Mr BILLSON (1:46 PM) —At last the Bracks government in Victoria has recognised the importance of the Scoresby Transport Corridor to Melbourne and to the south-eastern and eastern suburbs in particular. The Victorian ALP, having changed its mind, now needs to get real if we are to have any chance of getting this project moving. The Bracks government claims to be in favour of the project and is seeking Commonwealth government support, yet it backs up this claim by sending nothing more to the federal Minister for Transport and Regional Services than a glossy brochure on a grab bag of road projects that includes just five paragraphs on page 12 about the Scoresby Freeway. The state Labor Government has put less effort into asking for half a billion dollars from the Commonwealth than a child would into trying to gain an okay from its parents for a sleepover. A genuine commitment to the project requires more from the Victorian government than simply policy by press release announcing its backflip.

The biggest barrier faced by this project is that the state government has failed to give the Scoresby Transport Corridor, incorporating road, rail and personal transport modes, the priority and funding commitment it deserves as Victoria's number one infrastructure project. Minister Batchelor and the Bracks government, having recognised the error of their earlier opposition to the project, now need to get serious about the Scoresby Transport Corridor and make a meaningful contribution to the years of effort of federal Liberal MPs to get this project moving. The Scoresby Transport Corridor is a crucial infrastructure project for the community of Dunkley, and I will continue to work to move this project forward.