Really? Tony Abbott says East West tollway will make Royal Park ‘better’
Tony Abbott has shown his utter incomprehension of Melbourne by claiming that the East-West tollway will make Royal Park better, said Greens MP for Melbourne, Adam Bandt.
“Tony Abbott has no clue about Melbourne or its traffic needs,” said Mr Bandt.
“Tony Abbott has twice told Parliament that the East-West tollway will give inner-city residents their parks back.
“The East-West Link will cut 6 per cent out of Royal Park and turn it into a rat’s nest of on- and off-ramps, yet Tony Abbott defies reality by telling Parliament it will become ‘a much better park for the people of inner-city Melbourne to enjoy’.
“Right now in Melbourne, surveying work has commenced to dig up Royal Park and members of the community are conducting a vigil in the park to stop its destruction.
“People in Melbourne need to vote Greens on Saturday to stop the tollway, kick the Liberals out and hold a new Labor government to account.”
Transcript from Question Time
Adam Bandt, Member for Melbourne: My question is to the Prime Minister. Yesterday and today, Prime Minister, you said in question time the East West Link will give inner-city residents their parks back. Can you please advise the House which parks?
Prime Minister Tony Abbott: Madam Speaker, at the moment, as the Member who asked the question should well know, