Thursday, 24 March 2022

Ministers statements: level crossing removals

Ms ALLAN (Bendigo East—Leader of the House, Minister for Transport Infrastructure, Minister for the Suburban Rail Loop) (14:29): I was thrilled yesterday to join the member for Hawthorn, the member for Burwood and the member for Box Hill at Union Road to talk about the ongoing removal of level crossings, particularly at Union Road and Mont Albert Road—two of the 85 we are removing, with 58 already gone. I am pleased to say I have been to these level crossing sites a number of times and met with locals in the community. These are great projects, but they are also a sombre reminder of how dangerous these level crossings are: in 2016 two people were killed at the level crossing location on Union Road. That is why we decided to fast-track the removal of these dangerous and congested level crossings, and they will be gone for good next year.

The local members in this area, particularly the member for Box Hill, have done a terrific job representing their communities. The member for Box Hill said, ‘Look, the locals love this project, but they want us to do a little bit more. They want to see the addition of decks over the rail trench at both Mont Albert and Union roads’, and that is exactly what we are doing. Yesterday we announced the details of the deck at Union Road, and I do want to acknowledge the support for that part of the project from the Boroondara council. This is another great example of where we have got the opportunity to remove more than level crossings to provide a greater community benefit. We have grabbed those opportunities. Plus we were pleased to announce that the new station that we are building in this location is going to be named Union station.

Further, this project is not just going to benefit the Surrey Hills community but people all the way to Lilydale and Belgrave, as these level crossings will reduce delays, and we are removing every level crossing on these corridors all the way to Lilydale and Ferntree Gully. Some are opposing this. A member for Southern Metropolitan in the other place, David Davis, is actually supporting a legal challenge, trying to block this project. We are removing level crossings. When it comes to David Davis and the Liberal Party, all they can do is whine, whine, whine about level crossings.

Members interjecting.

The SPEAKER: Order! It might be the last question, but members will still be removed from the chamber for shouting.