TERRY MULDER:
Thanks for coming along.
The last month has seen the announcement of an unprecedented level of investment in the state’s transport network.
Since April, this Government has made commitments to upgrade the Cranbourne-Pakenham Line, to build the airport rail link, to remove the city’s most dangerous level crossing and to widen the Tullamarine Freeway. These are projects that will boost economic activity, that will reduce congestion and will lift productivity in Victoria. Combined, we will see the investment of billions of dollars in the state’s transport network and in the Victorian economy. These projects are vital if we are to preserve the state’s economic health and of course its liveability. We have invited you here today for an announcement that will further reinforce this Government’s strong track record in investing in Victoria’s transport infrastructure.
It gives me great pleasure now to introduce the infrastructure Prime Minister of Australia, Tony Abbott.
PRIME MINISTER:
Terry, thank you so much.
It is terrific to be here and, yes, I do wish to leave a legacy that is worthy of the title – the infrastructure Prime Minister.
I know Denis Napthine wants to be the infrastructure Premier.
One of the most exciting projects that I have become involved with is the East West Link. As all of you in Melbourne, all of you in Victoria know, the East West Link is the vital missing link in Melbourne's transport infrastructure.
At the moment that northern corridor is the choke point of this city. If we want to take 20 minutes off the travel times of people coming from Geelong to the city, if we want to free up, if we want to liberate so much human capital, if we want to liberate people from the tyranny of hours and hours every week spent in traffic jams – this is exactly what this city and this state and this country needs. It needs East West Link completed and it needs it completed as soon as possible.
I am very pleased to say that the Commonwealth will make a commitment of $1.5 billion towards East West Link Stage Two. Pre-election, we made a commitment of $1.5 billion to East West Link Stage One. That means that East West Link Stage One will be underway well within this year. The commitment of $1.5 billion that I announce today means that subject to a formal business case from the Victorian Government, East West Link Stage Two will be well and truly underway by the end of next year.
What this means is more economic activity for Victoria.
What this means is 6,000-plus additional jobs during the construction phase.
What this means is a permanent boost to Victoria's economy – a permanent change for the better for the great city of Melbourne.
So, this is a very, very good day indeed for Melbourne, a very good day for Victoria and because Melbourne is one of the great economic power houses of this country – it is a great day for Australia too.
PREMIER NAPTHINE:
Thank you Prime Minister.
You certainly are living up to that title of the infrastructure Prime Minister for Australia.
On behalf of all Victorians, I thank you and your Government for the $1.5 billion commitment to East West Link Stage One and I now welcome the commitment of $1.5 billion – an additional $1.5 billion – to the western section of East West Link.
This means that in the state Budget next week, we will be able to announce that East West Link Stage Two – the western section – will be built by a Coalition Government here in Victoria.
That is fantastic news for Melbourne and Victoria. It is exciting news for the people in the western suburbs.
We know that Victoria is a fast-growing state – growing at two per cent per annum. We know there will be an extra 500,000 people in the western suburbs over the next 20 years. We also know that the big choke point for people travelling from the west, and as far as Geelong and Ballarat and right throughout western Victoria, is the West Gate Bridge. Over 200,000 vehicles a day use the West Gate Bridge and each and every morning there are people from Truganina, people from Geelong, people from Bannockburn and people from the Point Cook Sanctuary Lakes area who are tearing their hair out in traffic, stuck at Laverton, stuck back as far as Point Cook and Werribee because they simply can't get onto the West Gate Bridge. Those people are saying to us as a Government, we desperately need a second crossing of the Maribyrnong. The East West Link Stage Two – the western section – will deliver the much needed second crossing of the Maribyrnong.
This will be a fantastic outcome for everybody from the western suburbs and right through to Geelong and Ballarat. It will also be a bonanza for the people who live in the inner western suburbs of Yarraville, Seddon and Footscray who will finally get the trucks out of their suburban streets. The trucks who come in and out of Swanston Dock will be able to have direct access on the East West Link - west to Laverton and east to the Eastern Freeway and beyond.
