Tuesday, 15 August 2023

Motions

Level crossing removals

Debate resumed.

David SOUTHWICK (Caulfield) (14:47): As I said from the outset, the opposition support level crossing removals, but like all major projects they have got to be done properly and they have got to be done without an unlimited chequebook, because we do not have unlimited money, as we can see in terms of the financial crisis that Victoria is currently in. It is the debt capital of the nation. We have seen the Deputy Premier, who is responsible for budget blowouts – the minister for budget blowouts – has again presided over another project, the level crossing removals, with a $3.3 billion blowout. Therefore I would like to move an amendment to the current motion before the house. I move:

That all the words after ‘house’ be omitted and replaced with the words:

‘(1) notes that two successive Auditor-General reports have found flaws with the business case put forward for level crossing removals, leading to billions in budget blowouts; and

(2) calls on the government to release costings for every level crossing removal project it has undertaken.’

This is absolutely crucial because like household budgets, we do not have unlimited dollars. There are so many Victorian taxpayers that are struggling to just keep the lights on, pay the bills, get their groceries each and every week and balance those really important budgets in tight economic times, whereas the Deputy Premier just believes that an open chequebook means that we could pay absolutely everything and sign Victorians up to billions and billions of dollars of debt, which generation after generation will have to pay. We have seen the Deputy Premier preside over so many blowouts after blowouts, and that is why I have moved an amendment to this motion. We must manage major projects properly, and there has not been one major project that the Deputy Premier has managed that has been on budget.

They have been blown out time and time again. Therefore whether it be the Commonwealth Games that have now been cancelled – which will cost Victorians billions of dollars and which the former Minister for Commonwealth Games Delivery, the Deputy Premier, was responsible for – or the level crossing removal project, it is just no coincidence. It is no coincidence that everything the Deputy Premier touches – North East Link, West Gate Tunnel, Metro Tunnel, Suburban Rail Loop (SRL) – each and every one of these projects has just blown out.

We have had airport rail, Geelong fast rail and Melton and Wyndham Vale electrification – they are all gone. There is absolutely a big cross through those. When we asked about the Melton and Wyndham Vale lines electrification – to ensure that people of the west get fast and reliable services like everyone else does, within 5 minutes – what did the Deputy Premier say? ‘Well, we’re removing level crossings.’ You cannot just remove level crossings without electrifying those lines and duplicating those lines to provide regular transport services for people in the west. The west has been neglected, and all the Deputy Premier does is provide spin.

We do need connectivity, we do need to ensure that everybody across Victoria gets reliable transport and we do need to ensure that we do not just look after our mates. What we have seen with the level crossing removals is that they have been prioritised according to the seats that Labor needed to win, as opposed to seats that actually had the most dangerous and congested level crossings. I know that the minister when she was on her feet was referring to a document and saying she was not using props, and I will not use a prop, but I will refer to a document. We had a campaign back in 2015 which called for Glen Huntly to be included in the 50 level crossings. It said ‘Fix Glen Huntly Road level crossing’. There were 50, and within the 50 – guess what? – Glen Huntly was neglected. So I led a campaign with the traders –

Members interjecting.

The SPEAKER: Order!

David SOUTHWICK: I would ask the member for Bentleigh to go back in my social media to refer to countless –

Members interjecting.

The SPEAKER: Order! Member for Bentleigh and member for Eltham, you are not in your allocated seats.

David SOUTHWICK: debates in this chamber, where I stood up alongside the Glen Huntly traders association and said ‘Remove the dangerous level crossing’. And guess what? In 2014 Glen Huntly was left out. In 2018 Glen Huntly was left out. It was only after advocacy from locals –

Nick Staikos interjected.

The SPEAKER: Member for Bentleigh, you will be removed from the chamber.

David SOUTHWICK: and from traders that we finally got Glen Huntly on the list. So I am very proud that the Glen Huntly level crossing has been done. It has been done with advocacy by constituents, by residents and by traders, and it should have been done a long time ago. The Deputy Premier talked about Surrey Hills. Surrey Hills, where we had a fatality, was also a dangerous level crossing that should have been done in the first tranche – within the 50. That was left off the list and only done sometime later. That is why you have got to put people before politics. Do not do it when it suits, do it when it is needed. This government has a bad reputation for looking after their mates, ensuring that those that need to win in marginal Labor seats get prioritised over those that need those important projects done first.

Now, I have talked about waste and I have talked about mismanagement, but I do want to draw the government back to my local patch, to Caulfield and Glen Huntly in the electorate of Caulfield, because of the credit that the government is now claiming for that wonderful project, which Glen Huntly well might be, that is still falling short. As I mentioned today –

Nick Staikos interjected.

David SOUTHWICK: The member for Bentleigh keeps interjecting from out of his seat, and I remind the member for Bentleigh of this: currently we have an open Glen Huntly station, which has been opened prematurely, and we have a lift that is out of order. Currently if you have a disability or if you are elderly, you need to go down very steep stairs before you can access that train station. It is appalling, member for Bentleigh, that you would open a station and do it without considering those with a disability and the elderly.

The SPEAKER: Through the Chair, member for Caulfield.

David SOUTHWICK: I will refer the member for Bentleigh, who keeps interjecting, to what constituents are saying, including Mike Probert, who wrote to me and said:

Hello.

Today I visited the newly opened Glen Huntly railway station and i must say i was definitely gobsmacked. Who on earth were the architects? I thought we lived in the 21st Century now?? There were stairs down to the platforms; why?

I accept the lifts are not operational as yet but nonetheless why are there stairs when there should have been ramps? Or even better escalators!! It makes me wonder why the State Government continues to construct outdated technology? The risk of trips, falls etc on stairs is far greater than falling/slipping risks on ramps. Whoever was responsible for installing ramps at Elsternwick Station back in the 20th Century definitely had the right idea!

This all makes me wonder whether the architects/designers ever think about using the rail system themselves, especially as one gets older in age!! i believe this lack of consideration has been very short-sighted of the government.

That is by a constituent. I have got a number of others if you would like to give me more time, but I have got other things to raise.

I would say to the member for Bentleigh that I would need about 4 hours to talk about the constituents that have been let down by Labor’s waste and mismanagement. There are countless constituents from the seat of Bentleigh who talk to me all the time about the waste and mismanagement under this government. They talk to me about the fact that this government is not able to manage money, and they are disappointed in the way they have been let down. We see that. So for the government to pat themselves on the back when they could have done this project properly – and I do remind the government that the last level crossing that was done very close to the member for Bentleigh’s actual patch, in fact across the road, was Ormond. Ormond, I remind the member for Bentleigh, has a lift and Ormond has access, whereas what we are seeing now is not the same situation. Ormond is a lot more accessible than, at the moment, is this new station in Glen Huntly.

I would say it is the same with Balaclava. In Balaclava, that station upgrade was done to ensure that the ramps were kept available so those with a disability could access them. It is very, very important when we are in this Parliament to be advocating for all. This government is very, very quick to use platitudes when they talk about people and when it comes to accessibility. I think they have been left short when it comes to prematurely opening the station and patting themselves on the back and having a lift out of order. It is a disgrace that a lift is out of order, and if you are old, if you have a disability, where do you go? You certainly do not go to Glen Huntly station.

I will come back to a number of other issues in this particular instance, and I would like to refer the government and those opposite to what the Auditor-General reports said right from the very beginning, because this goes to the absolute core of why we have moved the amendments: to actually get to the bottom of how much these things are actually costing, how much they have blown out by – and where is the business case in a lot of this stuff? We heard the Level Crossing Removal Project (LXRP) business case was finalised in April 2017, almost two years after the program had commenced. Now, this is a familiar story. This is very familiar. The government do not have a business case. Does SRL ring a bell? No business case: ‘Let’s just get on with it and have a crack and build something, get early works done, but have no business case as to what it’s going to cost.’

I could not imagine just actually going out, buying a piece of land and not even having architect drawings but ordering the bricks, laying the concrete and just having a crack – because that is what this government does: they have a crack without a business plan. And then they wonder why we keep blowing out budgets. Why do we keep costing taxpayers more money? Because you have not got the actual plan in the first place. You do not have the architect drawings and you do not have the builders cost; all you have is a pie-in-the-sky idea. And that is what we had in this particular instance, where the program started without a business case.

We then had site selection issues, which were also identified by the Auditor-General:

As a result, the April 2017 approved business case does not include any analysis or rationale for why the 50 level crossings were selected as higher priority – or demonstrate that they were more dangerous and congested – than other level crossings across Melbourne. The 50 … level crossing sites include a number of sites that have not been identified as dangerous and congested.

Now, what we do know is that VicRoads actually did do some work on the most dangerous level crossings. They had their 50, and the Andrews government, they had their own 50 – and if you match the two 50s, they are not the same; they are quite different – one of which was Glen Huntly, one of which was Surrey Hills and one of which was Mont Albert. There are a number of level crossings that were left off the first 50 list. As the Auditor-General quite rightly pointed out, this was all about votes and not about need.

We had a follow-up report by the Auditor-General back in 2020. It found the issue was also that the business case was not complete and the Major Transport Infrastructure Authority did not complete a cost–benefit analysis for the full 75-site project. It states:

Cost–benefit analysis is a valuable tool for government decision-making that quantifies the economic benefits of an investment decision.

That is also crucial, because there is no economic benefit, there is no idea about why you prioritise one level crossing over another and there is no idea about how much these things cost. We have just seen so many flaws in all of this. We have seen, again, local communities across Melbourne – and I have had texts coming in as I have actually been speaking here. We had a situation in Surrey Hills where there was actually a court case because there was a scenario where you had two stations consolidated into one. I know Acting Speaker Hamer is actually part of this area. The businesses in Union Road and Hamilton Street, as a result of the prolonged level crossing works and the lack of consultation, are struggling to survive as the works are still not finished. You have got 20 small businesses that have closed their doors.

Now, this is appalling. This is another case of waste and mismanagement. If you go into Mont Albert and Surrey Hills – we had a person by the name of Lance Wilson. This was a Victoria Level Crossing Removal Project executive and former Shorten staffer who was caught on camera threatening the livelihood of small business owners after they displayed a poster in their shop. They displayed a poster in their shop and they got bullied. This particular individual said, ‘This doesn’t earn you any money. This does you nothing. It costs you money. I’m just saying, by putting that sign up here in your shop, you’ve got about 200 people working up here who now feel they can’t buy food here. The state government never pays compensation. Putting up this sign won’t get you compensation. It won’t get you anything. The only thing you will get is that workers won’t be coming into this shop. We want to work with you, and we are making money. That sign doesn’t help.’ So pretty much what they said is we are boycotting this store, and they went in there and effectively bullied the poor fish and chip shop owner to take that sign down. Absolutely appalling. If that was not enough, in the Mont Albert part of the project it was alleged that a contractor with the LXRP headbutted a local bakery owner and a longstanding figure in the community. So you have got a situation where a baker has been headbutted – a small business owner, headbutted – and a fish and chip shop owner has been bullied. You have got appalling behaviour.

You go back into Glen Huntly – the Deputy Premier was so proud of giving me a bit of a whack about one of my own level crossings. One of the staff from the level crossing removal went and stole a vape from a small business on camera – stole it on camera. They said, ‘We’ll investigate.’ Do you know what? The next day that employee was back. We keep seeing the government looking after their mates. You see ghost shifts. This government, this Deputy Premier, is presiding over the Big Build. The Big Build is the big bill, it is the big blowout. The Deputy Premier should have the ministerial title of Minister for Big Budget Blowouts. The Minister for Big Budget Blowouts is continuously wasting taxpayers money each and every time. We just see it time and time again. The best example of that, as we read, is ghost shifts. You have got people signing on but not turning up – they are signing on to multiple jobs and sitting at home. Could you imagine that? For those people sitting at home – well, they would not be sitting at home, but for those who are watching this after they have done a hard day’s work, could you imagine that you have got governments condoning that kind of behaviour: allowing those union mates to effectively put in a dodgy invoice and not do any work.

We already hear of the hundreds and hundreds of thousands of dollars a year that people are being paid. We do not mind people being paid for a fair day’s work, but not for no work at all. That is dodgy. But we see this government absolutely up to their eyeballs in dodginess, and again the Deputy Premier completely ignores the kind of behaviour that is happening in her own portfolio. The Deputy Premier neglects the bullying and intimidation that is happening on the LXRP and Big Build projects. She is ignoring it – doing nothing. The Deputy Premier is ignoring the waste and mismanagement on her projects, and the Deputy Premier is ignoring the pain and suffering of the small businesses that got nothing when they shut down their businesses during the time of the level crossing removals.

Acting Speaker Hamer, you know about those people in Surrey Hills – 20 businesses are no longer there. They did not get a dollar of compensation. I contrast that with people that have been relocated. I spoke to somebody that had been relocated just the other week. He said to me that it was wonderful, and he should be relocated. He said to me that they got relocated to a hotel in South Yarra, a $300-a-night room – $9000 on the taxpayer – while the level crossing was being removed. That is wonderful. How much did the small businesses get while we literally had a war zone in the middle of some of these level crossings? In Glen Huntly, right in the middle of it, businesses were locked down completely. I went through one of the cafes there outside a workshop. You could not hear yourself speak. They had drilling literally outside the front of a shop, which you could not operate in, and those businesses were meant to stay open during that period. How much did those businesses get? Not one dollar.

