Wednesday, 19 February 2020

North East Link

Mr TAYLOR (Bayswater) (19:17): (1895) I rise today to raise a matter with the Minister for Transport Infrastructure. The action I seek is for the minister to visit the Bayswater electorate to discuss the benefits that the North East Link will have on our community in the outer east.

I have risen in this place many times to talk about this truly groundbreaking roads project, and I do often get very excited about it. I will say it again: it is the missing link in our freeway network that we have had for decades. This project will change that forever. I am proud that it will mean slashing travel times by up to 11 minutes during the peak along the Eastern Freeway; a massive overhaul of the Eastern Freeway, putting more lanes where they are needed most; new express lanes to reduce the merging and weaving that causes congestion; smarter entry ramps to ensure safer and easier merging, again cutting down on congestion; dedicated exit lanes to end the dreaded bottlenecks that currently exist; and smarter and more efficient public transport with a dedicated busway—and that is just for starters. Construction will of course importantly create over 10 000 well-paying jobs—

Mr Fowles interjected.

Mr TAYLOR: Ten thousand, member for Burwood, 10 000—and there will be an enormous boost to the economy in the outer east by over $5 billion, linking jobs hubs in the north to local employees in the east. I cannot wait for this project to be delivered. It is fully funded thanks to the Treasurer, and it will see commuters in my community get to where they need to go quicker and safer.

I appreciate the minister’s consideration of my request and thank her and the Andrews Labor government for getting on with the job and doing exactly what we said we would do—that is, delivering key infrastructure that all Victorians need.