Cade Lucas
The state opposition is targeting the suburban rail loop (SLR) in its pitch to voters in Wyndham, arguing the multi-billion dollar rail tunnel in the eastern suburbs is another example of the government neglecting the west.
Opposition leader Pesutto and his shadow cabinet held a meeting in Werribee on Monday, followed by lunch with business, community and council representatives.
It was the Liberal leader’s second visit to Wyndham in a week, after meeting businesses and sporting clubs and holding a street walk in Werribee on Thursday.
Speaking after the shadow cabinet meeting at the Wyndham Park Community Centre, Mr Pesutto said the government was too focused on what he called “pet political projects“ like the SLR, at the expense of growth corridors like Wyndham.
“Premier Jacinta Allan wants to put all our eggs in one basket – the suburban rail loop – which will mean that areas like Werribee simply miss out,” he said.
“They won’t get the roads, the public transport, the schools, the hospital infrastructure that they desperately need. Growth in areas like Werribee far exceeds the growth that you will see inner suburban areas of Melbourne, so the Labor government has taken its eye off the ball.”
The opposition is hoping the suburban rail loop will do for it in the west, what it has done for the government in the east, where the promise to build the orbital rail tunnel has helped it win a number of seats off of the coalition at the last two state elections.
But with the western sections of the SLR not budgeted for and considered decades away, the opposition see it as an opportunity to highlight what it considers to be Labor’s neglect of its western suburbs heartland, especially at a time of rapid population growth.
However, despite these growing pains, Melbourne’s outer west and north remain tough for the Liberal Party, where they hold no lower house seats, either state or federal.
State treasurer and Werribee MP, Tim Pallas, is determined to keep it that way.
“The only time the Liberals pay attention to Melbourne’s western suburbs is when they’re cutting funding, closing schools and hospitals and going to war with workers,” said Mr Pallas, dismissing the opposition’s push into the area.
“It’s only a Labor Government that will deliver for our western suburbs – making record investments in the hospitals, schools, road and rail Victorians deserve.”
With the next state election just under three years away, John Pesutto is working hard to convince voters in Wyndham and the west otherwise.
“I want to give the people of western metropolitan region … better than what they’ve been getting from Labor,” he said.
“Labor has taken areas like Werribee for granted for decades, and we’re seeing the result of that.”