I ask the Deputy Premier to have a look at some of the Facebook sites that have been set up. There is the Glen Huntly Businesses Suffering Facebook page. There are so many Facebook pages and websites that have been set up. At the moment they talk about the pain and they talk about the suffering. They talk about the fact that they got no support whatsoever from this government in terms of trying to keep the doors open. We have asked the government, we have asked the Deputy Premier to go and meet them. The Deputy Premier has been to these level crossing removals. She cuts the ribbon and ignores the small businesses. They are the backbone, they are the heart and soul, of many of those communities. The level crossings are important to remove, but do not turn your back on those communities that are there each and every day. It is all very easy for the government to wheel themselves in, wheel themselves out and leave behind those businesses that are effectively the train wreck – if they survive at all. And we have seen so many of those businesses that have not been able to survive. We have had businesses, again in Glen Huntly, I can tell you, that have been there for 20 years that are literally on death’s door trying to survive, trying to pick up the pieces. So this government absolutely wastes money. They waste money; they mismanage.

I know Brian Duggan, a convener of the northern suburbs community group Save Buckley Street, applied under the freedom of information laws to VicRoads and the LXRP in 2021 with anger about the community road under rail used to remove the level crossing at Buckley Street, Essendon, which effectively prevented the future removal of nearly two high-risk level crossings in Puckle Street and Park Street, Moonee Ponds. Dr Duggan requested all data relating to how the Andrews government had selected and ranked level crossings for removal. VicRoads indicated that while it had taken carriage of the project in the immediate aftermath of the 2014 election, the locations of the first 50 removals had been determined as part of an election commitment by the Labor opposition and it did not possess the relevant documents. So this was all done on politics, not on people and not on need.

These are dangerous level crossings. Whether you look in Essendon, whether you look in Surrey Hills and Mont Albert or whether you look in Caulfield and Glen Huntly, these are dangerous level crossings that were left off. So for the government to pat themselves on the back when we know that these level crossings were not done on need but were done according to politics, when the government were patting themselves on the back when we know that the government business projects, these major projects, have blown out of control – the government really has got a lot to answer for.

The Deputy Premier – we have called on the Deputy Premier to resign, particularly after the way the Deputy Premier has mismanaged the Commonwealth Games. We will all be paying billions of dollars in cancelled contracts and in projects that many people do not need or do not want now we do not have the Commonwealth Games. There is untold hurt and suffering in terms of our global reputation on the Commonwealth Games. This is part of the Deputy Premier’s portfolio of responsibilities. Whether it be the Commonwealth Games, whether it be the level crossings or whether it be the Suburban Rail Loop, every single project that the Deputy Premier has touched she has made an absolute mess of. The Deputy Premier could not manage a chook raffle. The Deputy Premier would not know how to be able to even count to 10. Unfortunately, the Deputy Premier, when it comes to managing money, is missing in action. The Deputy Premier is the Deputy Premier waiting to get the top job of being the Premier, and I have got to tell you, you cannot be the Premier if you cannot manage money. The state is already broke. The last thing we need is an incompetent premier-in-waiting that is again going to send the state even more broke than we currently are.

Colin Brooks: On a point of order, Acting Speaker, the member well knows that it is out of order to reflect on other members of this place, and it is well off the motion before the house that is being considered.

The ACTING SPEAKER (Paul Hamer): The member’s time has expired.

Josh BULL (Sunbury) (15:13): I am really pleased to have the opportunity today to contribute to this motion. It was a really tough 30 minutes, those 30 minutes listening to story time with the member for Caulfield. I think, member for Footscray, you and I were searching for a pillow and an eye mask and just settling in there, ready for story time with the member for Caulfield. I just want to go to some of the comments that the member made in his fine 30-minute contribution. I think there were a couple of comments, the first being that we – as in we, the Andrews Labor government – must manage major projects properly. Well, firstly, we are, and secondly, for those opposite, you cannot really reflect on your ability or your management of any major projects because of course –

Michaela Settle: You didn’t do anything.

Josh BULL: Well, that’s exactly right; you didn’t do anything. You didn’t do any. The member’s complaint about level crossing removal –

David Southwick: On a point of order, Acting Speaker, I actually have a lot of time for the member on his feet –

The ACTING SPEAKER (Paul Hamer): Is there a point of order?

David Southwick: I do ask you to ask the member to address his contribution through the Chair. There are a lot of ‘yous’ going on here, right and centre. Could he just address the comments through the Chair.

The ACTING SPEAKER (Paul Hamer): The member for Sunbury did use the word ‘you’, and I ask him to not make reflections on the Chair.

Josh BULL: Thank you very much for your guidance, Acting Speaker. The issue of cost was raised significantly, yet we on this side of the house know that with the 72 level crossings that this government has removed since it has been in office, those opposite have made additional requests on nearly all of them. Bizarrely, for nearly all of those level crossings, those opposite have asked us to increase the budget, for nearly every single one of them. Let us just look at some examples.

On Caulfield to Dandenong they wanted billions more to put the corridor in a trench; on Surrey Hills and Mont Albert, they insisted that we build two new stations, which would have destroyed homes, businesses and parklands and cost hundreds of millions more; at Carrum they insisted on a trench under the Patterson River. At Toorak Road they insisted on a trench through a flood plain, which would have cost many more millions; at Buckley Street, a rail trench, half a billion dollars. The list goes on. At Pakenham they wanted an expensive trench to cut Pakenham in half; at Lilydale they opposed the project proceeding but then called for more money, for us to increase the budget. At so many of these opportunities, so many examples, they have called for the government and for the Level Crossing Removal Project to spend more money, yet they come into this place and on this motion make these claims around cost. We know and understand that an investment within a local community to get on and remove a dangerous and congested level crossing is an investment around safety, it is an investment around reducing congestion and it is an investment that goes to something that we know the vast majority of Victorians support.

We have taken our commitments to remove level crossings to three elections now. While those opposite do nothing more than oppose them, we know the importance of getting on and getting rid of these level crossings. We know there are more than 165 road and rail projects happening right across our state, with employment of 20,000 direct jobs and over 50,000 indirect jobs. Not in words but in action the Andrews Labor government will continue to be committed to getting things done, to making local communities better, fairer and safer. That is our focus today, and that will be our focus for the remainder of the term –

A member interjected.

Josh BULL: and hopefully, member for Frankston, many terms after that. We know that the removal of the 72 level crossings, as we chase down 110 by 2030, is a bold, visionary, strong and ambitious plan, but we know that this is a task that is, again, supported by local communities and supported by those who travel each and every day on our transport network. It is supported by commuters and supported by road users.

As Parliamentary Secretary for Level Crossing Removals, I do want to take the opportunity at this moment this afternoon to thank each and every member of the Level Crossing Removal Project, formerly the Level Crossing Removal Authority. I want to thank them for their dedication, their passion and their commitment to supporting local communities and for their professionalism and their passion for getting things done. You simply do not achieve the outcomes that have been achieved right across the program without a high-quality team, so this government formally recognises the work of the sensational team in construction and design, in landscaping and in communications. It is a massive workforce with a massive responsibility. I do want to acknowledge all of the local communities that have seen level crossing removals within their local patches. We know and understand that significant construction causes significant disruption. We know and understand that these processes are not easy for local communities, but the outcome goes to safety, it goes to saving lives and it goes to reducing congestion and having an opportunity to run more trains more often.

We as a state are growing by more than 1 million people per decade. The minister at the table, the Minister for Housing, I know is acutely aware of these growth pressures. Of course this government, through the Big Build – whether it is the Metro Tunnel, whether it is the West Gate or whether it is the North East Link, the Suburban Rail Loop or the subject of today’s motion, the removal of 110 dangerous and congested level crossings by 2030 – knows and understands that this is incredibly important to making sure that we are moving people around our suburbs, around our city and around our state each and every day.

We know that investment in level crossing removals of such significant size and such significant scale requires successive budgets to ensure that we are investing. The 2023–24 budget continues to deliver on the Big Build, providing an additional $7.3 billion to keep delivering transport projects and give Victorians the great transport network they deserve. We have spoken, and the minister spoke at length, about adding to the level crossing removal program – those additional level crossings from when the commitment was to remove 50, then 85 – to now 110 by 2030. We know of course that this list is incredibly important, but we know and understand the investment. Certainly, Acting Speaker Hamer, as a local member you know and understand the investment and the importance of making sure that we are continuing to invest.

As Parliamentary Secretary for Level Crossing Removals I have had the opportunity to visit many of these level crossings sites through the course of this year. I want to acknowledge the workforce, the incredible team, that works around the clock to get on and get rid of level crossings across our state. Whether it is Parkers Road in Parkdale in the seat of Mordialloc; Narre Warren North at Webb Street; Beaconsfield at Brunt Road; Station Street in Beaconsfield; Croydon; Sydenham; Preston; Pakenham; of course Box Hill, Acting Speaker Hamer; Union Road, Surrey Hills; or Mont Albert Road; we know and understand that it is incredibly important to make sure that we as a government are investing but also working with local communities to get the very best outcome. What we know is that as we have gotten on and removed 72 of those level crossings and as we march towards that incredibly important target of 110 by 2030, the workforce continues to need and require that confidence of investment and a strong and sustained pipeline to make sure that we are supporting each of those local communities and we are making communities safer and less congested and supporting communities as we go.

I did hope – and I am certainly conscious of the less than 40 seconds that I have now got remaining – to be able to rattle off the very long list of indeed 72 crossings that we have been able to get rid of. But I do want to finish, in the final 30 seconds, by saying that this government, since day one, since November 2014, has set a bold, ambitious and strong plan to get on and get rid of level crossings. We know how important it is for local communities. We know how important it is for the train network right across our state. Again, we will continue to invest, we will continue to work with local communities and we will make sure that we get on and remove dangerous and congested level crossings – 110 by 2030.

Danny O’BRIEN (Gippsland South) (15:23): I am staggered that I am rising on the first day of a sitting week to speak on a government motion patting the government on its back – a motion, not even a bill, not even a piece of legislation, just a motion.

James Newbury: Is it the budget papers?

Danny O’BRIEN: It is not the budget papers. No, it is not about talking about the budget. The government does not want to talk about the budget.

Jess Wilson: I wonder why.

Danny O’BRIEN: I am not quite sure – well, I am quite sure why. I am very sure why they do not want to talk about the budget. They want to talk about something else that they have spent a lot of money on and had cost overruns on. I am going to do a favour for the member for Sunbury, because the member for Sunbury ran out of time, obviously. He said he did not have time to go through all the level crossing removals, so I thought I would list for everybody all the level crossing removals outside of Melbourne.

Okay, that is done; let us move on. When I looked at the list, I had a bit of a look and saw there are some on the Sunbury line, and I thought, ‘Well, I think the Country Party held the seat of Sunbury in about 1943, so maybe that is as close as we will get to something actually being spent in the country.’

Colin Brooks: Walshy was leader then, wasn’t he?

Danny O’BRIEN: I am going to tell him you said that, Minister. Walshy was not the leader in 1943. I think Kim Wells was in the Parliament, though. My apologies to the member for Rowville, because I am going to cop it for that one too.

Personally, I support in principle what the government has done in removing level crossings. Many years ago when this was underway I was alerted to the fact that there are virtually no level crossings in Sydney because the then government in Sydney removed most of them during the Depression years as Depression work jobs. It is a good thing that the government is doing it, but what I am concerned about is the cost and the fact that this is a multi, multibillion-dollar project that has been entirely metropolitan focused and those of us in regional Victoria have seen none of the benefits – indeed we have seen plenty of disruption and delay and costs heaped on us from this.

When I talk about costs, I am not actually sure what the final costs are. We saw a Victorian Auditor-General’s Office report in 2020 that indicated that the program then had gone from $8 billion to $14.8 billion with the addition of additional crossing removals, so $14.8 billion. If you add up the two pages in the budget papers this year – if you go to the State Capital Program, budget paper 4, 25 more level crossings is a new project being funded at $6.522 billion, and the 85 by 2025 listed under existing projects is listed at $8.8 billion – we are talking a figure of some $15.3 billion, which is getting up to about $140 million in total for each of the projects. What I am concerned about is the spending on that.

We have had arguments for a long time about the waste in this particular program. The Auditor-General has raised concerns about that because the government, as the member for Caulfield indicated, had not done the research, had not done the benefit–cost ratio and had not done the business cases when it launched into what was a very political campaign early on. In the 2020 update, the Follow up of Managing the Level Crossing Removal Program audit by VAGO, the Auditor-General stated:

However, DoT and MTIA did not complete a full business case for LXRP2. As a result, the government did not receive advice about the project’s expected economic benefit before it made its decision to fund LXRP2.

That is where I say it is one thing to support the removal of level crossings in principle; it is another thing to do it in an economically rational and responsible manner, and there is definitely a question as to whether the government has in fact done that.

That is in a situation where we in regional Victoria cannot get decent rail services, cannot get our roads fixed, cannot get our road projects done, and the government is spending $15.3 billion on the level crossing removal program. And I will go beyond that, because if you add to it the Metro Tunnel, the West Gate Tunnel and the North East Link, all of which have blown out to some degree in cost – the North East Link, we still do not know how much it has blown out in cost –

Jess Wilson: It’s $16 billion.

Danny O’BRIEN: Well, it is at least $16 billion, I think, on the budget papers, but in a Public Accounts and Estimates Committee hearing last year I asked what the cost of it was. ‘We can’t tell you that, Mr O’Brien, because there’s currently a live tender process’ – 12 months later we got exactly the same answer from the Minister for Transport and Infrastructure: ‘We’ve still got a live tender process and we can’t tell you how much it costs.’ I reckon possibly by 2026 we might know how much the North East Link is actually going to cost, but anyway, I digress. Those four projects, including the level crossing removals, are $54 billion – 54,000 million dollars on four projects alone, every one of them in the city.

