Monique Ryan (Kooyong, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Last week I met with Kooyong residents whose homes backed directly onto the Eastern Freeway. While I was standing with them, a work crew arrived unannounced to cut down trees next to their homes. For more than a year, residents in Kew, East Kew and North Balwyn have raised concerns repeatedly about poor communication and lack of transparency from the Victorian government on the North East Link project and the Eastern Freeway expansion. Communities promised modern, effective noise walls have instead been left with decades-old plywood barriers, which will leave those residents exposed to higher noise and pollution levels, impacting their physical and potentially their mental health.

This is a multibillion dollar project. These communities deserve adequate remediation of the dust, noise and pollution associated with those road projects now and into the future. The Allan state government promised it; they are not planning to deliver it. At a time when Victoria's Big Build is under intense scrutiny, with multiple public reports outlining serious misconduct and widespread corruption linked to the CFMEU, it is no wonder that residents have lost trust in this project. I call on the Victorian government to honour its commitments, to provide transparency to residents and to ensure that their health and amenities are not sacrificed for cost saving and convenience.