Wednesday, 15 May 2024

Upfield line level crossing removals

Evan MULHOLLAND (Northern Metropolitan) (19:01): (902) Thank you, President, and I appreciate the apology from earlier; I was not here, but it is all good. My adjournment tonight is to the Minister for Transport Infrastructure, and the action I seek is for him to give an explanation for a clearly broken promise in regard to Upfield line level crossings. It was clear as day before the 2022 election, when the Labor Party promised – particularly in Brunswick – that it would be getting rid of eight more level crossings on the Upfield line. It was in a media release dated 19 September 2022, which said:

Community consultation and further project design will occur early next year –

that was 2023, and that did not actually occur, despite another member for Northern Metropolitan Region, Ms Watt, saying she would engage in that consultation –

with the level crossings to be removed by 2027.

It was revealed last week that the majority of this was in the area of Brunswick. So you can see what happened: Labor lost the election in Brunswick, had not picked up the seat from the Greens and then decided, very politically, like they have with most of their schools, that if they do not hold the seat they do not need to fund things in that seat. It has now been pushed out past 2030 – clearly a broken promise. Not only is it a broken promise that leaves eight death traps, as the Premier and the former Premier called them, but they are in place for longer, contributing to traffic congestion and further hindering any chances of improving frequency on the Upfield line.

The main thing people talk to me about regarding the Upfield line is the frequency issue, but it is also the need for duplication all the way to Upfield. I am a big fan of what was proposed in a Public Transport Victoria development plan in 2012, under Terry Mulder and the Liberals and Nationals, which was for a northern loop line – you duplicate to Upfield, you connect to Somerton, now Roxburgh Park, and you also electrify the track from Craigieburn to Wallan. There is a fast-growing community in Wallan, and Donnybrook as well, who are still, like my colleagues in the western suburbs, stuck on V/Line trains in massive growth areas, which hinders their usage for regional Victoria as well. But this is all happening because we are spending $216 billion on the Suburban Rail Loop. The Suburban Rail Loop, which no transport expert has ever suggested, means we cannot spend money on anything else.

It is a clear broken promise, the removals on the Upfield line. Labor went to the election saying they would get them done and it would be level crossing free. That has not happened. It was Mike Williams who was going to remove these level crossings. Well, he did not, and he will not. Labor needs to explain why this is a broken promise and why it has been pushed out to 2030.