You would think after that the government might say, ‘Well, we’ve spent a lot of money in Melbourne, we need to do some more for the regions’, but what is the next big thing we are going to do? We are going to do the Suburban Rail Loop. The government then adds a project that is, what, $125 billion? Who knows? It is at least, even on the government’s own numbers, $33 billion on the first stage. We know that will blow out. Here we are: we have a government with potentially $180 billion of spending on just five projects, and that is not even the full Suburban Rail Loop. Yet here in regional Victoria we cannot get our roads fixed, we cannot get our trains to turn up on time – and that is part of the issue I have with the Level Crossing Removal Project as a Gippslander, that we have seen massive disruption on the Gippsland line because of the works on the level crossing removal on the Cranbourne–Pakenham line.

Everyone understands that when you are doing infrastructure works there is going to be disruption, but we have put up with a hell of a lot of disruption now for eight or nine years, and we get no benefit from that. The minister often says, ‘Oh, you know, you’ll get more services, you’ll get less disruption on the line.’ Well, no, sorry, the train has precedence. The train does not stop at the road; that is the whole point of a level crossing. So the trains are not going to go any better from Gippsland because the government has removed a couple of level crossings on the city part of the Cranbourne–Pakenham line.

Indeed it is actually worse than that, because Gippsland has one of the worst performing train lines in terms of punctuality in the state, largely because we have no dedicated track. I caught the train to Parliament yesterday, as I often do. As is always the case, you rocket along pretty quickly to Pakenham, then you hit Pakenham station and it is a stop–start, slow go from there because you regularly get stuck behind a Metro train, unlike if you are in Geelong, Ballarat or Bendigo. If you are in Geelong, Ballarat or Bendigo, you have got the regional rail link, which by the way was delivered under budget and ahead of schedule by the former coalition government, something that is very rarely acknowledged by those opposite. Ballarat, Bendigo and Geelong have the regional rail link, a dedicated line. Gippsland does not get that. We get stuck behind the metro trains repeatedly.

The level crossing removal program has actually made that worse, because it was already a pretty narrow corridor, and the government building sky rail – elevated rail lines – for the level crossing removals has meant it is virtually impossible now to put in a fully dedicated Gippsland line. When I ask the minister repeatedly to at least do a feasibility study on it, at least look at putting in maybe a couple of additional passing loops, maybe a tunnel through the worst, most congested area, the minister virtually laughs at Gippsland and says, ‘No, we’re not interested in even doing that’. The works that the government has done on sky rail have absolutely wrecked us. What does that mean? Well, the Rail Futures Institute did some work on Gippsland rail needs a few years ago, and it showed that Warragul–Melbourne is 10 to 15 minutes slower now than it was in 2001 and the Bairnsdale trip has not changed since 1990 – indeed it got better in 2009, when you could get to Bairnsdale in 217 minutes, but it is now 224 minutes. So our regional rail services have got worse, and the Minister for Transport and Infrastructure has now made that situation even worse because she has built something that effectively precludes us from actually ever having a decent, dedicated Gippsland line. So it is very nice, I am sure, that some metropolitan Victorians are not having to wait 5, 10 or 15 minutes in the morning. We in country Victoria would just like a bit of funding to absolutely fix up our roads. We have seen another cut to the roads budget this year. With the money that has been spent – over $15 billion – on this program, just a bit of spare change from that would have been good to fix country roads as well.

Nick STAIKOS (Bentleigh) (15:33): It is a pleasure to contribute to this motion on level crossing removals, because my electorate was first cab off the rank; ours were the first three – I remember it like it was yesterday, but it was not yesterday; it was seven or eight years ago – Centre Road, McKinnon Road and North Road. I will talk more about those level crossing removals, but I do want to start by doing something pretty unorthodox, and something I have never done – I am going to quote the Herald Sun from 19 November 2013:

Casting doubt on Labor’s core promise on level crossings, Dr Napthine said he didn’t think it was possible to remove 50 crossings in eight years.

And we have removed how many?

Members interjecting.

Nick STAIKOS: 72. And during that time we have also removed – I think I have tallied it up correctly – 21 Liberal–National MPs. The communities in those electorates are very grateful for that, just as the communities in those areas where we have removed those 72 level crossings are very grateful indeed.

I did say that Centre Road, McKinnon Road and North Road were first three, and indeed they were. I do remember it like it was yesterday, particularly that intense five-week period of construction on Centre Road, McKinnon Road and North Road when a bit over a thousand workers worked around the clock, 24/7, and they removed 250,000 cubic metres of soil from the three trenches. We measure things in MCGs, and in terms of the MCG comparison, that amount of soil is enough to fill the MCG up to the second tier. It was very, very significant. In fact that five-week rail occupation back in 2016 was the longest such rail occupation since the city loop tunnel was built. Such was the scale of this investment and this very, very important job, this massive infrastructure upgrade, for Victoria that we had not seen anything that big since the construction of the city loop, at least in a public transport sense.

We have so far removed 72 level crossings. We are going to remove 110 by 2030. We have pledged to make the Frankston line level crossing free, and that does include level crossings 71 and 72, which were Glen Huntly Road and Neerim Road in the member for Caulfield’s electorate. As it stands today, from Moorabbin to Flinders Street on the Frankston line there are no level crossings at all. A number of them have been removed in Mordialloc, in Carrum and in Frankston – right up and down the line. We are removing I think at least two in the Shadow Treasurer’s electorate, Wickham Road and Highett Road. As I said, by 2030 the Frankston line will be level crossing free, and not only the Frankston line but the Cranbourne line, the Lilydale line, the Pakenham line, the Sunbury line and the Werribee line will all be boom gate free by 2030. That is a great thing because we are about to open the Metro Tunnel, another project opposed by those opposite, in 2025, which will untangle the city centre. It will ensure that we are able to run more trains more often. It will mean, for instance, that the Frankston line trains will be able to resume services through the city loop tunnel just like they used to, because the Pakenham–Cranbourne line will be going through the new tunnel. We will be putting more trains on the line. We needed to make these lines level crossing free, and that is exactly what this government has done.

The member for Caulfield was trying to put to us that of course they support level crossing removals. I have to say I did not see any support seven years ago when we were removing those three level crossings in my electorate. In fact the chief opponent in the Bentleigh electorate of these level crossing removals was one Georgie Crozier from the other place. You know, before she started chasing ambulances, she had another career. She was marching up and down Centre Road with a petition. Remember, in those days there were a lot of petitions flying around against the Level Crossing Removal Project. But apparently they support it – you know, sign this petition against it, but no, we support level crossing removals. What absolute garbage. The people of Victoria saw through that absolute garbage. I cannot talk about Georgie Crozier without talking about David Davis. His job was to oppose the level crossing removals on the Dandenong line, in the member for Oakleigh’s electorate. I hate to do it, but I am going to quote from the Herald Sun again, this time from 2016. I am going to quote David Davis:

This is a hideous imposition on our community that nobody voted for. If it was such a great idea Daniel Andrews should have told the community before the election. He hoodwinked the community.

David Davis made that statement 18 months out from the 2018 election. They threw everything at Oakleigh. They thought, ‘Sky rail; we’re going to win Oakleigh.’ What happened at that election? A 7.6 per cent swing to the member for Oakleigh – that is what happened at that election. They have been on a hiding to nothing opposing this government’s level crossing removal program, because it is overwhelmingly supported by the Victorian community.

Even today, you know, the member for Caulfield should be grateful that two level crossings – no, three level crossings have been removed in his electorate by this government, if you include Ormond. But instead, halfway through his contribution the best he could do was talk about a lift at a station that is not yet complete. The lift is there; it will be operational soon. The project is not finished; we are still going. It will be finished soon. But that is the best he could do.

This government has just got on with it. We are removing 110 by 2030. We have already removed 72. We are making several of these lines level crossing free because we are building that Metro Tunnel, which will open in 2025. This is infrastructure that is creating jobs. In the Deputy Premier’s contribution, when she moved this motion, she pointed out to the house that over 6000 people had directly worked on the level crossing removal program. This thing has a long way to run, so that is a lot of jobs. But then when you think of all of the engineering cadets who have gotten their first gig on the level crossing project, when you think of all the trainees, all the apprentices, the many Indigenous Victorians, First Nations Victorians, who have worked on these level crossing removals, including a number of First Nations Victorians who worked on the Dandenong line, and also the number of returned service men and women who worked on these projects – this is an infrastructure project that has a long way to run, and all along the way it is creating jobs and opportunities for Victorians, which has been this government’s central mission since day one.

I am not surprised that those opposite to this day oppose the Level Crossing Removal Project, because all they do is oppose. They oppose everything this government does. You cannot say, ‘Oh, no, we support level crossing removals, but sign this petition against it anyway’ because a lift at a yet-to-be-completed station does not work or because we have had to have some disruption while we literally dig out 250,000 cubic metres of soil to remove a level crossing. If their argument is we should have removed these level crossings without disrupting the Victorian community or motorists or commuters for a single day, they are living in fantasy world – absolute fantasy world. Well, we are pushing ahead with the Level Crossing Removal Project because our communities overwhelmingly support it. Those opposite just languish in the irrelevant place that they have languished in for the last nearly nine years. We are getting on with it. All the level crossings are gone from the Bentleigh electorate, but I certainly continue to look forward to the day that our Frankston line, which cuts right through my electorate, is completely level crossing free. I commend the motion to the house.

Brad BATTIN (Berwick) (15:43): I rise in relation to the motion put forward by the Deputy Premier around level crossing removal, and I will be focusing mostly on my electorate. I will note to the member for Bentleigh that it was very important that he did state that obviously we are sitting over here in these irrelevant seats. I think that is what you were referring to – saying that the Berwick community is irrelevant. I do not believe they are irrelevant; I think they are a very important community. During the time that I have opposed some of those level crossing removals, and one that is still underway, we have still had a swing to the Victorian Liberal Party. So there are people out there – not everybody thinks it is a fantastic idea, level crossing removal. However, what I do say is that with level crossing removals overall there have been some good results, so I will not deny that. I do note in the motion, though, they seem to skip anything about cost: about the cost overruns, about some of the issues with some of the prices on it, about how it has impacted on the housing prices, about the changes from the Big Build and what it has done to building a house in Victoria, about the change in the way of trying to find a tradie to get a house built.

I look at some of these things about choices, and the government had choices about what level crossings they have done. Again, I will not focus on how the majority are in Labor seats, but I will say there is one in Beaconsfield which will probably be my main focus. It is currently under construction, the level crossing removal in Beaconsfield. It is at the Beaconsfield railway station. I note that the member for Sunbury, who is at the table, said he has been there. So he would have noted whilst there, I hope – and if he has not, I am more than happy to do another tour if he would like to come out and have a look through – that at the Beaconsfield railway station people living with a disability cannot get the train unless they go to the end of the railway station on a platform, whether rain, hail or shine, where there is no cover and they have got no option other than to get wet or sit out in the extreme heat whilst they are waiting for a train. That is simply not fair, and that is what I am saying when it comes to choices. The choice from this government is to do a level crossing removal on a road that no-one is calling for, that no-one wants and that is not going to fix a problem because the problem does not exist. It is going to take away parkland. It is going to cost over $100 million.

They have just torn up 360 car parks at Beaconsfield railway station – 360 car parks that this government, with the feds, funded as recently as two years ago. They are tearing all of that up – what a waste of money. Our community is a sensible community, and they will talk about it continuously. They will look at some of the ones in Pakenham – I know the member for Pakenham will probably speak on this – and they will say there have been some changes that are positive with the level crossing removals through Pakenham. There have been some positive changes along the whole Pakenham line, in terms of how you can go into the city, to make it safer. I think that is fantastic. But that one at Beaconsfield is a poor choice.

If we go to Station Street in Officer, they will not be doing a level crossing removal, they are just going to take away the boom gates and close the road. Again, that is not an option that I think should be used. It should have either been a level crossing removal or, in my view, remained open. But for the one in Beaconsfield, they are going to go through the oldest house in Beaconsfield. If this was a house in the middle of Hawthorn, in the middle of Malvern or in the middle of Toorak, people would be up in arms. It is the original stationmaster’s house. However, they are going to be taking off the back end of that house, a house rebuilt by Ian Cole, which is one of the most stunning properties in Beaconsfield. The family that lives there is obviously getting paid out by the government. They would have loved to have spoken up, but in the position they were in, due to employment, they could not do that, so we were their voice. Next to it is a tree that we have had to fight and fight and fight to keep because the original plans took out that tree along with the house.

In the Berwick electorate it will cost $100 million-plus. If we are talking about some of those choices, I will give the government some options for what they can do with that money: an MRI machine at the Casey Hospital, so people who are waiting at the moment do not have to go on a waitlist to go down to Dandenong. There are people there at the moment that have to wait four or five days for an MRI scan, even in urgent cases. They have to travel to Dandenong. There is our road network, which I invited the minister to come out and have a look at. Thompsons Road and Berwick-Cranbourne Road is an intersection that needs to be upgraded – it must be upgraded – and that is five years away. When you look at sports facilities throughout the area, there are many kids that cannot play sport because there is no access to facilities. There are not enough ovals. The land space is there, but there are not enough ovals. There are not enough facilities. As we will see shortly – and we will be very proud to see shortly – more and more young participants, particularly girls, are playing soccer. How amazing will it be to get them involved in their local sports club? But when they get down there, they will be told, ‘We’re really sorry. We haven’t got the ground for you to play on.’ That just should not happen in a growth corridor when the government is spending $100 million fixing a problem that does not exist.

