Ms Anna Burke (Chisholm, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Former Liberal Prime Minister John Howard frequently stated that, when it comes to elections, the electorate always gets its pretty much right. So I rise today to ask members opposite, particularly the Prime Minister and the member for Deakin, whether they agree with Mr Howard and can accept that the Victorian public got it right when they elected the Andrews Labor government in Victoria in November last year.

After declaring that the Victorian election was a referendum on the East West Link and then losing the referendum, the Prime Minister and the Member for Deakin are refusing to acknowledge the decision of the Victorian electorate and are demanding that the Labor government break its promise to the people and build a toll road that was not even able to pass its own cost-benefit analysis. It is a costly project that will not deliver relief from the congestion that people commuting along the Eastern Freeway suffer every day;

It was a project that was announced in a rush by a desperate Liberal government that had sat on its hands for almost four years and needed something—anything—to say it was building for Victoria. It was a project that was so poorly planned that the government was too frightened to put it to an election and, instead, chose to accelerate contracts and offer an appalling side deal to secure a dodgy contract before Victorians could vote. The government and the consortium knew full well that, if Labor won, Labor would abandon the project. Rather than delaying contracts, if the reports in today's papers are correct, former Liberal Treasurer Michael O'Brien brought forward the financial close of the project from 5 December 2014, after the election, to 3 October. Mr O'Brien even allowed the consortium to draft their own side letter guaranteeing them a minimum amount of compensation against the publicly known position of the future Labor government. This is an appalling act of dishonesty and bastardry against the Victorian taxpayers and an act of budget sabotage that shall never be forgiven.

In response to all of this, all the Prime Minister and the member for Deakin want to do is remove $3 billion of funding from vital transport infrastructure in Victoria and insist that the Premier join the Prime Minister in breaking election promises. I call on the Prime Minister and the member for Deakin to respect the decision of Victorian voters, condemn Michael O'Brien for his irresponsible budget sabotage and, instead, invest $3 billion in rail and road projects that will actually relieve congestion in Melbourne.

I know full well the issues of the Eastern Freeway. I travel it probably more regularly than anybody in this place. Yes, there are issues with it. But this project, this tunnel and these tolls were not going to alleviate this and help my constituents commuting into town every day of the week. There are better ways of fixing traffic issues in Victoria.