Michael Sukkar (Deakin, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I want to draw to the attention of this House the recent announcement by the Labor opposition in my home state of Victoria of their intention to rip up contracts to build the East West Link. The East West Link is a crucial piece of infrastructure for Deakin residents which will ease traffic congestion on the Eastern Freeway and bottlenecks at Hoddle Street and Alexandra Parade. It will also create 6,200 jobs during the construction phase.

For these reasons, the federal coalition government has committed $3 billion of funding towards stages 1 and 2 of the East West Link project. However, recent statements from Labor opposing this project highlight more than ever that the Labor Party are so preoccupied with appeasing a small handful of inner-city Greens voters that they refuse to accept the necessity of this project for those living in the outer eastern suburbs of Melbourne.

In my own electorate of Deakin, the East West Link understandably enjoys enthusiastic support. I have therefore welcomed the comments by the President of the Ringwood Chamber of Commerce and Industry, who recently emphasised the importance of the East West Link to residents and small businesses in the outer east of Melbourne. As he said, at a time when central Ringwood is undergoing a massive transformation 'now is the time to build the East West Link'.

It is clear that only the coalition will deliver the East West Link, and I will continue my fight for the delivery of this project for the electors of Deakin.