Matt Johnston: Liberals park pledge becoming a car crash
Promising much-needed car parks in under-siege electorates seemed like a great idea at the time but that popular pledge has become one giant headache.
Opinion
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Voters hate when politicians promise things they don’t deliver.
They hate being taken for a ride.
In 2019 the Morrison Government pledged thousands of station car parks that, according to Liberals, would give under-siege MPs something to offer locals.
Observing how well this had worked for state MPs when the Andrews Government promised car parks and a new rail line across key seats, the feds thought they were on to a winner.
There was one hitch.
No one really knew how $405 million worth of car parks would be built.
Federal departments don’t tend to run such projects, because local and state governments control planning levers.
They usually stick to their knitting.
In the seat of Kooyong, where Treasurer Josh Frydenberg was fending off Greens and independent candidates, the good folk of Camberwell and Canterbury were told they would be able to putter across to their local station, park the car, and catch the train into town if the Liberals were re-elected.
Now it’s dawned on everyone that to build car parks you need a bit of space, which is at a premium for price and availability in such areas.
Would voters like a multi-deck car park in their neighbourhood? What about more cars on nearby streets if people flock to these car parks?
These are questions that will need to be asked — assuming the projects even get beyond the planning phase by the next federal poll.
What’s also coming down the tracks is an Auditor-General’s probe, which may not deliver findings as damning as the “sports rorts” saga but is unlikely to be flattering.
This popular pledge may soon turn into a car crash.
Perhaps federal MPs will stick to their knitting at the next election.
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