Wednesday, 20 March 2019

 Mr M O’BRIEN (Malvern—Leader of the Opposition) (11:01): My question is to the Premier. Before the Andrews Labor government signed the West Gate Tunnel contract with Transurban, was the Premier aware of the $87 000 in extra toll costs to individual motorists who will be using CityLink, including mums, dads and tradies?

 Mr ANDREWS (Mulgrave—Premier) (11:01): The government is and has always been completely aware of the need to get this project built. We have also been completely clear with the Victorian community about how it would be funded. On the issue of transparency and what was known to the government and what was put out there into the Victorian community, it is very important to reflect on the fact that the West Gate Tunnel legislation is of course public, the CityLink concession deed is public, the 10 000-page environment effects statement is public, the 2000 pages of contractual documents are public, the summary value for money assessment is public and the 1000-page business case is public—the first publicly released business case for a major road project in the nation’s history.

Ms Staley: On a point of order, Speaker, the Premier is misleading the house. You cannot get up and talk about transparency in documents which are heavily redacted.

The SPEAKER: There is no point of order.

Mr ANDREWS: Despite the expertise of some when it comes to these matters, I reject that assessment. I think we have put in place and we have put into the public domain more documentation than many other projects that I could quote, but I will not go down that road.

What is very clear and what has always been at the centre of our decision-making is the need to deliver a second river crossing and the need to deliver the travel time savings that come from that, the need to deal with the fact that if there is a problem with that part of our road network invariably there is a problem across the whole network—

Mr M O’Brien: On a point of order, Speaker, the Premier is debating the question. The question was: was the Premier aware of the $87 000 in extra toll costs to individual motorists? He has not answered that question and I ask you to bring him back to answering the question. Did he know about that individual cost when he signed that contract?

The SPEAKER: Order! The Premier is being relevant to the question that was asked.

Mr ANDREWS: I will resist talking about who signed what and when because there is a bit of history there, I think. I wonder if others were aware when they signed certain side letters.

This project has been endorsed by the Victorian community and it will be delivered by a government resoundingly endorsed by the Victorian community. We know and understand how important this is and we will not be relying upon, as others are, the analysis of an office that they themselves opposed.

 Mr M O’BRIEN (Malvern—Leader of the Opposition) (11:04): When announcing contracts for the West Gate Tunnel the Premier claimed that this deal ‘has been assessed as high value for taxpayers and for drivers’. Given that Transurban will receive $37.3 billion in toll revenue for a $4 billion outlay, hasn’t the Premier’s deal simply delivered high value for Transurban shareholders but massive extra cost for CityLink motorists?

 Mr ANDREWS (Mulgrave—Premier) (11:04): The answer to the Leader of the Opposition’s question is no.

Members interjecting.

The SPEAKER: Order! Members of the opposition will come to order.

Mr ANDREWS: Well, members of the opposition who cannot quite work out whether this is a serious issue or something to laugh about signed off on arrangements. We had to build it, but they signed off on arrangements for the Tullamarine Freeway widening with terms less favourable than those connected to the West Gate Tunnel. So all over the shop you have been opposed to this project—

Mr M O’Brien: On a point of order, Speaker, in relation to relevance, if the Premier wants to discuss the CityLink Tulla widening, I can tell you there are no extra tolls there for building a road that people who are paying those tolls will not be driving on. This is about people paying for tolls—

The SPEAKER: Order! There is not a point of order.

Mr ANDREWS: I am indebted to the Leader of the Opposition for his point of order. It has just confirmed that he really has absolutely no idea what he is talking about. The concession deed was extended. The whole concession deed—not just on the Tulla freeway bit of it but the entire concession deed. The Leader of the Opposition is in need of a briefing. He is in need of a briefing, and maybe more than that.

The SPEAKER: Order! Before calling the Minister for Education on a ministers statement I acknowledge in the gallery the presence of a former member for Yan Yean and former member for Kororoit, André Haermeyer.