Alan Tudge (Aston, Liberal Party, Minister for Cities) Share this | Hansard source

It says something about the dishonesty of the modern Labor Party that the matter of public importance is:

The Government's—

so-called—

cuts to schools, health and infrastructure in Victoria.

Those in the gallery and those listening should be aware that, far from cutting, in each one of those areas the government is actually adding record amounts of dollars each and every year—this year, next year and well into the future. It is adding record amounts of funding into schools, record amounts of funding into hospitals and record amounts of funding into infrastructure. Yet the dishonesty of the Labor Party today presents that as cuts. They believe that if they say that over and over and over again some people will be gullible enough to believe it. People listening to this debate should know that's exactly what they are doing, that that is their strategy. It is their dishonest strategy, and people should be aware of that, because we are investing record amounts across the board in each of those three areas.

I'd like to discuss my responsibilities as they relate to the matter of public importance, and that is in relation to infrastructure, particularly urban infrastructure, in Victoria and, indeed, in the city of Melbourne. Melbourne is our second-largest city and one of the fastest growing cities in Australia. We have a very significant record in relation to infrastructure dollars going into Victoria—over $20 billion since coming to office has gone into Victoria—and that includes some very significant projects which are under way or which have already been delivered. I'd like to mention three, though, because they go to the nature of what our government is doing to deliver citywide projects which have been on the agenda for many, many years, in many cases, and sometimes decades—projects where the government is actually putting the money in and getting things done.

The first project is the Tullamarine rail. Melbourne Airport is the second-busiest airport in Australia. That proposal has been on the books for probably five decades and never been achieved. It has taken this government to put $5 billion on the table to make that happen. Finally we'll get the rail link out to Tullamarine airport.

The second project is in some respects in a similar vein. It is the Monash-Rowville rail. Monash University is the largest single university campus in Australia. About 55,000 students go there every single day, yet we don't have a rail link out to the largest campus in Australia. This has been on the books for five decades, but it still hasn't been delivered. This government has finally put it on the agenda with a $475 million commitment to get the rail link built to Monash and out to Rowville. That means that instead of having the single busiest bus route in Australia, as that between Huntingdale station and Monash University presently is, we'll have a rail connection, which will free up the busy roads from all of the buses that are presently using it and make it so much more convenient and accessible for students to go to that magnificent campus in Clayton.

The third project is one which would finally create an effective ring-road for Melbourne, which is so desperately needed, by linking up the Eastern Freeway across to the Tullamarine Freeway. That is the East West Link project. We have got $3 billion sitting on the table ready to be deployed for that project whenever a state government is willing to do so. We want to see that project done. The residents across the eastern suburbs of Melbourne, certainly, want to see that project delivered, because everybody who takes the Eastern Freeway knows that you effectively come to a full stop when you hit Hoddle Street. It adds to so much congestion. We want to see that project built, and we hope that Bill Shorten, as a Victorian, will be big enough to lean on the re-elected Andrews government to get that built, because we're there, ready to be a partner.

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