We asked for the number of cars that travel through there. What is the count? How many vehicles travel through? When do they travel through? How long do they have to wait? Any person who has had a level crossing removal in their area would understand that that is probably pretty important data, because that is how you identify what the problem is at that intersection. The numbers came through from that. When they came through, we asked: what was the timing of when they were done? The road count was done before the O’Shea Road triangle was turned into an O’Shea Road diamond and when Clyde Road was shut due to upgrades and the main way through was this intersection.

But if you take that intersection out, and if you speak to any person on Kenilworth Avenue, if you speak to any person on Station Street opposite the railway station or if you speak to them even at the school, which probably creates the most traffic in the area, the maximum wait would be a couple of minutes during school time – at the beginning and end of school. Without being rude, on the Princes Highway, which is two lanes each way with no obstacles in the way, it is 3 or 4 minutes to get past Haileybury because traffic happens from 8 o’clock to 8:30. It is exactly the same as every school. This level crossing will not alter that at all. It will not change it at all.

But it has to come back to what we are going to do with that money. On top of that, why is it that those in Berwick and Beaconsfield have had to wait so long to get the car parks upgraded? They have had to wait so long to get the funding that it actually took a federal Liberal government to get the final funding in there to get those car parks done. Now it is getting torn up – 360 car parks. It was probably $50 million, so we have now got $150 million thrown down the drain – $150 million in a growth corridor.

Now, I know there are other members here that would all drive along Clyde Road occasionally, and Clyde Road/Berwick-Cranbourne Road is woeful. There are delays on Linsell Boulevard. It should be, in my view, probably a 12-month project. It has been going now for two years, and they have just closed it for another four months because of their incompetence in trying to get these projects done. The developers are doing their section and duplicating parts of the road – and every time that happens there are more delays – but the government are not putting their funding in to duplicate the road in between the two intersections, and they should. If you drive from Clyde North into the city now, the longest part of the drive is the first couple of kilometres from Clyde North, just to get on the freeway to come into the city. Out in that area people do not have railway stations close to them, so most families that move in there are now three- or four-car families. That means that there are more and more cars on a road that cannot take it. They are going onto a freeway that we continue to expand and widen, whereas what we should be doing is investing that money into extra rolling stock so there are more trains available at Beaconsfield.

Finally, if I had my way with this $150 million or a very small margin of it, I would upgrade Beaconsfield railway station because, as I said to the member for Sunbury before, it is only fair. People with a disability do not have the opportunities that we have, and they must use public transport. To put them in a position where they have to go to the end of that platform is simply unfair. I say to the government: it is your choice; it is your call. You have decided not to upgrade Beaconsfield station at all, and I think you should hang your heads in shame about that. It has been called for for a long period of time. People with disability deserve respect so that when they get to the railway station they will be treated the same – when it is raining, when it is extraordinarily hot or when it is windy – as everybody else is. We can stand under a shelter; they cannot because they have to be at the end of the railway platform as the train pulls up, and it is simply not fair.

Gary MAAS (Narre Warren South) (15:53): Goodness, what an absolute pleasure it is to make a contribution on this motion. You know what, I not only have a tremendous amount of faith in engineers, but I have a tremendous amount of faith in architects and I have a tremendous amount of faith in the amount of planning that goes on in our departments, particularly when it comes to the level crossing removal program. The intersection between so many great government initiatives – the forethought, the planning and the timing – and everything else has to come together to ensure these projects will be to the benefit of every single Victorian, not only for the coming years but for well into the future. It is not only about the Level Crossing Removal Project, but it is about the intersection with the Metro Tunnel as well. We have the Sunbury line with all of those level crossing removal projects taking place, and on the Pakenham line we are seeing them take place as well. I suspect later my colleagues the member for Pakenham and the member for Cranbourne will also be making contributions, because the Cranbourne line too is getting to that point of being level crossing free.

When it comes to regional rail – I had the great pleasure just a week ago to go into Bairnsdale. I took my two girls. We caught the train at Dandenong and went out to Bairnsdale, and it cost us less than $15 for a return trip out to Bairnsdale. Catching the train at Dandenong and being able to see all of the level crossing removal works that were taking place at Pakenham – it really was quite truly a sight to behold. Yes, there is so much more construction work that is taking place on that Cranbourne line, but to be going out through Pakenham and seeing all those works was just absolutely incredible.

I cannot believe that the member for Berwick was talking about Beaconsfield but did not talk up what we have done over at Clyde Road in Berwick. We have removed the level crossing there – that was done back in February 2022 – and we have built a fantastic road underpass underneath the rail line. The level crossing, incidentally, was the 12th to be removed along the Pakenham line, with about nine more at that time to go to make it boom gate free, and it paved the way for many, many more services for commuters in Melbourne’s south-east. In addition to removing the level crossing, that whole Berwick station precinct was upgraded, and there is a new bus interchange there with more sheltered seating, a drop-off area, bicycle storage and new pedestrian connections as well. All of this makes it much easier for members of my community to be getting about. The old bus interchange was transformed into a new car park where there are 140 new car spaces, making it easier for commuters to get to the station, to park their car and then to move freely where they need to and a lot faster on a rail network that is getting closer and closer to being level crossing free.

In terms of consideration of the environment around the immediate precinct, there were some 37,000 trees, shrubs and grasses which were planted in that new pocket park on Clyde Road around Berwick station. The project also included new open space and the development of a new shared-use path, which has opened to the community. The path runs from Berwick station bus interchange, and it provides better walking and much better cycling links to nearby residential, health and education precincts. It is not only about beautification of the area, it is also making it easier for people to travel, whether they are walking or whether they are cycling. Removing that dangerous and very congested level crossing has made journeys safer for the community, including the 22,000 vehicles passing under that rail line every single day.

At Hallam Road a level crossing removal has taken place, and there is the fantastic new Hallam station, which is technically in the member for Narre Warren North’s electorate. That is a fantastic station too – something that really looks like it is out of the 22nd century. It is really terrific. The way our new bus timetable is working in that area – the way that those buses are coming into that precinct in time with the train timetable – is making it much easier for people to commute and for people to travel around the neighbourhood. In Narre Warren the big project that is taking place at the moment is the Webb Street level crossing removal project, and that is a massive project. Construction work started in September of last year. They are big works, because not only is the level crossing being removed, there is also an elevated rail bridge over the road being constructed. It was really terrific to be out there with the Premier and the member for Narre Warren North about six weeks ago, I think it was, to check on the progress taking place out there and to speak to the many workers who are ensuring that that construction is taking place safely and taking place swiftly.

The community will enjoy more seating and shelter, including a new air-conditioned waiting room; new elevated platforms will be accessed by lifts and stairs; and the station will include new toilet facilities as well as an updated ticket office and kiosk. Removing the crossing will improve safety, reduce congestion and allow for more trains to run more often. It will also create a level-crossing-free Pakenham line, which will change how locals live, work and travel, with faster journeys and safer roads. At the moment some 13,200 vehicles cross over the Webb Street level crossing every single day, and with those boom gates down for up to 40 minutes in the peak time, it makes it very, very difficult for commuters in the morning. During that time some 25 trains will pass through. It really is terrific to see the major construction that is underway on Webb Street, and I am very, very happy that that level crossing will be gone by 2025.

As the Deputy Premier mentioned, the Level Crossing Removal Project has supported some 6000 jobs at peak construction, and we are now seeing something like 79 million hours that have been completed on the whole project. Hundreds of thousands of vehicles travel through level crossings in Victoria during the morning peak each day, and boom gates can be down for 30 minutes or more. That is gone, and it means our road users are travelling around our road network much more freely. It means people who are travelling on our public transport are also getting to their destinations faster. We did promise originally to remove 50 level crossings. We have smashed that target; we are currently at 72 and we are on track to remove 110 by 2030.

The Level Crossing Removal Project, as I have said, is just one in a suite of many different projects along our rail network. It is assisting communities in our regional centres, but it is also assisting our city travellers. When that Metro Tunnel opens – currently slated for 2025 – it is going to help the two busiest train lines, being the Pakenham-Craigieburn line and the Sunbury line, by utilising that tunnel and also taking the through traffic that comes from those trains. It will make it easier for trains that are travelling through the city loop, removing congestion from the loop, as well. I thoroughly commend this motion. It is an excellent motion.

Brad ROWSWELL (Sandringham) (16:03): What a pleasure to rise and talk on a motion moved by the manager of government business. I looked carefully at the motion put by the manager of government business, and I draw the house’s attention to point (3) of the motion, which reads:

the government will remove a total of 110 level crossings by 2030.

I do take issue with that, because I would like further clarification from the member on the word ‘remove’. Why I would like clarification on that is because I can think of one example in my community where the government’s intention is not to remove the crossing by replacing it with either an overhead or underground option but to remove the crossing by closure. Later in this contribution, which I hope everyone in the chamber takes some enjoyment from, I will further articulate the concerns of residents at Latrobe Street in my community.

Now, this particular matter of level crossing removals in my community has been there for some time. I think back to the removal of the Cheltenham and Mentone level crossings, and I think back to the community campaign that was run at the time to convey to the government the strong community sentiment that they did not want sky rail through their community; they wanted a rail-under-road option. On this occasion I am pleased to say that the government listened. At both Cheltenham and Mentone a rail-under-road option was delivered. I think of the Mentone community now where that solution has been delivered and that level crossing has been removed, and I look to the community infrastructure that is in and around that precinct and think that it is a wonderful thing. There are some issues that have been raised with me by local traders and by local residents. Of course one of the principal reasons for removing a level crossing is to reduce congestion within a community, and in the case of Mentone arguably that has not been the case, with there being five sets of traffic lights within a 1-kilometre distance between the Woolworths to the south side of the crossing up to Nepean Highway to the north.

At Cheltenham again residents and some local traders have raised concerns with me about the land that is earmarked for development in and around the level crossing removal project and the fact that that development has not taken place, and there is great uncertainty in the community about what that development might look like in the future. Are we talking about densified development within the Cheltenham community? Along Charman Road it is already very busy at the moment.

Then my mind turns to the level crossings in my community which have not been removed, which I have been forthrightly resolved to having removed, and the options that are currently being considered by the Andrews Labor government. I speak of course of the Highett Road and the Wickham Road level crossings in Highett. For some time – for more than five years now – I have been advocating for these level crossings to be removed. Highett is a wonderful part of the world. It is a wonderful part of the state of Victoria. It is a wonderful part of my community. It is a growing area. It is a vibrant area. There are restaurants, there are community activities and there are young families moving in wanting to be part of the wonderful Highett community. But here is the thing: we have got a level crossing that needs to go and after many, many years of strong community advocacy – which I would like to say, in humility, I had a part to play in, having committed to the removal of that level crossing during the 2022 election campaign before the government made their commitment – the government is not actually considering the full implications of development within the Highett community. You see, at the intersection of Bay Road and Nepean Highway you have got what the government proposes to be the start of the Suburban Rail Loop. Before Joan the boring machine makes her way down to the Sir William Fry Reserve and does her work, there is contaminated soil there which needs to be remediated, so I see that that is a medium to longer term project. I cannot see that happening anytime soon.

You look further up Nepean Highway and you have got the Gas and Fuel land there, 6.3 hectares of state government owned land currently under the auspices of Development Victoria, also earmarked for development. You look just behind the Woolworths on Highett Road and you have got 1100 dwellings being built there, as approved by Bayside City Council, and right on Highett Road you have got a level crossing which should have gone a long time ago. This is why on 23 February this year in this place I requested that the Minister for Transport and Infrastructure consider establishing a cross-agency working group so, frankly, my community would not be impacted as much as they possibly could be if you had the Suburban Rail Loop authority, the level crossing removal authority, Development Victoria, Bayside council, Kingston council, the Department of Transport and Planning and other agencies all fighting for the independence of their own institutions without care and consideration for the impact of decision-making on the community. That is why I called for that working group to be in place.

When it comes to the Highett Road and Wickham Road level crossings my strong preference, and I believe our community’s strong preference, is for rail under road. When the minister made her announcement shortly before the starting gun was shot at the 2022 election campaign, she made a commitment on behalf of the government to remove the Highett Road and Wickham Road level crossings, which caused a massive sigh of relief for my community. But the reason that was given for not preferencing rail under road and instead preferencing sky rail – which in my view would be an eyesore for the community which would permanently divide my community and the Highett community in a way that I think is unacceptable – was she did not want the Frankston line closed for three months, but that was kind of it. Frankly, if there is no good reason other than we do not want the Frankston line closed for three months, and this piece of community infrastructure is going to be there forever and a day in my community, I think we should be doing it once and we should be doing it well.

In the time I have remaining I turn to the Latrobe Street level crossing. I will finish off where I started. When the government made this announcement they said, in reference to the third point in this motion, that they would remove these level crossings, and the government wanted to make the Frankston line level crossing free.

Tim Richardson interjected.

Brad ROWSWELL: Sure, member for Mordialloc, I would love to get on board, if only the government would listen. I will not take up any more interjections, Deputy Speaker, because I know that is disorderly.

However, when it comes to the Latrobe Street level crossing removal, the government wants to close it. Now, closing something is not removing it. Closing it is closing it. When the minister made this announcement, my gut feeling on this – being a resident all my life in the community which I now have the privilege of serving – was to say, ‘This is wrong; there’s got to be a different way. There’s got to be a better way. We won’t close it’. But instead of just relying on my gut, I went to the community – something which the government never did. I went to the community and surveyed some 1500 households within close proximity to the Latrobe Street level crossing. Lo and behold, 98 per cent of respondents – some 400 respondents within about 10 days of putting out that survey – said that they were never actually asked by the government if anything should be done, would be done or could be done to the Latrobe Street level crossing. This is an issue that I have: instead of just simply saying, ‘We’re going to rule. We’re going to rule from on high and dictate a solution to the community that they may or may not want’, and for it to be a lasting solution in the eyes of the government, they should speak to the community that it affects before they impose it on that community.

