Wednesday, 17 June 2026

 John PESUTTO (Hawthorn) (19:09): (1713) My adjournment matter this evening is for the Minister for Roads and Road Safety. The action I seek is for the minister to direct the Department of Transport and Planning to undertake the works necessary to permanently address the unacceptable accumulation of rubbish, litter and graffiti around the entrances and exits of the Monash Freeway in the electorate of Hawthorn. This is something of a perennial problem that my office is contacted about regularly, and one that appears to be getting worse with each passing month. The Monash Freeway is one of Melbourne’s busiest and most important transport corridors. Thousands of motorists travel through Hawthorn every day, yet whether entering or exiting the freeway at Toorak Road, Burke Road or nearby interchanges, motorists are increasingly met by embankments and verges littered with hard rubbish and covered in graffiti. What should be a major gateway to our city instead presents as neglected and poorly maintained. Constituents regularly report plastics, food packaging, bottles, cans, cardboard and other waste scattered along roadsides and embankments. During a recent inspection my office observed everything from general litter to dumped hard rubbish, including a discarded couch. Quite how a couch ended up halfway up a freeway embankment remains a mystery, but it illustrates the extent of the problem. Beyond being an eyesore, loose debris can be blown onto traffic lanes, creating hazards for motorists. Accumulated rubbish can obstruct drains, damage roadside infrastructure and increase maintenance costs over time.

It is also an environmental concern. The freeway corridor runs alongside Gardiners Creek, which ultimately flows into the Yarra River. For every bottle, plastic wrapper or piece of packaging visible from the roadside, there is every chance another has already found its way into our waterways. Such large quantities of litter should not be allowed to accumulate beside one of Melbourne’s most important urban creek systems. My constituents are fed up. They take pride in their neighbourhoods and expect basic standards of maintenance on one of Melbourne’s busiest transport corridors. This is not simply a matter of amenity. It is a matter of road safety, environmental stewardship and civic pride. Accordingly, I ask the minister to direct her department to undertake an immediate clean-up of affected sites and implement a permanent maintenance regime that prevents the continual accumulation of rubbish and graffiti along the Monash Freeway corridor in Hawthorn. I look forward to the minister’s response.