project. We have put on the table $857 million towards a Melbourne Metro project. I have mentioned the $220 million for the Murray Basin rail, so there are very significant rail funding commitments.

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