I think the saving grace that my community has here is that – and in contact with the Minister for Transport and Infrastructure, she has confirmed – for reasons that may be familiar to the member for Mordialloc, the Highett Road and the Wickham Road level crossing removals and the Latrobe Street level crossing closure have been pushed by this government into the never-never, not in the foreseeable future, later down the track. It is my hope that there will be an election between now and that period and that I will take to the next election a commitment, as I did in previous elections, to remove those level crossings with a rail-under-road solution and not close the Latrobe Street level crossing – and let the people of my community decide.

Kathleen MATTHEWS-WARD (Broadmeadows) (16:13): I rise today to support the motion under consideration. I want to talk about the vast difference the Level Crossing Removal Project has made to my home suburb of Glenroy. The level crossing in Glenroy was the bane of many people’s existence. It was the number one issue raised for so many years. My younger sister even went to a different school than the rest of us because Mum and Dad just could not cope with that crossing every day. When my youngest was about 18 months old we once again heard the ‘Ding, ding, ding’ and from the back seat we heard words that are not parliamentary and definitely not our proudest parenting moment but set in perfect tone and context – so the boom gates even frustrated toddlers. I wish we had taken the collective blood pressure of Glenroy residents before 2022 and again afterwards. I think we might have found that the level crossing removal was also a health infrastructure project.

It was always the number one frustration of Glenroy residents. And it was not just the unreasonable delays when the boom gates were down 40 per cent of the morning peak hour, but it was the fact that the boom gates split the community in two. If you were in a wheelchair, you could not safely get from one side of Glenroy to the other. The underpass was too steep and not Disability Discrimination Act 1992 compliant. I will never forget accompanying my dad over the level crossing when I was pregnant. Because I could not push him in a wheelchair through the steep underpass, we decided to cross at the actual railway crossing. His wheels struck one of the tracks and jolted him out of the chair. So we were stuck on the railway crossing, he was out of his chair and I was trying to get him back in, and there was a train on the way. It was a really dangerous crossing, and that no longer happens, because it is fully DDA compliant and you can easily get from one side of Glenroy to the other now.

Every year the Glenroy level crossing came up in the RACV’s Redspot surveys, and there were regular safety issues with people driving around the lowered boom gates out of frustration at wait times. When Christine Campbell asked me to work for her back in 2000 I kind of hesitated but then decided it was going to be the only way we could get rid of that crossing. After working for her for a few months I found there was so much else we could do and help people with to improve the local area. The crossing was also one of the reasons I ran for council in 2004, and much of the structure planning work and advocacy we undertook was to achieve level crossing removal. I am sure the other councillors got sick of me banging on about it – until they got stuck there themselves and were late for yet another kinder pick-up or appointment. I also joined the ALP transport committee, and I and others agitated for a level crossing removal program just like Sydney had undertaken. A shout-out to all the comrades in the policy committees, who work really hard to have good policy for government.

I cannot tell you how pleased I was when Labor was elected in 2014 with the commitment to remove 50 level crossings. So many thought it would not happen and certainly that Glenroy would never be done, but it has been so delightful to prove them wrong. I sincerely thank Lizzie Blandthorn for her tireless dedication to the crossing project and the great outcomes that were achieved in Glenroy. It was wonderful to join her and Minister Allan as we removed the blasted boom gate, which was the 60th removal. They even made an artwork at the station in honour of the boom gate. I think it is lucky the sculpture is not made of wood or it may have ended up a one-night bonfire homage to the boom gate. It was wonderful to be with Minister Carroll and Lizzie at the opening of the station to witness the two sides of Glenroy being linked for the first time in over 100 years.

It is not just the reduction in wait times and in frustration at the delays that have improved the day-to-day life of so many in Glenroy. We now have a magnificent, award-winning station with a wide walkway and beautiful waiting and gathering area that connects the two sides of Glenroy and gives a focal point for our community. It is hard to explain what this has done for the Glenroy community, but there is a real uplift in attitude. They feel valued and have a station they are proud of. I even still feel like skipping through it on my morning walk. In chatting with the local Merri-bek CEO the other day, she recalled a young boy at the station on opening day. She asked him what he thought of the station, and his answer was ‘I just feel so proud’. Well, I am proud too, and so proud to be part of a Labor government that not only has done the 50 originally promised but has now promised 75 by 2025. We have already removed 72, two years ahead of schedule, and we have committed 110 by 2030.

I am proud of what this has done for jobs. We have created thousands of jobs for Victorians and are diversifying the workforce, with more opportunities for women and people with a disability. In my electorate of Broadmeadows this government’s commitment to free TAFE and Big Build apprenticeships has allowed for more than 23 infrastructure-related TAFE courses. We supported local traders. We are driving more customers to local businesses through shop-and-save initiatives. The increase in construction activity at level crossing removal sites brings hundreds of additional workers to the area, and they are encouraged to shop locally and support traders as much as possible. We saw this play out in Glenroy during the Glenroy level crossing removal project, when businesses in my electorate thrived from the increased venue. You really did not want to get stuck behind the bunch of tradies and wait 45 minutes for your coffee, because there were so many tradies ordering coffee. It really kept a lot of the businesses afloat during COVID, so we are really grateful for what the Level Crossing Removal Project did for businesses in Glenroy through what was a really tough time for business.

We cannot ignore the benefit of creating safer, more efficient transport not just for motorists but for pedestrians and cyclists as well. When this government removes a level crossing, we do not just move the tracks and call it done, we revitalise the entire area. We do not just transform the way commuters travel, we improve the safety and amenity across the community and transform the way locals live. As part of the Level Crossing Removal Project this government upgraded the entire Glenroy station precinct. We now have a modern train station for a modern Glenroy. The new Glenroy station provides accessible transport for Glenroy residents, bringing it up to date with Disability Discrimination Act compliance. Now people who require a mobility aid can easily access our public transport network. The upgrades have provided a permanent, open walkway between the eastern and western sides of Glenroy. Before the removal, the arrival of a train would split the suburb in half. Now, for the first time in 100 years, people on the western side of Glenroy can walk to the post office or head to the shops at all hours of the day, and they can do it without needing to worry about dangerous traffic. People can walk around the area at night and feel safe thanks to the new open areas and lighting, and it does all of this with an award-winning design.

Across the projects we have delivered approximately 20 MCGs worth of open space and created bike paths for local communities to gather on and enjoy. I am so proud of our social procurement policy, which engages Victorian Aboriginal businesses, Victorian social enterprises and Australian disability enterprises and gives more opportunities for more Victorians to contribute to the economy. Our local disability employment service Brite has a contract to provide all the wonderful plants at the station projects, and they do a marvellous job. From design to the construction of level crossing removals we are leading the way in innovation with a focus on sustainability, using recycled material and installing solar panels. The only drawback is that we can no longer use the excuse of being stuck at the level crossing when we are running late, but it is a small price to pay.

This government gets things done because this Labor government is a government of infrastructure, a government that sees the importance of building up and improving our great state, and the people of Victoria know how important infrastructure is. We have taken the level crossing removal, along with our Big Build, to multiple elections and we have been given a resounding yes each time by the Victorian people. Those in opposition do not understand that; they campaigned on scrapping the level crossing removal along with the benefits that come with it. Now, in 2023, we have completed 72 out of 110 projects; we only have 38 left. I want to especially highlight that we are delivering these projects under budget. In 2022 we spent $400 million under budget across the entire level crossing program. That is why we need to get on with the job on not only the level crossing removals but all aspects of the Big Build.

As part of the Big Build the Metro Tunnel will be open in 2025. This is another infrastructure commitment from this government that will be delivered on schedule. With the opening of the new Metro Tunnel there will be more trains running across the Melbourne network, which will add congestion to the existing level crossings across metro Melbourne. If we do not continue the level crossing removals, we will bring traffic to a standstill during important peak hours.

I am proud of this government’s commitment to remove a massive 13 level crossings on the Upfield line and along the way upgrade the signals for future projects and future upgrades along the line. With five level crossings already gone and eight more to go by 2027, it will have a significant impact on the safety and efficiency of transport along that corridor. Our Big Build is putting $7.3 billion into much-needed transport infrastructure, and each level crossing removal is done in collaboration with the local communities it affects – that is, the local residents, schools, businesses, emergency services and people that actually use the roads and trains.

I have already mentioned the Metro Tunnel, which will add capacity for new trains throughout the network. Last month we completed the upgrade to the Sunbury line, adding almost 6 kilometres of new track and upgrading stations along the entire line. I particularly love the pedestrian crossing overpass at Sunbury with the Aboriginal artwork on it; it looks magnificent. When the Metro Tunnel is complete, these upgrades will allow 113 extra passengers – (Time expired)

Tim McCURDY (Ovens Valley) (16:23): I am pleased to rise and make a contribution on the level crossing removal motion. I am pleased to hear the member for Broadmeadows say that there are only about 38 to go; hopefully they will be on budget for the last 38. I mean, you can only use that excuse so many times. After 110 level crossing projects, one would hope that by the time they get to the end they might actually be on budget.

Now, it is fair to say that the government for Melbourne is solving many of the Melbourne problems. I understand that, and I understand why level crossing removals are important in Melbourne. But Victoria is 227,000 square kilometres and Melbourne is only 10,000 square kilometres, so we are talking one-23rd of the state being Melbourne. When you invest this amount of money into metropolitan Melbourne without countering it on the other side, that is what frustrates us on this side of the house. Some have tried to say that we are anti the removal of the level crossings. Well, that is not the case at all. It is about being fair about what we invest in metropolitan Melbourne, which we understand, and being fair with what gets invested into regional Victoria. What we need in regional Victoria is roads. I think everybody on this side of the house, particularly in regional Victoria, continues to say that the roads that we drive on are literally unroadworthy. They are certainly not carworthy. In terms of level crossing removals, how many were removed in the Ovens Valley – none. I see the member for Narracan is here. I just wonder how many were –

Wayne Farnham interjected.

Tim McCURDY: None. We will get there; we will get there eventually. Well, in the meantime public transport is not as high a priority for us in regional Victoria, but roads are. If only we could get the value of one level crossing. I mean, there are a lot of smoke and mirrors that go on with the cost of these removal projects. I understand with the blowouts that they do not want to disclose exactly what they are. But I see that the three at Pakenham cost about $844 million, from memory, so that is just shy of $300 million per level crossing. I am not saying that is the case everywhere, but that was the example I saw at Pakenham. If we could just get the value of one level crossing, $300 million, invested into our roads in regional Victoria – you talk about 110; I am asking for the value of one or the cost of one to be spent on our roads – that would be a massive win for regional Victoria. We know the original cost was $5.6 billion, and that blew out to $8.3 billion very early on in the piece. That was for the first 50, so as time goes on we will see what the blowouts cost, because we know Labor cannot manage money and I think even Labor know they cannot manage money. As I said, do not get me wrong, it is not that we do not want to get rid of those crossings, but we have got to be careful with our funds and we have got to live within a budget. Those communities who want to get rid of their level crossings, if you ask them, will tell you probably 100 per cent they want to get rid of them. But I am saying we just need to be fair, we need to be reasonable, because 25 per cent of Victorians live in regional Victoria and they are not getting a piece of those 110 level crossing removals and the billions and billions of dollars that are being spent on public transport.

We have public transport in regional Victoria, but as I said, we rely on our roads. We rely on them to be safe, and that is what is important to us – to have safe roads. We know the regional roads maintenance budget was cut. You know, it was not that long ago that $250 million was invested in road maintenance funding – a few years ago. Then that dropped down to $150 million, and now I see it is down to about $30 million. As I said earlier, the cash out of just one of those level crossing removals would do enormous things for our regions and make our roads safe again. People say to me that our cars have got to be roadworthy, but where does it say that our roads have to be carworthy? Clearly, they simply are not. You would have to be living under a rock if you could not see the state of our roads and how they have deteriorated over time, and we just cannot accept it, because they are unsafe. If those same unsafe roads were in metropolitan Melbourne, they would be dealt with.

As I said, we do not have the luxury of jumping on the number 96 tram and going from one suburb to the other or from one side of the electorate to the other on a train. Nobody is complaining about that, but what I am saying is that we are frustrated with the roads that we use to carry our school buses and carry our kids from Milawa to Wangaratta, our roads that our ambulances use from Burramine to Yarrawonga, our roads that we use to carry our freight from Myrtleford to Bright and of course our roads that we use to carry our tourists anywhere around Victoria and Australia, to places like Cobram on the Murray River. That is what needs our investment. We are happy to see a level crossing not get removed in our region, but make that same investment into the roads, because that is what is important to us. This is why we are totally frustrated that again we continue to be overlooked. It is not just that we are concerned about the state of the roads, they simply are unsafe. If you need any evidence of that, come to my electorate or go to any regional electorate and you will see that they have really deteriorated.

Again, Victorians are tired of the cost blowouts. I met a bloke just recently, a couple of weeks ago, and he said, ‘I think I know why the blowouts happen on these level crossing removals.’ I said, ‘Why?’ He said he lived right next door to one of the level crossing removals and there was a jackhammer going at 10 o’clock at night. He wrote a letter to the minister and said, ‘This is unacceptable. How long’s this going to go on for?’ They offered him three months accommodation in a hotel. He did not ask for three months accommodation. He wanted to go in with the government and say, ‘Let’s put up a noise reduction wall for $2500.’ Instead he got offered damn near $20,000 worth of accommodation just at the drop of a hat. As I said, he did not ask for that. This could have been solved much more easily and cheaply than by saying, ‘Well, here’s $20,000 worth of accommodation.’

