Wednesday, 8 February 2023

 Kim WELLS (Rowville) (09:49): This statement condemns the Andrews Labor government for the total neglect of major roads in the electorate of Rowville, namely the Lysterfield, Napoleon, Wellington and Ferntree Gully roads. At the last election this issue in Rowville was the second most important to constituents after health. Residents are sick and tired of potholes breaking the road surface and dangerous road shoulders, and the roads have not been sealed properly. But to make matters worse, the federal member for Aston, Alan Tudge, actually secured federal funding to fix these roads. On 1 April 2019 – nearly four years ago – Alan Tudge announced that he had secured funding to duplicate Napoleon Road from Kelletts Road through to Glenfern Road. Further still, the money was in the Victorian state Labor 2019 budget paper 1, page 142. Furthermore, Alan Tudge secured a further $100 million of federal funding to upgrade Wellington Road, and again the Andrews government, through gross incompetence, sat on the money and did absolutely nothing. Then on top of all this the Albanese government came along and in their very first budget axed $900 million of key Victorian road and rail projects. Federal Labor cancelled the $50 million for Napoleon Road and now the $110 million for Wellington Road and the $475 million rail link between Monash Uni Caulfield and Clayton campuses.