Wednesday, 16 August 2023

City of Melbourne parking

David DAVIS (Southern Metropolitan) (18:11): (406) My adjournment this evening is for the attention of the minister for transport. It concerns the decisions that have been made recently by the City of Melbourne, which closed down parking options, closed down movement options, in the city. In recent days I have had cause to park in a number of these locations, including near the Arts Centre, near Federation Square and so forth. Particularly after-hours parking has become very difficult and costly. Where previously parking after 6:30 would be free, they have now put in 2-hour parking. In some places it is 1-hour parking and in some areas there are quarter-hour arrangements, quite short-term lengths of parking.

The consequence of this is quite severe. For example, if you are a family wanting to come in for dinner in the city, you would be limited with the 2-hour parking. It would be more costly. Previously you could have parked at 6:30 and parked till 9 o’clock or 10 o’clock. You could have had dinner, had a short pretheatre dinner – I am conscious of the arts sector; I represent the arts and creative industries sector – and you could have gone to a show. Now you will be clobbered with additional parking costs and you may be limited by this 2-hour time period. So you could not as a family come in, have dinner, go to a show and then go home. This is all the decision of the City of Melbourne. Before they made this decision I did write to them with a submission to lay out some concerns that I had and the impact that was likely on the arts and creative sector, but I think it is much bigger than that. It is right across a whole series of people who will be directly impacted by this.

It is a revenue grab. Let us be clear: they will be grabbing more revenue. Some of the signs are actually quite deceptive at the moment. When you look at the sign, it says – and I have looked at this a few times in the last week or so – ‘We’re improving the signage.’ Well, no. They are not actually improving the signage. They are actually increasing the fees, clobbering families, clobbering motorists, clobbering people who are parking there. It is a grab for cash. That is what is going on.

I am asking the transport minister to look at this and to look at what powers they may have to intervene, to overrule the City of Melbourne with its extraordinary set of decisions. I do not lightly come to the position where I think a council needs to be overruled – in fact I tend to default the other way – but on this occasion it is a central city impact. Many of our main institutions are being impacted, families are being impacted and it is an ideological grab for cash by the City of Melbourne.