Again, we can see where the blowouts are. We can see why the blowouts are there. But I think it is just important that the government, with their 38 still to go, if that is what the number is, have to start reeling in the spend, because the Big Build that they talk about does not have a D in it, it is actually spelt with a double L – big bill. It is a massive bill, a bill that is unsustainable, a bill that generations will pay for and a bill that is not money well spent. I have mentioned our roads. That was just one example – one level crossing removal on our roads. But if we spent the same – another level crossing – on our ambulances, on our hospitals or on our schools it would be money well spent.

Now the Andrews Labor government has discovered finally that we are broke. They could not see it at the election; it was not that long ago. They could not see it when they were spruiking airport rail. I mean, everyone else in Victoria could see we were running out of money, and you would have to be running out of money when you are throwing it around like a drunken sailor. Now airport rail has gone, the Commonwealth Games have gone, Geelong fast rail has gone and Victoria’s reputation is now destroyed. So this big bill has compromised every aspect of Victorians’ lives, and now they start reducing specialist teachers. That is the most recent one we have seen – the visiting teacher service decimated. It does have an effect. I heard the Deputy Premier today talking about the Big Build and how exciting it is and how many level crossings there are, but none of them on the other side talk about the cost. They do not talk about the cost blowouts. We know we are headed towards a $171 billion debt, but the reality is that will probably be more like $200 billion. Because we know that if that is what the current figure is – $171 billion – it always goes up. It will not go down, and it is frightening that the government has still not learned.

The Andrews Labor government continue to waste our money – waste your money – on their pet projects while they ignore health, roads and the cost of living. The cost of living is not just a regional thing, it is all through Victoria. This is where we need investment, because we are in a cost-of-living crisis. There is no doubt about that, and that needs to be dealt with as opposed to just continuing to do the same as we have done over the last eight or nine years. Something has to change. We have to stop the debt spiralling further out of control, but we have actually got to invest in services that are going to make our communities better. As I say, the Victorian Deputy Premier is really using Victorian taxpayers’ funds as a personal ATM, and I am quite frustrated with that and so are many people around regional Victoria. She could invest in health, invest in schools or invest in our roads. By all means do some level crossing removals. Is 110 the right number? It might be 70; it might be 80. But at the same time you have got to be fair. Twenty-five per cent of Victorians live in regional Victoria, and if you want to be fair and you want to be serious, you need to spend that same investment not in level crossing removals but in something else in regional Victoria like our roads, like our hospitals or like our schools and make an investment that we can be proud of rather than just another big bill.

Luba GRIGOROVITCH (Kororoit) (16:33): I rise to speak in support of this motion, and I must say I am very excited to do so, not just as the former secretary of the mighty Rail, Tram and Bus Union; not just because I see it as an opportunity to spruik the union movement and the incredible work the thousands of Victorian construction union members have done to ensure that this project is completed safely, on time and under budget – two points that I will come back to later; and not just because this project is an amazing step forward for all Victorians but because this project has already had such a major impact in the electorate which I represent with the most recent Mount Derrimut Road crossing removal. This level crossing removal on Mount Derrimut Road, otherwise known as the new Deer Park station, is a major thoroughfare between Deer Park and Derrimut. Now, I want to paint a picture for each of you about the area – a picture that I do not need to paint for either the Deputy Premier or the member for Sunbury, who have both visited my area and this removal on a number of occasions, and I will reflect on those visits shortly. However, for everyone else, please give me a moment.

In Derrimut we have got roughly 9000 residents. We also have a major industrial hub employing a few thousand people, primarily locals. In Deer Park, just 3.7 kilometres up the road, we have roughly 18,000 residents as well as a major shopping precinct, community centres, sporting clubs – you name it. The main road in and out connecting these two areas was none other than Mount Derrimut Road. The removal of this one level crossing has saved members of my community countless amounts of time – time that can be better spent with family and friends. I cannot begin to explain the number of families who have thanked me for the removal of this level crossing. I remember driving from Deer Park to Derrimut for a community meeting. This is a drive that would usually take about 6 minutes. However, on this occasion it took me 22 minutes because of the trains – 22 minutes – which is something that the member for Broadmeadows clearly understands. This has happened to me not just once but on a number of occasions. I am, however, pleased to say that this is no longer an issue for us in Kororoit thanks to the hard work and dedication of the Andrews Labor government.

While works continue at the station temporary access arrangements have been made. The hardworking level crossing removal team – with whom I have met on a number of occasions, and I can say they are very diligent and do a great job – alongside Victorian construction workers are making it a priority to have Deer Park station complete by no later than the end of this year. When complete, this station will include an air-conditioned waiting room, 150 new and upgraded car parks, a multibay bus interchange, pick-up and drop-off zones, landscaping around the entire precinct and improved connectivity for pedestrians and cyclists, including a north–south connection between both sides of the new station – something that we never thought we would see in Deer Park. The Mount Derrimut Road boom gates were down for up to 60 per cent of the morning peak. This delayed up to 23,000 vehicles along the road daily. As you can imagine, it caused major traffic disruptions on a daily basis to my community. To say that this project is good is clearly just an understatement – it is bloody brilliant and something that we have needed for a long time.

It would be remiss of me not to mention the thousands of Rail, Tram and Bus Union workers who assisted with this project both in the infrastructure space and also near completion. At Deer Park station works are continuing; however, the station is open. Thank you to the Rail, Tram and Bus Union members who have assisted throughout these phases, but especially to the customer service members, who assist hundreds of thousands of passengers every single day. Whether they be customer service officers or authorised officers – you name it, they are there to help you and let you know which way to go when you are at a station.

Being former secretary of the union – for the past 10 years – I can genuinely say that rail workers are salt of the earth people. They are absolutely brilliant, and I have always been proud to stand with them, day in, day out, when I was the secretary of the union and now that I have moved into this place. I am still proud to stand with Vik Sharma and the entire executive and membership of the Rail, Tram and Bus Union. These workers do an incredible job and are often at the coalface, facing an angry passenger at the end of a bad day. Thank you to each and every one of you.

It is not only the Rail, Tram and Bus Union that should be mentioned; I need to mention the thousands of Victorian construction union members who have done the heavy lifting to deliver these removals – safely, on time and under budget. The member for Sunbury and I were visiting the site earlier this year. I think it was March, if I remember correctly. We were on our official visit with the level crossing removal team. Then I ran into some comrades of mine from the CFMEU. I was over the moon as Atif Anwar, the delegate at Deer Park station, ran over to me and said, ‘Luba’ – first of all, he wanted a selfie – ‘can you come and meet with all the men and women and the workers in the shed’. So the member for Sunbury and I went off the official tour and into the shed, and we sat with the men and women who made that station what it is today. Thank you. It was there that we sat with them, and we were proud to do so.

As we know, this project aimed at eliminating 110 congested level crossings across metropolitan Melbourne by 2030. As we have heard, we are already ahead on each and every one of our targets. In 2014, after four long and dark years under the Liberal Party, Victorians witnessed the birth of a transformational vision: the commitment to eliminate 50 level crossings. This was, as we know, a brave move. Fast-forward to today and we not only have met this goal but have gone beyond it, with a whopping 72 level crossings removed, and we are now pushing to have 110 of them gone by the end of this decade – a whole two years ahead of schedule. This accomplishment is a testament to the dedication and diligence of the Level Crossing Removal Project and the Andrews government, a government which I am proud to be part of.

Victoria’s Big Build is an extensive project that embraces our state’s ambitions for a thriving and interconnected future. This agenda includes a wide range of projects, such as the Metro Tunnel, the West Gate Tunnel, the North East Link, the Sunbury line upgrade, the Hurstbridge line duplication and upgrades to both the Monash and the ring-road. The Victorian 2023–24 budget reinforces our promise to undertake this transformative initiative, allocating $7.3 billion to ensure the continued expansion of our transport network. As of 30 July we had removed the 71st and 72nd level crossings. Our journey began with a promise of 50. The praise for this achievement belongs not only to the government but to the Victorians who supported this program across three successive elections. Our constituents recognise that this project is not just about road congestion, it is about the safety and prosperity of the communities. We have witnessed unprecedented population growth in Victoria, and this growth has brought us both challenges but also opportunities. As my good friend the member for Melton can attest, and as I mentioned the other week, the Melton LGA was recently named the fastest growing municipality in the country, with an average of 58 babies per week born. This means more families are coming to Melbourne’s west, settling and growing families. Our infrastructure must reflect this and be equipped for the soaring number of residents.

As you have heard, this year we removed the level crossings at Mount Derrimut Road by elevating the rail line to reduce congestion and we opened the new station, creating a safer, better connected Deer Park. In Deer Park – and for the 23,000 vehicles that travel on that road daily – it is huge for us. In Kororoit this is one of three projects. We have got Mount Derrimut Road, which is complete; we have Robinsons Road, which is complete; and I am very pleased to say that the residents at the other end of the electorate near Hopkins Road are very, very excited about the project there starting. In finalising, I again want to say what a bold and brave move this Andrews Labor government made. Last but not least, I again want to thank the Victorian construction unions and the members of the Rail, Tram and Bus Union. We must be reminded that they helped deliver this project safely, ahead of time and under budget.

Bridget VALLENCE (Evelyn) (16:42): I rise too to speak on this motion around level crossing removals. You know that the Andrews Labor government finds itself in trouble when it wheels out the level crossing removal program. They do not want to talk about their brutal budget; they do not want to talk about their tracking towards $171 billion of debt – a record debt that they are leaving our children and our grandchildren to pay; they do not want to talk about the nearly 50 new or increased state taxes; they do not want to talk about their polling going south; they do not want to talk about the multiple integrity issues and the multiple corruption probes that the Andrews Labor government are subject to at the moment; they do not want to talk about the Commonwealth Games, which they have stripped from all of the athletes and Victorians who would have otherwise enjoyed that, because of their financial incompetence and mismanagement; and they do not want to talk about their budget blowouts, their nearly $30 billion – or is it $60 billion, $90 billion; we are not sure – budget blowouts, so they wheel out the level crossing removal program, because they think it has been a winner for them.

I listened very carefully to the minister for budget blowouts in her contribution – I mean, the Minister for Transport and Infrastructure – and I listened very carefully to what she had to say. She talked about costings, and she said that the level crossing removal program had come in under budget. If that was to be the case, why is it such a hard task for the Andrews Labor government to actually reveal the costings? Why aren’t they transparent about the costings for the level crossing removal program, because they have not been to date? At the Public Accounts and Estimates Committee – PAEC after PAEC, year after year – they fail to demonstrate how much the total program has cost. Has there been a blowout? Is it under? If it was under, I am sure they would be talking about this from the rooftops, but they are not. They have not been clear about the cost of each of these programs, and that just goes to show that they are hiding something.

When we talk about costings we talk about financial competence, but there is nothing of that from this Andrews Labor government. They will talk about removing the crossings – and lest there be any doubt, the Liberals and Nationals support removing dangerous level crossings – but when it comes to getting value for money we also need to make sure that we do these infrastructure projects sensibly and with value for money. I would ask the question again: why haven’t these costings been revealed? You look at my community, in Lilydale and Mooroolbark, and my good friend here next to me the member for Croydon – we share the Mooroolbark train station and the line.

David Hodgett: I opened it.

Bridget VALLENCE: Sorry, the member for Croydon opened it. The Andrews government spent half a billion dollars to remove the level crossings and upgrade the stations there at Lilydale and Mooroolbark, but they have not been able to specify how much each project was. It is just this sort of random half-a-billion-dollar figure for both of them. Of course we supported these programs. In fact back when I was a candidate in 2016–17, I was advocating for the Lilydale level crossing to be removed and for that to be made underground. We know now that that is an overground crossing and a new station. It has been an interesting project and one that the Andrews government celebrates. I always say to the transport and infrastructure minister that perhaps she come back out to the community at the Lilydale level crossing removal to ask the members of the community what they think of the level crossing removal at Lilydale, because they are not happy. In fact I refer to a media release by the Andrews government, which was released back in November 2021, revealing that the crossing works had been completed, two more level crossings gone for good at Lilydale and Mooroolbark. I refer to the former Deputy Premier’s attributable comments:

We’re thrilled these dangerous and congested level crossings are now a distant memory – they’ll slash travel times and make roads safer for 53,000 motorists that use them each day.

If you actually come out and talk to the people in Lilydale and surrounds, they will tell you that the traffic congestion is worse now than it ever has been before. The boom gates were removed, and they were replaced by traffic lights – not one set of traffic lights but two – and a strange traffic treatment underneath the new sky rail, which is two lanes going into one in the middle of an intersection between two sets of lights. So they removed the boom gates to allegedly remove congestion, but they replaced them with not one but two sets of traffic lights, and the congestion through Lilydale is worse than ever before. It has been compounded by the fact that another one of the level crossing removals that this government says they have done, which is just down at Cave Hill Road, was actually just a road closure. They did not remove the boom gates and they did not make the crossing safer; they just closed the road. Many local residents are completely flabbergasted by this. There was no consultation. Even our local emergency services – the ambulance, the police and the fire brigade – are all very concerned, because this has restricted the movement in and out of Lilydale and is going to put our community at risk in times of need. It has been a botched project, and that is why, when the transport and infrastructure minister raises the level crossing removal programs, I always say how is Lilydale, because it has not worked well – the traffic is worse and emergency services are concerned now. It has just been a complete shambles, and she will not reveal quite how much it has cost.

