North East Link
John BERGER (Southern Metropolitan) (17:57): (77) My adjournment matter is to the Minister for Transport and Infrastructure in the other place, Minister Allan. I recently received a briefing on the North East Link Program, where I heard of its massive scale. It will connect the heavily congested Eastern Freeway to the M80 ring-road, providing a much-needed alternative for motorists. It will cut travel time on the Eastern Freeway to the city by 11 minutes and, by diverting trucks, significantly decrease traffic on the Monash. These alternative improved transport links will increase the ease of access for businesses in my own region of Southern Metropolitan Region to customers and suppliers across Melbourne. This will stimulate economic growth in the region, generating business opportunities and creating jobs. Let me say that again: the construction of the North East Link Program will create thousands of jobs both directly and indirectly, with 10,000 of those jobs alone being local. This will provide a vital economic boost for the region, and importantly the jobs created will be available to people from a range of different backgrounds and skill levels. The North East Link Program will require a wide range of skilled workers, including engineers, surveyors, architects, construction workers and project managers. And in good news for those entering the workforce, these jobs will be open to workers of all levels of experience. It will provide a great opportunity for our state to build our next generation of industry leaders.
Importantly to me, many of these sites will be unionised. The benefits of unionised work are clear: better pay, better security and better conditions. Thanks to the improved pay and conditions, unionised workers stimulate the local economy. It is simple: when workers earn more, they spend more. With more money in their pockets for businesses, they create more jobs and so on and so forth.
Finally, the North East Link Program will improve the livability of the Southern Metropolitan Region by reducing congestion, improving transport connections and putting new green spaces in Balwyn North. Reduced congestion will make it easier for people to get to work, school and other important destinations. It will reduce the amount of time that people spend sitting in traffic, something that is linked to massive increases in stress.
The project is all part of the Andrews Labor government’s Big Build, something I am very proud to support. So my question to Minister Allan is: what are the other benefits that the North East Link Program will provide to Southern Metropolitan Region that I may not have heard about in this briefing, and will you join me in visiting the southern part of the project in the constituency of Kew?