This will be a bonanza for our freight and logistics industry. This will be terrific for Victoria and Melbourne as the freight and logistics capital of Australia. This will boost our productivity, boost our economic efficiency and improve safety for those trucks and massively, massively, improve the quality of life and the environment for the people in the inner western suburbs. So, this is a fantastic result for all of those people.
I also welcome the fact that the western section of the East West Link will deliver 3,000-plus jobs and with the jobs in Stage One, that will be 6,000 or more jobs for Victorians building key infrastructure that will provide a game-changing difference for Melbourne and Victoria.
This is a great day for Melbourne and Victoria. This is an exciting day for the people in the west and an exciting day for all Victorians.
I thank the Prime Minister for the federal Government's $1.5 billion contribution to this great project.
We will start this project in 2015. We will build this project for Melbourne and Victoria. This is a game-changing project that will make a real difference to all Victorians and to the economy of this great State.
Prime Minister, I thank you once again on behalf of all Victorians. This is a true indication of a Coalition Government at a federal level working closely with a Coalition Government at state level to benefit the people of Melbourne and Victoria.
Prime Minister, you are certainly, as far as we are concerned, very much earning and justifying that title as the infrastructure Prime Minister of Australia that will make a difference not just for the five years, not just for 10 years but for the next 100 years in Melbourne and Victoria.
QUESTION:
Premier, can I just ask whether or not these two stages will be built back to back or simultaneously as a single project?
PREMIER NAPTHINE:
We will be starting work on Stage One later this year. The bids were sealed and entered yesterday and we are well on the way of processing those bids and we will be making an announcement about that in the future. We will start work on Stage One later this year. We’ll start work on Stage Two later next year. So, they will be built simultaneously.
QUESTION:
How do you plan to cross the Yarra?
PREMIER NAPTHINE:
Well, we’re going to be crossing the Maribyrnong, I think. We're out in the west here, John. The process will be put through an EOI process. So we will be looking for the best and brightest from our building and construction industry in terms of the exact design. We would expect that the process from the port link, from the port across to the Western Ring Road would include possibly viaducts, possibly bridges and tunnel- plus surface freeways. We would expect a combination of viaduct, bridge, surface freeway and tunnel.
QUESTION:
And Stage Two will there be tolled?
PREMIER NAPTHINE:
We will be looking for a tolling option on Stage Two of the East West Link, it’s the same as we are looking for the East West Link Stage One.
So, there will be $1.5 billion provided by the federal Government. We will be looking for the private sector to sharpen their pencils and provide the best bids in terms of the quality of the freeway itself but also in terms of price and of course there will be a state Government contribution to ensure it is a viable sustainable project.
QUESTION:
Will it require commercial and residential land acquisitions?
PREMIER NAPTHINE:
While the final design of the project will be dependent on the EOI process, there will be some impact on land acquisitions. The indicative route we have outlined, and it is publicly available today, given that we’re going to be using a significant section of tunnel to protect properties and in the western section of it, a large part of that area will be through light industrial and open space land. So, we will certainly be looking to minimise purchase of private property, but there may be some purchases required.
QUESTION:
Premier, will it be less than the eastern side?
PREMIER NAPTHINE:
I wouldn’t like to make that sort of calculation at this stage, but certainly once you get out towards the Western Ring Road, there is vast open spaces that are available.
QUESTION:
What is the logic behind diverting $500 million from the Western Ring Road upgrade into this project?
PREMIER NAPTHINE:
Well, if you talk to the people sitting at Laverton this morning, tearing their hair out, waiting 20 or 30 minutes to get onto the West Gate Bridge and when you look at the West Gate Bridge carrying 200,000 vehicles a day- there is your logic about why we need East West Link western section as a high priority for Melbourne and Victoria.
QUESTION:
Does it mean though that the Western Ring Road sections of that won't be upgraded as quickly or to the same extent as previously?
PREMIER NAPTHINE:
What it means is this government is committed to delivering the East West Link right from the end of the Eastern Freeway to the Western Ring Road- servicing the port, taking the trucks out of Yarraville and Seddon, providing a 15 to 20 minute time saving for the people of Wyndham Vale, Truganina and Geelong to get into the CBD, or if they wish to go to the eastern suburbs, they will be able to do so without a traffic light.
