Peta Murphy (Dunkley, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

We're at a time in politics in Australia where people are crying out for government that delivers substance over spin, where people are crying out for decisions on things like infrastructure projects and sporting facilities to be delivered on the basis of merit, not political expediency. So is it any wonder that at the moment trust in government is at an all-time low? Sadly, we've witnessed spin and political expediency rather than substance and merit.

The people in my electorate of Dunkley know better than to fall for political expediency and spin, because they live in a state with a Labor government that has been delivering infrastructure projects that it has promised, when it's promised them or earlier. In Frankston, the state government has removed the Overton Road and the Seaford Road level crossings. It has done an amazing redevelopment of Frankston TAFE and Frankston train station—all without a single cent of Commonwealth government funding, notwithstanding that this Liberal government has been in office for seven years. In fact, the state Labor government achieved these infrastructure projects, and so many more, despite having a former Liberal member for Dunkley who campaigned against the state government most of the time. This includes the level crossing removals, which have been so overwhelmingly welcomed by my community and have made a difference for many people. And of course we have a state Labor government investing an enormous amount of money into a brand new redevelopment of Frankston Hospital, which will service people in my electorate and beyond.

So compare that to the infrastructure announcements that have been made by the Liberal government for the seat of Dunkley in the lead-up to the last election. We saw the former Liberal member for Dunkley campaigning and handing out flyers that said the Liberal government was 'building' the extension of the metro line to Baxter, was 'delivering' a new station in Langwarrin with 1,000 car parks for park-and-ride, was apparently 'budgeting' $38.5 million for car parking—free commuter car parking in Frankston, Seaford and Kananook—and 'budgeting' $30 million for funding to update and upgrade intersections on Ballarto Road. It has been seven months since the federal election, and I wonder: has my community seen the Commonwealth do any of those things? Of course not! What we do know about Ballarto Road and the car parking, particularly in Seaford and Kananook, is there has been no consultation with the community, as far as anyone can see there has been no consultation with the council and there certainly has been no consultation with the state government. Announcements were pulled out of the air; those opposite said they were budgeted for and they would be delivered. Now, there is no doubt we need more commuter car parking at Frankston, and had Labor won the election we would have delivered it, but under this government Frankston hasn't seen it being built yet.

The Infrastructure Australia report handed down today listed, for the first time, Frankston public transport connectivity as a priority initiative. Not a high priority, but a priority initiative. The report said this means a proposal has been included to 'indicate that further development and rigorous assessment of this proposal is a national priority' and to 'encourage decision-makers to take proactive steps to develop solutions to future problems and opportunities'. Well, here's hoping it encourages the federal government to release the business case for the extension of the train line from Frankston to Baxter that it has been in possession of since October last year. I wrote three weeks ago to the minister to say, 'You've had this for a long time.' I gave him time and said, 'On behalf of my community, release it.' Have we seen it? No. It is not public, and we do not know what is in it.

What we do know is that this government has been saying for years now that it has budgeted a mere $225 million for that project, which any reasonable estimate would say is over a billion dollars. It would be spent over four years, and the project could be completed. It tried to get more money from the state government before the business case was concluded. Now that it's been concluded it appears the federal government have lost it behind the couch. Stop the spin and the politicisation, release the business case and deliver what you promised to my community now that it's Labor.

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