Wednesday, 31 August 2022

Adjournment

Eastern Freeway

Mr GUY (Bulleen—Leader of the Opposition) (19:00): (6516) My adjournment matter tonight is for the Minister for Transport Infrastructure, and it concerns the expansion of the Eastern Freeway. Much has been discussed in the chamber and indeed by the government about the North East Link Program and the impact the North East Link Program may or may not have on the north-eastern suburbs of Melbourne, but what is not discussed by the government is what is happening with the Eastern Freeway and the government’s intentions around the expansion of the Eastern Freeway. Expansion of the Eastern Freeway as the government has been mooting it may have quite a detrimental impact upon many of my constituents—certainly around Estelle Street, Willow Bend and Park Avenue—and the concept of those residents facing 6-metre-high walls or more opposite their front driveways over the road from very narrow streets is something that they are not used to and certainly would not want them to be used to, and I would not want them to be used to, given the fact that at the moment they are over from the Koonung Creek Reserve. The government has not yet made any kind of detailed designs available to these residents as to what is going where, what it might look like and what might be the impacts on so many of these residents.

They also have not talked about many of the clubs, like Bulleen Cricket Club, Koonung reserve, Greythorn Bowling Club and Manningham Juventus, for instance—about the impact on those clubs. Manningham Juventus, for instance, have a number of trees to the south side of the soccer pitch, which are the only natural shelter from sun for the spectators. They do not have any other naturally shaded areas around the soccer pitch, and that will all go. That is what is being mooted at the moment, but there is nothing firm. What I am asking for from the minister tonight is to write to these residents who are directly affected, who abut the Eastern Freeway, and to be in contact with and write to those clubs and tell them openly what is going to happen and what it is going to look like. So what is going to happen to those clubs, how much vegetation is going to be lost, how close the freeway will be to those sporting reserves and whether they will lose any of their current land, because at the moment this is a huge point of conjecture for some of those clubs who require the land to the south side of some of those football grounds, which may disappear. That will thoroughly change the shape of some of those ovals obviously and make them unplayable.

I am asking the government to come clean and tell these residents and clubs what is going to be their future once and for all so that they can actually get on with their lives and start planning for the future and, more to the point, so the government can then compensate them for what damage is going to be done to their lives and to their club’s future.

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Just before I call the next speaker can I welcome in the gallery Dr Jim Romas, Dr Claudio Baldi, Dr Hung Phu Tran and Dr Walid Ahmar, northern suburbs medical practitioners who contributed greatly during the COVID pandemic. Welcome to the gallery.