Ros SPENCE (Yuroke) My adjournment matter is for the attention of the Minister for Roads and Road Safety, and I am very pleased to see the minister in the chamber this evening. The Craigieburn community, in my electorate, is thrilled that the Andrews Labor government included the duplication of Craigieburn Road in this year’s budget. This has been a longstanding issue in the community, and I am very pleased that this government has delivered this outcome. However, there is still more work to be done, with the need to duplicate Mickleham and Somerton roads.

The action I seek is for the minister to provide me with an update as to what preliminary work is being undertaken to prepare for a future duplication of these roads. We know that only Labor will undertake these important works. We know that nothing was done by the former Liberal government to even prepare for future duplications. I thank the minister for securing the funding for the duplication of Craigieburn Road, and I look forward to his update.

Response:

As we know, the member for Yuroke is a very fierce advocate. I have even gone up and visited her community and talked to the residents about the pressure that growth places on them in relation to roads and the like. As she would be aware, $1 billion was allocated in the last budget for northern roads, including Craigieburn, Sunbury, Childs and Epping roads. We have got an extensive program currently under construction. The suburban duplications are out to expressions of interest presently, and there will be further news on that later in the year, but there are obviously three or four projects going on at the moment.

We are working closely with key stakeholders, including the City of Hume and the like, to look at transport priorities more than anything else, including opportunities vis-a-vis the growth areas infrastructure contribution and so forth to look at Mickleham and Somerton roads. We are doing a lot of work in relation to the environment, and we are doing pre-planning and the like. I very much hope to have further news on those roads in the future.

The Hon Luke Donnellan MP
Minister for Roads and Road Safety