East West — get on with it

PREMIER Daniel Andrews needs to drop his blind political intransigence and just build the crucial East West Link for the sake of the state.

Premier Daniel Andrews opposed building the East West Link.

PREMIER Daniel Andrews needs to drop his blind political intransigence and just build the crucial East West Link for the sake of the state.

Sir Rod Eddington, one the nation’s pre-eminent and most respected infrastructure experts, yesterday delivered a nonpartisan, frank appraisal of the Andrews Government’s decision to not build this essential arterial.

Victoria is in gridlock with roads and public transport stretched beyond capacity because of successive government inertia and a failure to future-proof against the rampant growth Melbourne has experienced.

Sir Rod yesterday called for an intelligent government roads policy to deal with “congestion in the east-west corridor” but revealed he had encountered “substantial resistance in some quarters to building more roads”.

Of course, it’s no secret that Mr Andrews and his government opposed building the East West for two major reasons.

Firstly, it was a Coalition government project and for purely political reasons it was rubbished by Mr Andrews as a non-priority.

Secondly, by opposing East West, Labor was able to gain the support of inner-city objectors to a major arterial project, whose votes may have gone to the Greens, with a preference for expenditure on public transport.

“I don’t need to tell you that it (East West) became somewhat of a political football,” Sir Rod said.

In other words, Victorians have paid a huge price for political games.

That price is not just in the Eastern Freeway and Hoddle St carpark, a precinct that continues to rate as Melbourne’s worst traffic bottleneck.

The price is also in cold, hard taxpayer cash — $1.2 billion has been wasted by tearing up the East West contract. Premier Andrews has criticised the former Napthine government for drafting a side-note to the contract, which opened the way to penalties if the project did not proceed. That criticism ignores the promise that Mr Andrews made prior to the 2014 election — that walking away from East West would not cost Victorian taxpayers a single cent.

Separately, the decision to refuse to honour the contract ignored the repeated, independent evidence supporting a necessity to build East West.

Infrastructure and transport planning is a science. But you don’t have to be a scientist to see the obvious benefits of linking the Eastern Freeway to the Western Ring Road. You simply need to be a motorist who sits in the endless snarl morning and evening as you fight to get to work on time, get home to family or deliver goods.

Expert studies have consistently called for East West to be implemented. It was listed as a priority project in the original 2008 Eddington report, which stated it would deliver “substantial economic, transport and amenity benefits to Melbourne”. Infrastructure Victoria also backed preparation for East West last year and Infrastructure Australia, earlier this year cited the project as a high priority.

Sir Rod, formerly Infrastructure Australia chairman, has the freedom and objectivity to provide a non-political assessment: “I think it’s really important that we do address the challenges in that corridor and, to be frank, get on with it.”

Premier Andrews must finally drop his political dogma, admit East West’s necessity and call back the construction crews.

HAWKS’ OFF-FIELD FOCUS

JEFF Kennett’s return to the presidency at Hawthorn Football Club is a welcome move.

The former Victorian premier is passionate, outspoken and has an undeniable work ethic.

He is also a no-nonsense leader who sets a strong agenda and is outcome driven.

While some at the brown and gold have questioned Mr Kennett’s return to the presidency, his loyalty and purpose are beyond doubt.

The club board has been in disarray, with chief executive Tracey Gaudry’s departure this week and president Richard Garvey also set to step down.

Following a disappointing 12th-place finish to the 2017 season — after third last year and in 2015 the third of a hat-trick of premierships from 2013 — significant change is essential.

As we’ve seen with the fairytale flags for both Richmond and the Western Bulldogs, what happens off the field at club headquarters has a major impact on on-field performance.

Mr Kennett has already forewarned of a showdown with the AFL over Hawthorn’s lucrative “home” match deal in Tasmania and will no doubt press on a range of issues during his three-year tenure, if it gets a member vote of approval in December.

The AFL can adopt a sometimes dictatorial position when it comes to decision-making that affects clubs. Robust leadership on behalf of those clubs helps reset the power balance and Mr Kennett has a history of strong advocacy.

The Hawks need a clear vision, and a lot of on-field work, to get back to premiership contention.