Thursday, 6 February 2020
Questions without notice and ministers statements
West Gate Tunnel
West Gate Tunnel
Mr M O’BRIEN (Malvern—Leader of the Opposition) (11:17): My question is to the Premier. Will the Premier guarantee that neither taxpayers nor motorists will pay one extra cent for the West Gate Tunnel?
Mr ANDREWS (Mulgrave—Premier) (11:18): I thank the Leader of the Opposition for his question. This is a critically important project. There is a contract between, essentially, the government and Transurban. Transurban, beyond that, have a contract with their builders. It is the government’s expectation that the contract is delivered in full and on time.
Mr M O’BRIEN (Malvern—Leader of the Opposition) (11:18): So that is a no. My supplementary question is to the Premier. Will the West Gate Tunnel be open in 2022 as the government has promised?
Mr ANDREWS (Mulgrave—Premier) (11:18): I believe I have just answered that.
Members interjecting.
Mr ANDREWS: Go on, get it out of your system. Go on. ‘So that is a no’. Goodness me.
Mr M O’Brien: On a point of order, Speaker, it is very hard to misunderstand the question. If any genuine question calls for a yes or no answer, I would have thought it is something as concise as: will the West Gate Tunnel be open in 2022 as the government has promised? I invite you to ask the Premier to return to the question and actually just give an answer.
The SPEAKER: Order! The Premier referred to his earlier answer. Does the Premier want to add to his answer?
Mr ANDREWS: I have indicated the project needs to be delivered, and it is our expectation that it will be delivered against the terms of the contract, which has it opening in 2022, because of course we have not found any secret side letters that have been written, for instance, that would totally compromise the project. We have not found any of those, and therefore Transurban and their builders ought deliver the project in accordance with the contract which has it open—and a choice for Victorians they have never had before, the tunnel or the bridge, something we have talked about for decades—in 2022.