Tuesday, 4 February 2025

 Aiv PUGLIELLI (North-Eastern Metropolitan) (14:08): (1324) My question today is to the Minister for Transport Infrastructure, and it relates to the North East Link Program. It relates to the more than 7000 non-disclosure agreements, or NDAs, that people, including those in my electorate, have been forced to sign in exchange for compensation for damages caused by the construction of the North East Link. The Labor government and their contractors should not be trying to cover up the extensive damage caused by the construction of the ludicrously expensive North East Link toll road. Residents in my area and others have been forced to sign upwards of 7000 NDAs and have been given millions of dollars in secret payments to stay quiet about the damage that this North East Link is causing by ripping through their suburbs, leaving potholes in their roads and cracks in their houses. All of this subterfuge and secrecy was enacted in the name of pretending that this disastrous and expensive project was a success and that the construction is going smoothly. Clearly that is not the reality of this catastrophic project. Minister, I ask: can Victorians expect to see an end to these NDAs and the veil of secrecy this has created around this project or a continuation of the enactment of these dodgy deals?