Tuesday, 27 August 2024

Ministers statements: Metro Tunnel

Gabrielle WILLIAMS (Dandenong – Minister for Government Services, Minister for Consumer Affairs, Minister for Public and Active Transport) (14:15): It is my pleasure to rise today to update the house on the many ways that the Metro Tunnel will transform the way Victorians move around our state. Since 2014 we have added more than 2000 new services operating each week across our train network, and the Metro Tunnel will allow us to keep adding services for years to come, which is very important in keeping pace with our growing community. The tunnel will also open up direct train access to new parts of our city for the very first time, including of course the University of Melbourne, the Parkville medical precinct and the St Kilda Road employment hub.

But importantly the Metro Tunnel is also fundamentally about changing the way people move around our city. Like all great cities, Melbourne will be a city of interchange, benefiting from an increasingly integrated public and active transport network. Alongside the Metro Tunnel, we have been investing in new bus interchanges, and there are many behind me who have benefited from those and some over there as well. We have also been investing in new level-access tram stops and new bike parking at transport hubs, and I know the member for Cranbourne was very pleased about hers, at Cranny station. This will make it more convenient than ever to interchange from a train or a tram to a bus or a bike for the rest of your journey home.

Those opposite cut services and made it harder for Victorians to get around, and they never had a plan for the future. While they are focused on themselves and on each other –

James Newbury: On a point of order, Speaker, this is the second minister who has abused the rules of this place. They cannot use ministers statements to attack the opposition.

The SPEAKER: Order! I ask you to direct your point of order at the beginning.

Mary-Anne Thomas: On the point of order, Speaker, there is no point of order. It is entirely reasonable to compare and contrast this government with the previous government, which is what the minister was doing.

The SPEAKER: I ask the minister to come back to her ministers statement.

Gabrielle WILLIAMS: With pleasure, Speaker. This government remains focused on giving Victorians more options to get to where they need to go. Whether that be education or work or medical appointments or recreational venues, we have got more ways to get there. Only Labor plans for the future, and the Metro Tunnel is another example of that.