Thursday, 17 August 2023

North East Link

Aiv PUGLIELLI (North-Eastern Metropolitan) (12:14): (244) My question today is to the Minister for Environment, and it relates to the ecosystems surrounding the North East Link toll road project, which is cutting a devastating path through parts of my region. The Koonung Creek wetlands are at the site where this toll road will meet the Eastern Freeway. My community is deeply concerned that this precious wetland and the recreation parkland surrounding it will be lost to the North East Link toll road project and that the fragile native plants and animals will be destroyed. Minister, what assurance can you give that the fragile ecosystem of the Koonung Creek will be protected?

Ingrid STITT (Western Metropolitan – Minister for Early Childhood and Pre-Prep, Minister for Environment) (12:15): I thank the member for his question and his interest in these issues. Obviously with major infrastructure projects there is a planning process undertaken, which includes assessing environmental impacts. I do not want to sound like a stuck record, but they are matters for the planning framework. But I am more than happy to see whether I can provide some information in relation to the wetlands that you have specifically asked about through my department.

Aiv PUGLIELLI (North-Eastern Metropolitan) (12:16): I thank the minister. Minister, as I drive along Manningham Road west on my way to my electorate office – I should say I would rather be on the train. That is something that Doncaster has been waiting for for a very long time. I think it is about 120 years, but anyway. Driving through the North East Link project zone feels like driving through some sort of scorched earth hellscape.

Members interjecting.

The PRESIDENT: Order! I did not hear a word of the question, so I do not know how the minister would have been able to respond. Do you mind going from the start, Mr Puglielli. And if he says he is in his car, do not say anything.

Aiv PUGLIELLI: Thank you, President. As I was saying, Minister, as I drive along Manningham Road west on my way to my electorate office – not on my bike and not on a train, because we are still waiting; it is something that we have been waiting for in the area for a long time – driving through that project zone for the North East Link toll road project feels like driving through some sort of scorched earth hellscape. It is truly bleak to see bare earth, huge towering machinery and consequently a natural ecosystem that has been devastated. I just cannot see how it is going to recover in this area. Noting your prior comments, Minister – I have seen your government’s commitments to replacing, for example, tens of thousands of trees that will be ripped out for the sake of this toll road – will your department report on the impacts of the loss of biodiversity along this toll road?

Ingrid STITT (Western Metropolitan – Minister for Early Childhood and Pre-Prep, Minister for Environment) (12:17): I thank the member for that supplementary question. Of course there is a lot of infrastructure going on in our state, and an important consideration of any large infrastructure project is going to be around amenity and improving the amenity once the infrastructure is in place. So I think your supplementary is very much in the lane of the transport infrastructure minister, but as I have already given you a commitment to see what information I can get for you, I am sure she would be happy to provide some details about what we are going to be doing in the area of replanting once that project is complete.