Thursday, 23 February 2023

North-Eastern Metropolitan Region

Matthew BACH (North-Eastern Metropolitan) (12:38): (42) Thank you, President. My constituency question is for the Minister for Transport and Infrastructure in the other place. Like other members I have recently had correspondence and received advocacy from the City of Whittlesea regarding a proposed tram extension. Many people within the City of Whittlesea, which is in the new area of my electorate and yours, sir, are seeking an extension of the 86 tram route from the intersection at McKimmies Road, Plenty, up to Plenty Valley town centre. This, it is argued, would provide a significant benefit to about 15,000 residents in the new northern part of our shared electorate. When I did a little bit of homework I found that the last time there had been a tram extension out to Bundoora was back in 1993, to RMIT, but of course since then growth has exploded; there has been a huge increase in population. So respectfully I would ask the minister whether she would consider conducting a study in order to determine whether or not this is an appropriate and good thing to do to provide better transport options for people in our electorate, sir.