Malvern electorate level crossing removals
Mr M O’BRIEN (Malvern) (09:43): The people of my Malvern electorate work hard, they pay their taxes and they love their children. So why does this Andrews Labor government insist on treating them like second-class citizens? Labor’s taxpayer-funded ads boast they are removing 85 dangerous and congested level crossings, but the truth is Labor is keeping some of this state’s worst level crossings for one reason alone: they are in Liberal electorates. The official Australian level crossing assessment model list rates the level crossing at Tooronga Road, Malvern, as the 39th worst in Melbourne, but Labor wants to keep it. ALCAM rates the High Street, Glen Iris, level crossing as the 53rd worst, but Labor wants to keep it. The former federal Liberal government even committed $260 million to remove the Glenferrie Road, Kooyong, level crossing, but the Andrews Labor government said ‘No, thanks’ and refuses to remove the 71st worst level crossing in Victoria.
I know how these level crossings disrupt the daily lives of the families in my community, and the fact that the Andrews government refuses to deal with them is disgraceful—because while crossings 39, 53 and 71 in Malvern are untouched, the 163rd worst one, in Dandenong South, was removed this year. This is a Labor government that plays politics with everything but is now playing politics with the safety and lives of people in my electorate. Premier, stop playing politics with level crossing removals and agree to remove the level crossings at Glenferrie Road, High Street and Tooronga Road.