This is a key priority project. This is about the Coalition government in Victoria setting its priorities about what is in the best interests of the people of Victoria and particularly, the best interests of the freight and logistics industry and working with the Federal Government to fund what is a massive visionary project that will make a real difference to Melbourne and Victoria.
QUESTION:
Prime Minister, can I ask you a question please? Have you reconsidered or looked at the Federal funding for the Metrorail project? Have you changed your mind at all?
PRIME MINISTER:
We are certainly very keen to ensure that the massive infrastructure gap which has developed in this country over the last couple of decades is closed as quickly as possible. We’re particularly keen to spur infrastructure spending over the next few years given the wind down in the investment phase of the mining boom.
As you know, the Commonwealth believes that freight rail and national roads, or roads of national significance, are our overwhelming priority. What we are looking at – and there’ll be more to say on Budget night about this – what we are looking at is a sensible scheme that will help the states to do more when it comes to funding their own infrastructure.
So, while we will not be directly funding commuter rail, certainly there will be more opportunity for the states if they wish to boost their rail infrastructure funding as a result of measures to be announced in the Budget.
QUESTION:
Prime Minister, why do we need a debt levy?
PRIME MINISTER:
Could we finish dealing with East West Link and then we will…
QUESTION:
Are you then confident that Metrorail will go ahead?
PRIME MINISTER:
This is a matter for the Premier and I am all in favour – I am all in favour – of better urban rail. I have been a regular user of urban rail in a different life, when I was living in a different part of the city.
Urban rail is a very important part of the overall transport mix of Australia but the responsibility for urban rail lies with the state governments which own and operate our urban rail systems.
The Commonwealth's responsibility is for national roads, roads of national importance and for the very important freight rail task and we’ve invested very heavily in that.
QUESTION:
Prime Minister, why commit the money when you haven't actually seen the business case and this was actually lower in the priorities of Infrastructure Australia?
PRIME MINISTER:
We have seen the business case, in fact there’s a published business case summary for East West Link One. That shows that it is clearly economically beneficial infrastructure. I am confident that the full business case, when we get it from the Victorian government, will show at least the same level of economic benefits from East West Link Stage Two. That’s why we are very, very confident that this is a worthwhile investment by the Commonwealth at this time.
You shouldn't see East West Link in isolation. If we are going to do the first half, let's get on with things and build the second half so that we aren't reducing the missing link – we are eliminating the missing link. We aren't just moving the traffic jams – we are doing our best to end the traffic jams by eliminating the number one choke point from Melbourne's road system.
QUESTION:
Premier, you mention there is still a fair bit of the process to go. Are you able to give us some sort of deadline on when you will be able to announce the route?
PREMIER NAPTHINE:
This is similar to the East West Link Stage One process; that we have now, today, given the green light for East West Link western section – Stage Two – and that is fantastic news for Melbourne and Victoria. We will now go to an expression of interest process so that the bidders for the process can put forward their very best plans and we will also put out a preferential route or a preferred route and preferred option, for community consultation and community involvement. We believe that this will give us the very best outcome at the very best value for money for the people of Melbourne and Victoria.
QUESTION:
And that consultation will be? Can you give us any idea?
PREMIER NAPTHINE:
Well, we are looking to start work on this project in late 2015, so we are going to get our skates on now that this has been given the green light and begin work on this process.
With respect to the question of the business case previously, we have provided a preliminary business case to the Federal Government and we will now fine-tune that business case given the project has been given the green light and the go ahead and that will be submitted to the Federal Government and Infrastructure Australia as soon as possible.
QUESTION:
Premier, the state Treasurer's previously said the second stage will cost more than the first stage and will therefore require a commensurably bigger contribution from the Commonwealth. Are you disappointed that you're only getting $1.5 billion?
PREMIER NAPTHINE:
I am ecstatic that we're getting $1.5 billion from the infrastructure Prime Minister – $1.5 billion for Stage One, $1.5billion for Stage Two.
I am absolutely ecstatic at that commitment from the Federal Government. This will make a real difference to this state.
