Tuesday, 18 June 2024

Western Victoria Region

Bev McARTHUR (Western Victoria) (14:16): (927) My constituency question is for the Minister for Transport Infrastructure and concerns the Geelong Ring Road extension, the Bellarine link. Before the last budget I asked if the road, announced in 2017, was actually going to happen as Department of Transport and Planning staff had let slip to a constituent that there was no longer a Bellarine link project team and no timelines exist for any further work. The minister’s response is at best cryptic, at worst downright unhelpful. After a couple of paragraphs of irrelevant material he concludes without mentioning the link, simply saying:

The Government is continuing to invest in transport infrastructure to the south of the Barwon River …

Minister, given your answer, which conspicuously failed to mention the project, and the recent budget’s deafening silence, when will you confirm that the Bellarine link project is now dead?