Tuesday, 30 April 2024

Western Victoria Region

Bev McARTHUR (Western Victoria) (13:00): (802) My constituency question is for the Minister for Transport Infrastructure and concerns the status of the Geelong Ring Road extension, the Bellarine link. The delay over the latest phase in this project has been extraordinary. For seven years residents have been left in limbo. They cannot develop or sell their properties, and businesses and road users do not know whether this important infrastructure will ever get built. The decision and the funding just have not arrived, unlike the $26 billion blowout of Melbourne’s North East Link. Incredibly, my constituent was recently told by Department of Transport and Planning staff:

There isnt a project team working on Bellarine Link at the moment, and there are no timelines confirmed for when further works will be completed.

Minister, can this actually be true? When will you either fund this project or put affected property owners out of their misery by cancelling it?