When I became Premier, we said that we had key projects that we wanted to get on with for the State of Victoria- regional railing and we're building that ahead of budget, ahead of schedule.
We also said we want to get on with East West Link and we got on with Stage One in the budget last year and we are now going to get on with the western section, Stage Two.
We also said we wanted to build the port capacity and we are here at the port and we’re seeing the work being done at Webb Dock now and the work already commenced at Hastings.
We also said we wanted to get on with improving our metro rail capacity and we have already announced the airport rail link. We’re happy to work with the Prime Minister, on rail projects where the Federal Government can assist in the projects that they are able to assist with, that gives us the opportunity to get on with the other projects we need to get on with.
We look forward to further announcements in the Federal Budget that provide additional opportunities for the states to get on with the infrastructure they need to build.
QUESTION:
You have a fairly crowded major projects agenda now, probably tens of billions worth of projects on the books over time. Are you concerned Victoria will be able to have the labour and capital necessary to deliver all these projects in a fairly short time frame?
PREMIER NAPTHINE:
Isn't that a fantastic thing to have on our agenda? When we came to government in 2010, one of the problems we inherited from the previous Labor government was a decade of failure to invest in infrastructure. Even the Leader of the Opposition who is a senior member of that government, Daniel Andrews, said their failure as a government was failure to invest in infrastructure to keep pace with population growth.
Labor failed the people of Victoria.
Isn't it fantastic that we’re standing here today, to have eminent journalists say to us that we’ve got a very aggressive and crowded infrastructure agenda? That is a fantastic message for the people of Victoria. This government is getting on with the job of building the infrastructure and I’ve got no doubt that the building and construction industry will respond to that challenge and deliver the quality building and construction that we need to build this infrastructure in the time frame we set.
I conclude by saying look at Regional Rail – the biggest rail infrastructure project in Victoria's history, and under Terry Mulder, this project which was an absolute mess under the previous Labor government- underfunded, under-scoped and with major components like signals and trains missing from the project - and under a Coalition Government it is now ahead of schedule and under budget. What a fantastic outcome.
QUESTION:
Do you think the Federal Budget may damage your re-election chance particularly if there’s a debt levy?
PREMIER NAPTHINE:
What we’ve seen with the Federal Government, they have come into office inheriting a financial mess. When the Coalition left office federally some few years ago, we had a zero debt and we even had money in the bank, money in the bank. Under a few years of a dysfunctional Rudd-Gillard-Rudd Government we had a massive financial problem. The Prime Minister has been elected to fix that problem and they will need a lot of hard work and I am sure that they will be committed to fixing that problem.
QUESTION:
So you support tax increases?
PREMIER NAPTHINE:
I am not making any comments on speculation about what may or may not be in the federal Budget. That is not my purview and the Prime Minister may wish to make further comments, but I don't comment and speculate on what may or may not be in the federal Budget. But let me make clear that I understand and all Victorians understand the financial mess that was inherited by the incoming Coalition Government federally.
QUESTION:
Do you think that the Victorian public and Australian public will accept a levy for a few years?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well first of all, I should just ask, are we finished on East West questions?
We were elected to sort out Labor's debt and deficit mess and under Labor we had debt and deficit stretching out as far as the eye can see. If you look at the MYEFO statement, there were projected deficits of $123 billion over the forward estimates. Debt projected to max out at $667 billion or $25,000 per man, woman and child- every Australian and the problem with debt at this level is that you don't control debt at that level, debt controls you. This is why we’ve to get the situation under control and there will be unpopular measures in this Budget but what we need is a tough budget now for a bright future tomorrow. That’s what we need and this is about short-term pain for permanent gain. That’s what it’s about and I think the people understand that after six years of spending like a drunken sailor, it’s very important that we do not squib the budget challenge ahead of us.
QUESTION:
You were elected in large part on your promise to improve the cost of living. These measures appear to have been speculated upon would suggest the cost of living may well go up. At what point do you think people feel an improvement in the cost of living pressures?