Apart from all of that, it was a massive, massive missed opportunity, because one of the other things that the minister said in her contribution was that these level crossing removals ‘enable them to run more trains’. That is what the minister said in her contribution to the motion. But on the Lilydale line let us not forget that between the Mooroolbark and Lilydale train stations it is a single track. It is a massive missed opportunity to remove the level crossings at Lilydale and Mooroolbark but to fail to duplicate the train line between Mooroolbark and Lilydale. It means that there is no increased frequency. So half a billion dollars spent to remove the level crossings at Lilydale and Mooroolbark has not improved by one second the frequency of trains on the Lilydale line. That is not just for the people who live in Lilydale or Mooroolbark, that is for people right down the Lilydale line, through Mitcham, through Ringwood, down through Box Hill and into the city, because for the trains that go out the Lilydale line there is a bottleneck at Mooroolbark and only one train can go at any one time between Mooroolbark and Lilydale. That means – the statistics show – that the Lilydale train line services are notoriously bad when it comes to cancellations and poor punctuality. It is one of the worst on the metro line because that single track between Mooroolbark and Lilydale, about 4 kilometres, is the longest section of single track. This Andrews Labor government talks about transport infrastructure, improving train services, trying to encourage people to get on the train to get out of cars and reduce emissions – it is all for the headlines and no actual work. When it comes to our community, residents and Victorians in Mooroolbark, Lilydale and the Yarra Valley are completely ignored and left behind because the Andrews government failed that opportunity to duplicate the line between Mooroolbark and Lilydale, leaving us behind in our community.

More people would use the train, but they cannot because they are so uncertain. There is just no reliability of the trains on this line, which is why last year in 2022 in the lead-up to the election we made what I think was an excellent commitment: a $5 million pledge to undertake a feasibility study to kickstart the works, the scoping works and scoping study, for duplicating the rail line between Mooroolbark and Lilydale. It is certainly something that should be done to ensure frequency and punctuality of that train line, because you might have boom gates removed, you might have flashy new train stations, but they mean nothing if there is zero improvement in the frequency of the train services. That is not to mention all the problems that we have got: the Parkiteer where you park your bike is not working at Mooroolbark; the leaking of the station at Lilydale and the fact that the lift has not been working – it has been flooding, dripping – I mean, the list goes on. So what we want is for the costs to be revealed for the Victorian public.

Steve McGHIE (Melton) (16:52): Today I rise to contribute and speak on the level crossing removal motion. We have had many speakers before me, and I am very grateful to the Deputy Premier for the lovely trip down memory lane earlier. Of course unfortunately there were some dark times in our history – that handful of years when we sat opposite on that side of the house and had to watch the successive premiers cancel contracts. Certainly at the last election those opposite did not even bother to come up with any public transport policy and plans out in the western suburbs, whether they be funded, underfunded or not.

We have a long list of achievements and commitments that have happened in the west and in particular in Melton, and I delight in the opportunity to inform and in most cases remind the house about them. Of course it is not only about convenience, it is also about easing our roads burden. The level crossings at Hopkins Road at Truganina and at Ferris Road, Coburns Road and Exford Road in Melton are all slated for removal – to be completed by 2026. It is not just about smoother traffic flow, it is about enhancing the quality of life for the over 73,000 vehicles and vehicle drivers that are navigating these routes on a daily basis, and obviously making the place a lot safer – and as I say, that number of 73,000 is projected to grow rapidly as the population grows in Melton. Removing level crossings makes our train rides smoother, makes our roads clearer and makes our stations function better. We are not just talking about hypothetical change in the distant future; this is a reality that will be achieved by 2026 out in that Melton corridor and also in the electorate of Kororoit. It is a whole two years sooner than what was previously anticipated, and I thank the Minister for Transport and Infrastructure for bringing this project forward by two years and note the importance of that.

I have got to say, in my past history as a paramedic – I do not know whether anyone else in this house has done it – I wish back in the 1980s and 90s we had had level crossing removals, because one of my first train incidents as a paramedic working out in the Sunshine branch was a pedestrian versus train at the Anderson Road level crossing in Sunshine. Unfortunately, when pedestrians take on trains they generally lose. This was an elderly gentleman that had been down at the local shop to pick up some kerosene to put into his heater to keep him warm, and on the way back he walked across the Anderson Road level crossing, and unfortunately he was struck by a freight train.

We had to respond from the Sunshine ambulance station, which was only probably a kilometre away, and this gentleman was deceased under the train. Of course our job in those days was to retrieve the person from under the train. There is one thing that you make sure of, and that is that you have the train driver near you when you are under a train trying to drag out a body from under the train, because you do not want the train to move when you are under it and create more fatalities. I attended many train fatalities as a paramedic in the 1980s and 90s, and all of those level crossings that I attended fatalities at in the western suburbs, in particular in the Sunshine and St Albans areas, have been removed: Furlong Road, Main Road West and, as I say, Anderson Road. Then we talk about the Deer Park level crossings, as the member for Kororoit alluded to, and I have got to say to you this is a fantastic project, probably one of the best projects that has ever been introduced by any government, because it directly saves lives in many different ways, not just by protecting people crossing level crossings but also preventing car accidents with trains and also just for the safety and the movement of cars in those particular areas.

Along with the removal of the level crossings in Melton, all of our level crossings are on the major road grids. We have three roads in Melton that are key roads that all of our other smaller roads run off, and the three level crossings obviously happened to be on those particular roads. Notwithstanding that, we are building other infrastructure in Melton that will rely on these level crossings being removed, and I allude to the new hospital that commences being built next year. We are in the process. We have shortlisted two building consortia, a tender process will occur later this year to determine who the builder will be and that building will commence next year. That hospital is only down the road from the Ferris Road level crossing probably by about a kilometre. This is how important that level crossing in Ferris Road is, which will be the first one in Melton to be removed. Already work has commenced in regard to all three level crossings, geotechnical and surveying work that is going on at the moment. As I say, I thank the minister for bringing this project forward by two years.

We also have – and I alluded to the hospital – the community group that was the consultative group. They have done all of their work, and through their work they have contributed to what will happen in regard to the relationship of the level crossing, the traffic flow and the build of the hospital, and I thank that community consultative group that did all that work in regard to the hospital and its relationship to the level crossings.

Of course the commitment to removing level crossings for us on this side of the chamber really should have been met with enthusiasm and support from those opposite, because it is a public safety issue, and I alluded to that with my history in ambulance. Dangerous or congested crossings at their best are an inconvenience and at their worst kill people, and we have got evidence of that in most of those level crossings that have been removed, where there have probably been a number of fatalities, some worse than others. I know it is not a great look for the opposition to side with government on projects, but I would have thought that this is a project that you would enthusiastically side with the delivery of on the basis that it is a safety issue for the general community, regardless of whether they live in Melbourne or whether they live in rural Victoria. I am sure rural Victorians travel around Melbourne when they come to Melbourne for a visit, and while some have alluded to the fact that 25 per cent of the population live in rural Victoria, that is fine, but we see that the greatest volume of traffic through level crossings is through these high-density areas and major growth areas of Melbourne, and rural Victorians come to Melbourne regularly.

No other party has committed to removing dangerous level crossings, and in fact at times those opposite have opposed certain level crossings being removed. It is disappointing that they have done that through different projects and different sites, I should say. Sky rail was a clear example of that some years ago. The member for Bentleigh is at the table here, and he would remember it very well in regard to the battle over the sky rail.

If you google what is the most beautiful train station in Melbourne, the answer is Flinders Street, which I am a bit surprised about. But if you scroll down a little bit, Cobblebank comes up, which is in my electorate. Cobblebank is a new station. We opened it up in 2019. It was one of the first things I did after being elected in 2018. It is a lovely station. It delivers a ticketing office, a holding cell for PSOs, and it has a Parkiteer cage, which my staff tell me is somewhere you can park your bikes. I would not have called it a Parkiteer cage, but anyway. It has got male and female accessible toilets, an accessible pedestrian overpass, lifts, ramps – like all these new modern stations that we are building, it is a fantastic station. It is a popular station. It has a big car park, and we have added additional car parking spaces to it in recent times. So that has been fantastic.

We have also duplicated 18 kilometres of the track between Deer Park and Melton. As part of the Western Rail Plan it will be integrated into the metropolitan rail network at some stage, but you know what needs to happen. There was a big debate recently about electrification, or a suggestion that it was not going to happen out in the west. A lot more things have to be put in place before we can even start anything in regard to electrification to Melton. We have got to free up capacity out of Sunshine. We are upgrading the Melton line, with a $650 million injection to upgrade that line: longer platforms, longer trains, higher capacity, more passengers, greater regularity of train services. So we will continue to build and grow with not only level crossing removals but by providing good, reliable rail services to the west along the Melton line, through the Melton electorate and through the Kororoit electorate. I acknowledge the member for Kororoit for her contribution. It was fantastic to hear her contribution, in particular the passion around the level crossing removals at Hopkins Road and Mount Derrimut Road. I commend this motion to the house.

Richard RIORDAN (Polwarth) (17:02): I rise this afternoon to contribute to this motion put forward by the government. This government has a nasty habit of trumpeting big numbers with very little meaning, and I am afraid today this motion draws to the house’s attention and to the Victorian people as a whole yet again that this government is talking big, delivering little, and their performance is really quite an embarrassment. It says a lot to the most vulnerable in the state. I refer specifically to what this government has trumpeted now, at huge cost to taxpayers: the removal of 75 level crossings. Let us talk about another set of figures to do with public transport that this government is not too keen to talk about today, and that is upgrading the disability access on our tram network.

Of course there are just shy of 2000 tram stops across the state and across the city, and this government committed through the discrimination act that they brought into this Parliament that they would upgrade those tram access points so that those needing fair access to our public transport network could in fact benefit from it. Now, this is not a multi-multibillion-dollar upgrade, it is not in the order of a suburban rail link gobbling up hundreds of billions or the overblown Level Crossing Removal Project, this is just good, simple public infrastructure that a modern city should be proud to invest in and proud to do.

So let us talk about the numbers not of level crossing removals but of upgraded disability tram stops. Back in 2019 this government was rocketing along, and they did 10; they managed to do 10 so that everybody could access a tram. In 2020 they did 13. Then, lo and behold, the chequebook started drying up because, as we know, the old debt and deficit of the state kept growing. This government did not wind back its overblown, out-of-control level crossing project; no, it decided to target, as it so often does, the most vulnerable – those that actually really need the support of a well-organised, compassionate government – and it has given them the flick.

In 2021 they just did two. Across nearly 2000 to upgrade, they managed to do two. And then in 2022 they did another two, so over the last three or four years they have done four. And guess what: last budget they actually said they were going to do six, but they did two. This budget, they did not even bother lying to the disability sector or those needing fair access to transport. In this budget they have not budgeted for any disability access or all-access public transport in the great city of Melbourne. That means that from a commitment that has been in this Parliament that by 2023 we would have all-access tram services here in the state – an urgent and necessary public transport service – after 10 years of this government, 11 years of this government, they have done 400 out of a possible 1800 – 400 – and they have not done any and they have got none planned for this year. They only did two last year and two the year before. Quite frankly, to be standing here and saying, you know, ‘Look at the success of a government that gets things done’ – we have done 75 level crossing removals at some exorbitant amount overblown. I mean, even the Auditor-General cannot come at how they have managed to spend so much money and only get 75 done. Under normal circumstances they should have had 150 done with the amount of money that has been spent.

But in order to achieve these types of goals, they have completely cut the most vulnerable in the public transport system out of the equation. They have just forgotten about them, left them behind, and just inexplicably cut them from the budget. They have walked away. This government has walked away and abandoned its commitment to those that need access to public transport more than any other group in our society. They have just cut them free and said, ‘Sorry, guys, we’re not even going to mention you in the budget. For the last eight years we have been mentioning you in the budget and just misleading you. Now we’re not going to mislead you anymore, we’re just going to cut you out completely.’ I think that that is an almost intolerable cost for Victorians and the most vulnerable in Victoria. To think that they are the ones carrying the burden of the largesse of this government, who has thrown the kitchen sink literally and figuratively at trying to prove a point about level crossing removal just at any cost. We have heard the Premier say many times now, ‘Whatever the cost, I don’t care; we’ll do it’, and it is such a terrible way to treat and manage public funds.

We talk then about what the cost of the Level Crossing Removal Project is under this government. Well, the problem is we do not actually know. We know the Auditor-General produced a report back in 2017, and he found that he could not really get a straight answer from this government and that everything was secretive and not really able to be revealed to the community. I know as a former member of the Public Accounts and Estimates Committee that for three years in a row we asked how much the level crossings are and the minister for non-delivery of the Commonwealth Games and inability to stick to a budget would reply, ‘Oh, well, we can’t quite tell you yet: we haven’t put this together, it’s commercial in confidence, we’re doing secret deals and raiding the budget to do it, and don’t you worry about that’, and we do not actually know. But we do know that back in 2017 – it was reported at the time – the more modest project that the government had started out with in 2014 had already blown out by $2.3 billion, a project that the government had told taxpayers would cost about $5 billion. If we are to believe the budget papers – and they are probably questionable from time to time – we are now up to somewhere in the order of $16 billion for this project.

Victorians need to know how much these projects are costing, and we need to know in what order and what priority, because there is no shortage of examples, particularly when you go out in the west – the talk of level crossing removals and making train lines and things safer. But the Auditor-General has constantly reported that the government has not stuck to any independent advice on what level crossings should be removed. They have in fact, as we know they so often do, sort of pork-barrelled their way through level crossing removals.

