Tuesday, 15 October 2019

 Mr FINN (Western Metropolitan) (12:17): My question without notice is directed to the Minister for Roads. Minister, toll charges on existing CityLink roads have increased by 4.25 per cent this financial year, and it is only October. The implementation of this is your responsibility under the Melbourne City Link Act 1995, which has seen toll increases on the Tullamarine Freeway, Bolte Bridge, Monash Freeway and Burnley and Domain tunnels. Minister, isn’t it a fact that families and small businesses are being slugged now with these toll increases for a road, the West Gate Tunnel, that is not yet built?

 Ms PULFORD (Western Victoria—Minister for Roads, Minister for Road Safety and the TAC, Minister for Fishing and Boating) (12:17): I thank Mr Finn for his question and his interest in the tolling arrangements that exist on a number of roads across our network. On the specific matter of the financing arrangements for the West Gate Tunnel Project, I will seek some advice and some supporting answers to my general comments from Minister Allan, who is the minister responsible for the delivery of that project. But what I would indicate to Mr Finn is that for a number of decades now in Victoria we have had arrangements in place where users do contribute to the building of significant transport infrastructure projects. Indeed the Kennett government was the government that first introduced this type of user-pays arrangement in the 1990s, and we do have a number of other roads that have been financed using a similar model. So I thank Mr Finn for his question on the very specific detail that he sought about the arrangements for the West Gate Tunnel. I will seek a written response from Minister Allan.

 Mr FINN (Western Metropolitan) (12:19): It is worth pointing out to the minister of course that this is the first time that tolls have been applied to roads to build another one. This is a first for the Andrews government, but I commend her on her handballing skills, certainly better than that of Greater Western Sydney a few weeks ago at the G. Minister, given that the toll hike is impacting on families and small businesses now, what modelling, if any, does the government have on the impact of these toll surges on the cost of living for families?

 Ms PULFORD (Western Victoria—Minister for Roads, Minister for Road Safety and the TAC, Minister for Fishing and Boating) (12:19): Certainly when the West Gate Tunnel opens there will be an additional route for people coming from the western suburbs of Melbourne, coming from Geelong and coming from Ballarat and many other places. This will be a matter of choice for individual road users around—

Mr Finn interjected.

Ms PULFORD: Would you like to hear the answer?

Mr Finn interjected.

The PRESIDENT: Order! The minister is answering the question.

Ms PULFORD: Well, on each of our toll roads across the network there are alternative routes for people who choose to not pay the tolls, and that has been an arrangement in place for, as I said, decades. I will seek a written response from the responsible minister for this project for Mr Finn.