$18 billion road to nowhere

Federal Treasurer Joe Hockey has boasted that his first budget includes “the biggest increase in road expenditure in Australian history”. It promises $80 billion in roads spending over the next six years.

Included is a pledge to double the $1.5 billion already offered for the Victorian government’s East West Link – an $18 billion concrete goliath that will cut a path through the inner suburbs of Melbourne.

This is a massive corporate hand out and will further entrench the fossil fuel industry in the Australian economy. The road’s construction is an exercise in the rampant pursuit of profit.

It threatens to destroy parkland, homes and public amenities that lie in its path.

Yet the government’s own experts have advised that the road will do little to ease congestion. Polls have shown that less than a quarter of Victorians believe that building the road should be a greater priority than improving public transport.

Any idea that the state or federal governments’ road schemes would be good for workers living in the outer suburbs was shattered with the announcement of a rise in the fuel excise. Workers will now pay for the East West Link on three fronts – through public handouts to corporate contractors, higher petrol prices and tolls.

Equivalent funding on rail infrastructure – commuter and freight – would be far more effective in easing congestion and reducing travel times. The problem is that it would be less profitable to the people that matter to the government.

[Join the next rally: “We want trains not tolls”, Saturday 28 June, 1pm at the State Library of Victoria.]