They have decided to pick crossings that they think will win them votes, not necessarily save lives. That is one of the great shames of this project, the lost opportunities. We are looking at the government basically using the taxpayers chequebook to try and continue to win and maintain votes and support for them, but at what cost? The cost has been incredible budget blowouts. It has come at the expense of the most vulnerable in the complete axing and canning and abandonment of disability access on our public transport network.

As we go forward, the government claim that they are going to continue on their merry way with the level crossing removals, and I guess Victorians can now quite rightly ask: will they actually in fact continue in that vein? We have heard repeatedly now that sometimes with the level crossing removals when they close a road, they do not actually remove it. They remove the access for traffic on that road, and that counts in their count of 75. More concerningly, I guess, Victorians will be asking: where does this program go in the future? We know that because we are running out of money and we are going broke here in Victoria, we have cancelled the airport rail link, we have cancelled the Geelong fast rail and we have given up on hosting the Commonwealth Games. We once all thought we were a First World economy and state that might be able to manage such an international event, but we now know that it is beyond the capacity of the state to manage that. We have cancelled that.

We also know that country roads and others have copped a huge cut to their ongoing funding and support, and that of course worries every country Victorian. We have seen today in fact hundreds of farmers from across my part of the world, western Victoria, come to rally. Because this government have run out of money, they can no longer commit to the best infrastructure and the best choices and the best options for country Victorians, and because of that country Victorians have to settle for the least effective, the least appropriate and the most damaging forms of electrical infrastructure, simply because this government is unable to invest for Victoria into the future – in technology and transmission lines that would in fact provide the best of both worlds, the best thing for renewable energy and the best for local regional communities.

So it is not something we should be excited about, this level crossing removal project. It has come at a huge cost. It has come at the cost of our state’s budget, and it has come at the cost of providing essential transport services for our most vulnerable, and it is just a reflection of how parlous the state of Victoria has become.

Paul HAMER (Box Hill) (17:12): It is a real pleasure for me to rise today and talk about the motion that is before the house and particularly that the government has removed 72 dangerous and congested level crossings. I do want to spend a fair bit of time on level crossing 69 and level crossing 70, being the Union Road, Surrey Hills, and Mont Albert Road, Mont Albert, level crossings. Just reflecting on the program as a whole, as many speakers on this side of the house have reflected, when this program was announced in 2014 there were many people on the other side that said it could not be done. The commitment was 50 level crossings to be removed by 2022, and as has been demonstrated by the fact that we just completed 72 a month or two ago, we have clearly far exceeded this expectation.

The 69th and 70th level crossings in my electorate have a fascinating history, and it is a history of Liberal Party opposition to removing level crossings in this location for 50 years. If I can take you back to 1974 – so we can celebrate the 50th anniversary of this event next year – the Country Roads Board in fact proposed a solution to remove the Union Road level crossing, and in 1979 the Liberal government and the then Minister of Transport removed the project from the works program and basically killed it for a generation. Come 2014, originally we thought ‘This is a good change’ – they were not on the first 50 list obviously, 69 and 70 – and the initial response from the local Liberal MP at the time was very positive. If I can just find his quote from that period – the member for Box Hill at the time Robert Clark said:

In the Box Hill electorate, removing the Union Road, Surrey Hills crossing was ranked a high priority by –

the study –

and was also ranked as the 14th highest removal priority in a 2008 expert study …

With many other crossings now having been removed or funded … this crossing should now be high on the list for future removal.

And indeed it was. In the 2018 election campaign this Andrews Labor government did make a commitment that the next 25 crossings were to be removed by 2025. Indeed Union Road and Mont Albert Road both did find themselves on the list. At that point in time the Liberal opposition began again. There are almost too many articles to refer to here. This is from 2018. I am quoting from the local Leader newspaper at the time, and it says in the headline:

SURREY Hills and Mont Albert’s time-wasting level crossings will finally be scheduled for removal if the Andrews Labor Government is re-elected next month.

We have not got the quote from the local member, but I do remember at the time, going into the election, that while the then member did welcome the announcement, he was already putting up opposition. He said, ‘Oh no, but it can’t be sky rail. The community won’t accept sky rail.’ And what did we see? We did not see the Liberal opposition matching that commitment. So it was pretty clear how the level crossings were going to be removed. It was only going to be removed if an Andrews government was elected. It was re-elected in 2018.

I know there has been some discussion about where these level crossing removals are going and how they are helping and supporting Labor members of Parliament. Well, I must say, in 2018 there were no Labor members of Parliament in those seats. In fact, I think if you look at the margin heading into the 2018 election, I dare say that there was not much expectation that it would be a Labor-held seat after 2018. But we do know the result of the election. Thankfully, the good people of Box Hill did see fit to elect me in 2018, and before long the project was indeed underway.

But let us not stop there on the Liberal opposition, because no sooner had the project plan, the design plan, been released – and this was in late 2020 – than a petition was launched against the design of the project. And we had the usual suspects in the upper house launching the petition. Now, if you try and look for that petition on the website, it is nowhere to be found. It was a brief moment in time that the petition was put out. What did they want to change? They wanted to change the design, which would have, as the member for Sunbury has already pointed out, created a much greater impact on the surrounding neighbourhood, with far more trees being removed. It would have led to a deeper and wider trench, and it would have led as well to the compulsory acquisition of many homes and businesses. So this is what the Liberals were trying to advocate for in their petition – trying to cloud and muddy the waters. This has been a consistent theme throughout this project.

I want to turn to one other element in the genesis of this project – and it was brought up by the Deputy Premier and the responsible minister. There was legal action launched against this project. It was launched by a community group who were upset by the level of consultation, but if you read through the paper, who is the first named proponent as part of this community group? Well, it happens to be a person who later became the third candidate on the upper house ticket for North-Eastern Metropolitan Region for the Liberal Party – funny about that, how these developments continue to occur to try to put up barriers, to hinder and to stop the development of this project.

Now, 22 May was a milestone date for the Box Hill community. The roads had reopened a week or two earlier, but that was the day that the new Union station opened, and it was the first time that traffic could pass through the roads with the trains also going without causing congestion. It was a fantastic day for the community, a huge, huge effort by the entire workforce, an immense project. It was on a huge scale. I know people like the numbers, particularly me, given my civil engineering background: 213,000 cubic metres of material was removed as part of this project. I know people do love it in more customary units, so that is equivalent to 80 Olympic swimming pools – that is the more standard measure, I know.

Michael O’Brien: How many MCGs, Paul? That is the real measure.

Paul HAMER: Member for Malvern, I do not have the conversion factor from swimming pools to MCGs.

Michael O’Brien interjected.

Paul HAMER: No, the accepted measure of volume is Olympic swimming pools, the accepted measure of area is the MCG.

Michael O’Brien interjected.

Paul HAMER: I will welcome that debate outside of the house, member for Malvern.

It is a 1.3-kilometre trench, with 1242 piles to form the walls of the rail trench. It does make a civil engineer weep, on those figures. It was over 500,000 hours of work – so can I thank all of the staff who put in an enormous effort, and can I thank the community and the traders. They did go through an enormous amount – almost three months of closure. I commend the motion to the house.

Wayne FARNHAM (Narracan) (17:22): I am pleased today to rise on this motion and talk about the level crossing removals. I have been sitting here and listening for quite a while, and I tell you what, I really agree with what the member for Ovens Valley said about regional Victoria. I understand why the government has done this. I get it. My sister lives in Carnegie, and it was a nightmare to get through that intersection, so I understand why it removed that – it used to take about 20 minutes to get through there.

We went to the last election with a 25 per cent regional infrastructure guarantee. There was a good reason for that, because 25 per cent of Victorians live in regional Victoria, and the member for Ovens Valley said that earlier. When we talk about level crossing removal, none has happened in regional Victoria. I am glad the member for Narre Warren South went on a beautiful train trip down to Bairnsdale in the Gippsland East area. Gippsland is a beautiful part of the country –

A member interjected.

Wayne FARNHAM: Gippsland East, thank you. What I was interested in in your contribution is when you spoke about the level crossings at Pakenham. I did yell out, which was a bit rude, and said ‘Did you see any past that point?’ The answer would have been ‘no’, because in my community are the rail towns of Nar Nar Goon, Tynong, Garfield, Bunyip, Longwarry, Drouin, Warragul, Yarragon and Trafalgar – not one has been removed. The sad part of this is in Bunyip in 2002 a six-year-old died at that level crossing. Now, when talking about level crossing risk, you would look at that level crossing and you would say, ‘This should be removed. A child has died’. What annoys me about the government at the moment is that it is so city-centric that it is not worrying about regional Victoria. It is almost like our lives do not matter; we do not matter: ‘As long as it happens in the city, don’t worry about regional Victoria. They’ll survive’. Well, regional Victoria does survive, because we are a resilient bunch.

The member for Kororoit talked about a level crossing in her area that took 22 minutes to get through. There is a level crossing in Warragul known as Gallaghers Crossing. I can speak from experience on this. It takes 25 minutes to get through that crossing every morning and every night. So why is that member’s crossing more important than the crossing in my electorate? Twenty-five minutes they sit there when dropping kids off to school. There are three schools, so you can imagine the amount of traffic at school time that is trying to get through this level crossing, and once the boom gates go down, all the traffic jams up. And what is even worse is whoever did this, in their delusional mind, built an ambulance station right there, so the ambulances cannot get through. So when we talk about being fair, be fair to regional Victoria. There has not been one level crossing removal in regional Victoria, and to be honest it is disgraceful. It is absolutely disgraceful.

I have heard the members talk today about the Level Crossing Removal Project – it is $400 million under budget. Well, thank goodness something is under budget, because you have had $30 billion of infrastructure blowouts – $30 billion. I am glad it is not $30.4 billion. I am glad we are only at $30 billion. But I can tell you what, as a man who has been in private business his whole life and as a builder, if I had an estimator come to me and say, ‘You know what, Wayne, the West Gate Tunnel’s going to cost $5.5 billion’, and then they came back and said, ‘Sorry, it’s cost $10.2 billion’; then for the next project, which would be North East Link, ‘Wayne, it’s only going to cost $5 billion’, then it has cost $18 billion; and then we have got the Metro Tunnel, ‘Wayne, it’s going to cost $9 billion – no, it has cost $12.6 billion’, they would be sacked. If you continually had the budget blowouts on construction that this government has had and if you were in private business, you would not have a job. You would be gone. Something this government needs to do is actually take note of what they are doing, how they are spending the Victorian taxpayers money and where they are going to get the best bang for buck, because at the moment this government is not doing it.

As we move forward with level crossing removals, will it stay on budget? That is the big question. I doubt it, because you know what? You have got the CFMEU going for a 7 per cent pay rise. Have you factored that in?

Tim Richardson: How good is that, though? What a great union, hey?

Wayne FARNHAM: Oh, yes, they are really good union, that mob. The member for stamp collection over there is giving me a hard time, but I doubt very much that this government will bring the remaining of these level crossings in under budget or on budget because they just cannot get it right. I am still flabbergasted by the Commonwealth Games – how you can go from $2.4 billion to $7 billion in 15 months? How do you do that? How does the government function like this? How do they do their estimation? I think they get a dartboard and they just stand back and they go, ‘Okay, let’s just throw a dart, and we’ll just multiply that by a billion and maybe we’ll get it in the ballpark.’ I mean, the government now are giving us estimations like real estate agents give ranges on houses: ‘This house might be $650,000 to $750,000.’ I will give you the example of the West Gippsland Hospital: the government commitment was $610 million to $675 million. Is that so when you have another budget blowout and it costs $770 million, you can sit back and say, ‘Well, it only went $100 million over budget’?

Michael O’Brien: If it was real estate, it’d be underquoting.

Wayne FARNHAM: Absolutely. It really, really baffles me how this government continually blows budgets on every project it does. You are $30 billion over budget on projects, and it is the Victorian taxpayer that pays for that. We are going to be paying the debt down in this state – our grandkids will not even get rid of this debt. I am absolutely flabbergasted by this, but what concerns me more is the lack of investment in regional Victoria and why the government will not even step foot into regional Victoria.

As the member for Ovens Valley said, one level crossing in his electorate would make the world of difference. One level crossing in my electorate would get rid of congestion. Two level crossings in my electorate would probably fix all our roads. It would fix all our roads in regional Victoria, because we have that much traffic, that many potholes, and if you look at what is happening in Melbourne’s Big Build, okay, so Melbourne gets the legacy, but the legacy for regional Victoria is our roads are absolutely stuffed because of it. At Tynong North quarry they come out; there are over 200 truck movements a day at Tynong North quarry. It is dangerous, it needs an intersection upgrade, and I cannot even get an answer off the Minister for Roads and Road Safety on it. I cannot get an answer. If you are going to create a legacy in Melbourne, have a legacy in regional Victoria that supported that legacy. The legacy we need in regional Victoria is better intersection upgrades and better roads. We need road studies done in my community because it is one of the fastest growing communities in Victoria, and I want this government to actually invest in regional Victoria and leave us with a legacy, rather than just roads that are totally decimated because we have got trucks and trailers of rock going up to Melbourne’s Big Build. It is absolutely shameful that there is not one level crossing in regional Victoria that is being removed.

Natalie HUTCHINS (Sydenham – Minister for Education, Minister for Women) (17:32): I move:

That the debate be now adjourned.

Motion agreed to and debate adjourned.

Ordered that debate be adjourned until later this day.