Thursday, 5 February 2026

 Trung LUU (Western Metropolitan) (19:18): (2297) My adjournment matter is for the Minister for Transport Infrastructure regarding the broken promise to remove temporary overhead powerlines near South Kingsville and Spotswood following the completion of the West Gate Tunnel project. The action I seek is for the minister to urgently intervene to ensure that these powerlines are buried underground, as originally promised and committed to. In 2019, 28 large power poles were installed along Watson Street and The Avenue Reserve as a temporary measure during tunnel construction. At the time residents were assured these poles would be removed and replaced with underground power once the works were done. Yet years later these towering structures remain, and the developer now claims removal is no longer feasible. I think that is rubbish. Every engineering project manager knows you plan ahead; you forecast the cost before you implement any sort of infrastructure project. It is due to space constraints and potential disruptions, they claim. This is unacceptable. Developers are just avoiding the bottom line – their profit.

Many residents have endured long years of relentless construction noise, like bulldozers smashing concrete, along with dumped soil, unpaved roads and neglected green spaces. These conditions have stripped away the amenity and the peace that every Victorian deserves in their neighbourhood. What was promised to be a temporary inconvenience has been a permanent eyesore, leaving residents feeling abandoned by the Allan Labor government.

Unfortunately, in the west broken promises are nothing new. The West Gate Tunnel Project was meant to improve connectivity, not reduce livability. Instead residents are abandoned, left with an eyesore overshadowing their neighbourhood. Hobsons Bay council has expressed disappointment while developers have offered token gestures like landscaping and shared paths to compensate for the broken commitments. Any major project infrastructure like roads and bridges comes with landscaping; everybody knows that.

This government must stand up for residents who have borne the brunt of major infrastructure work. I call on the minister to ensure the original promise is honoured, to ensure that these powerlines are buried and to restore amenity to South Kingsville and Spotswood. Victorians deserve better in the west: infrastructure that enhances communities, not leaving them shafted in every possible way.