PRIME MINISTER:
We were elected to make a whole range of changes; to scrap the carbon tax, to scrap the mining tax, to stop the boats, to get the Budget back under control, to fast track free trade negotiations. There were a whole range of commitments that we made. I’m pleased to say that the boats are stopped, if not forever, at least for now. We haven't had a boat for more than four months. We have finalised negotiations on two out of the three big Free Trade Agreements. We have very close to achieved a one stop shop for environmental approvals. There’s $400 billion worth of major projects that have been given environmental approval since the election. So we are getting on with the job of doing what we were elected to do: to build a strong and prosperous economy for a safe and secure Australia.
QUESTION:
Where does cost of living fit into this?
PRIME MINISTER:
Well if we get rid of the carbon tax, and we will, that’s a $550 a year boost to the average household. A $550 a year boost to the average household. So I am confident that this is a Budget that will overall ease the cost of living pressures on Australian families, but I don't for a second pretend that there will be no difficult decisions. I don't for a second pretend that everyone will cheer about every decision in the budget, but what we need to do is not focus on ‘me’ but focus on ‘us’ because it’s only when everyone is working together to address this national problem that we will go forward as a country.
QUESTION:
How would a deficit levy not be a broken promise on no new taxes?
PRIME MINISTER:
Our commitment was lower, simpler and fairer taxes. That was what our commitment was and that’s what we will deliver that but we also made a very strong commitment to get the Budget back under control. I think from memory, my mantra, if you like, which I repeated over and over again, was that we would stop the boats, we would end the waste, we would get the Budget back under control and we will build the roads of the 21st century. That is what I said, so getting the Budget back under control is at the absolute heart of the commitments that this Government made to the people before the election.
QUESTION:
Prime Minister, you also said no surprises – the debt levy’s going to be a nasty surprise.
PRIME MINISTER:
Well, you shouldn't assume that every decision has been made and the Budget is finalised. But we said we would get the Budget back under control. We were quite up-front about the need for tough decisions. We said we’d scrap the baby bonus. We said we'd scrap the low income bonus. We said we would very substantially reduce the public service. We said that there were many programmes and many bodies that frankly were over the top and unnecessary. We were very upfront about this before the election and I think the public understand that after six years of waste and extravagance on an unprecedented scale, things have to change and it is going to be tough and we will disappoint the public more if we squib the hard decisions than if we make them.
QUESTION:
Prime Minister, by all accounts, you will inflict pain on middle Australia. Do you think the public might take a dim view then if you provide up to $75,000 for a Paid Parental Leave scheme, are you considering rolling that back to some extent at least?
PRIME MINISTER:
There is a whole range of measures which the Government is in the process of finalising in the fortnight leading up to the budget; a whole range of measures that we're in the process of finalising in this coming fortnight. But on the subject of Paid Parental Leave, why should public servants in Canberra get paid their full wage when they take parental leave and the shop assistants and factory workers of Victoria not get the same deal and if we get our wage when we take holiday and sick pay and long service leave, why shouldn't we get our wage when we take parental leave? So it’s a fundamental principle here; paid parental leave is about fairness for families. It’s about fairness for women and it’s in the long run about a stronger economy because if we have a proper paid parental leave scheme, we’ll boost participation, we’ll particularly boost participation by women in their prime and that’s going to be of long term economic benefit to our country.
QUESTION:
Are you confident you’ll be able to get your backbench and Nationals MPs who are concerned about the PPL scheme get it through?
PRIME MINISTER:
It is well known that there are mixed views about this policy in the community and I know that for people who have a very traditional view of the family this has been a difficult one. I am a fairly traditional person myself and if you want to help modern families- considering the reality of the modern family, if you want to do the right thing by everyone, including women who quite rightly expect to have a career and families too, we need a fair dinkum paid parental leave scheme. So I know I’m working with people in the community who have got a very traditional mindset and because my own thinking on this has evolved, I am confident that other peoples thinking can evolve. And there have been one or two of my colleagues in Canberra who have already shifted a little on this and I am pleased about that and I’m confident that all of them, when the time comes, will be thinking of the fact that not just at the last election, but at the election before, we promised a fair dinkum paid parental leave scheme and we're not going to be a Government which promises things before the election and walks away from them afterwards.
Thank you.
[ends]