Wednesday, 1 April 2026

 Nicole WERNER (Warrandyte) (11:20): I would like to start by speaking on the Public Accounts and Estimates Committee report on the 2025–26 budget estimates, specifically regarding chapter 6 on the Department of Transport and Planning in reference to ‘New infrastructure projects with highest total investment, 2024‒25 to 2028‒29’. Included in this report is the very famous and number one local issue that I have been advocating for in this house and externally, which is of course the five-ways intersection, something that I have been raising since my very first speech to Parliament in August 2023. It is now in this report because of our advocacy, and it really is a win for the community. It is one of those examples of when the community works together in advocacy and we see something take place in funding, and I am really proud of our community and what they have achieved by working together to be vocal about this and to advocate for this.

Predating me, this has been an issue in our community for over a decade. It has been an issue that my predecessor raised and also tabled a petition in Parliament about. It is something that impacts locals in the electorate of Warrandyte really significantly and is one of the number one road issues. So it was with immense joy that I saw it in the budget papers, where there is a commitment of both state and federal funding, after having raised it in my two years to that point over 16 times – I think I am now raising it for the 18th time in the house – because it is such a priority to our community. To have the funding secured to now fix this dangerous intersection is a credit to the community and a credit and a win to that community advocacy, and it shows what power there is when we work together.

Recently the government released their community consultation report on the intersection, and it told us things we already knew. But to highlight a few: 81 per cent of respondents said that they felt unsafe or very unsafe the last time they travelled through the intersection, and 86 per cent experienced traffic congestion on their most recent trip. This is of course a daily reality for the 17,000 vehicles that pass through the intersection every single day, with nearly 40 per cent of people reporting delays of 5 to 10 minutes and others experiencing even longer delays. Perhaps most tellingly, 70 per cent of respondents said that they actively avoid the intersection altogether. That is a known reality within the electorate and something that young people and motorists who have been on the roads for decades have raised with me independently and said to me in my time: ‘Five-ways intersection – I don’t even bother going that way, because it’s a death trap.’ That is what they have said to me, so the functional impact is significant. Seventy per cent of respondents indicated that they actively avoid the intersection and therefore divert instead to roads such as Hall Road, Colman Road and Jumping Creek Road, which also has its own issues. When asked about their primary concerns, 46 per cent identified traffic congestion and queuing as the key issues, followed by poor visibility at 18 per cent and both confusing layout and unsafe driver behaviour at 17 per cent each.

It has obviously highlighted these strong issues here and the strong support for intervention as well. Seventy-nine per cent of respondents are supportive or very supportive of changes to improve safety, and when ranking upgrade options, 47 per cent selected traffic lights as the top priority and 42 per cent selected a roundabout. We will leave that, obviously, to take its due course.

What we see now is that the government has the evidence and has the funding secured. Even though it has been nearly a year since the funding was secured, what the community does not have is clear progress or a clear timeline surrounding this project. They are wanting to know and have asked, and I have therefore asked in the house and of the minister time and again: when will the delivery of this project be, what is the clear timeline and when will this happen? There are still no answers. So that is my fight now – to make sure that the government actually deliver this project – that it is not just consultation but delivery – and for them to finally fix Warrandyte’s five-ways intersection.

Moving on to the report from PAEC regarding section 6.5.1 as it relates to free public transport initiatives, speaking on the Public Accounts and Estimates Committee report on the 2025–26 budget estimates, I recently met with Nillumbik council, who stressed to me the importance of bus services in my electorate and the lack of connectivity and accessibility, and that is a lived reality for so many in my community. While the government talks proudly about public transport being free, the reality in my electorate is that there is no connectivity that makes it feasible for people to even use public transport.