Tuesday, 16 May 2023

 Trung LUU (Western Metropolitan) (17:12): (208) My adjournment is for the Minister for Transport and Infrastructure. The action I seek is for the Minister for Transport and Infrastructure to support connectivity in the west, advocate to the federal Labor government during its review of the Melbourne Airport rail link and allocate the necessary state funds to ensure the project can proceed as planned.

Melbourne’s west includes some of the fastest growing suburbs in Australia, including in my electorate in Wyndham and Brimbank City Council, so it is disheartening to see the state government continues to neglect our community’s needs and to push back the Melbourne Airport rail link project ‍– much-needed infrastructure for the state’s connectivity and transport network. Any indefinite delay of the Melbourne Airport rail link is another blow to our already neglected region. The Melbourne Airport rail link project, connecting Melbourne city to our airport and the Sunshine super-hub station, is critical infrastructure for futureproofing Melbourne’s west connectivity. Melbourne Airport is a world-class destination, and again the state Labor government is prioritising wealthy suburbs in the east over the neglected suburbs in the west. The government favours its own initiated project of the Suburban Rail Loop in the east over the needs of the community and Victorians in the western suburbs, putting the Melbourne Airport rail link project on the backburner once again.

I call on the Deputy Premier and the Andrews government to take some responsibility for their poor financial management, which has led to this situation. Please allocate the necessary funds and proceed with the project as planned.