Tuesday, 31 October 2023

 Bridget VALLENCE (Evelyn) (19:00): (401) By failing to upgrade the Maroondah Highway at Coldstream and fix the dangerous Killara Road intersection the Allan Labor government continues to put the safety of pedestrians and motorists at risk. The action I seek is for the Minister for Roads and Road Safety to join me at a Coldstream community meeting to explain why the Labor government has not yet delivered this vital road safety project. Four years ago, in 2019, $20 million in Commonwealth funding from the former federal Liberal government was allocated to the state Labor government’s Department of Transport specifically to upgrade the Maroondah Highway and Killara Road in Coldstream. Despite this, the state Labor government has for four years sat on this funding, further putting the safety of our community at risk.

Given the Allan state Labor government’s woeful record on infrastructure delivery, with projects more than $30 billion over budget, the Albanese federal Labor government announced a 90-day review of projects that have received Commonwealth money but are not yet started. Now, 180 days into the 90-day review, the residents of Coldstream, Gruyere and Yering and indeed right across the Yarra Valley are deeply concerned that Labor is considering pulling this funding from this vital road safety project and from the Coldstream community. Make no mistake, it is the Allan state Labor government that has stalled this project and is seeking permission from the federal Labor government to redirect the funding they have already received away from the Coldstream community. If I have somehow got that wrong, the Labor government could simply start using the money allocated and get on with the job of fixing Maroondah Highway and Killara Road.

Last week, on 24 October, around 100 local residents joined me and my federal Liberal colleague Aaron Violi MP at a community meeting in Coldstream, determined to keep this campaign going. This massive turnout of Coldstream, Gruyere and Yering locals shows unequivocally how much it still matters to them that this local road gets upgraded. Residents at the meeting wanted to know why no Labor MPs have offered to meet them, to listen to their concerns, to hear why this road safety project is so important for the community or to explain why the works promised for completion in 2022 have not yet been done. They make a lot of sense, which is why on their behalf I am seeking this action of the roads minister: join me to meet the community and explain why Labor has not fixed this notoriously dangerous road despite having funding. I will not rest until the funding for this project is confirmed. The Allan Labor government needs to guarantee that this vital road safety upgrade for Coldstream will proceed before there is another tragic fatality.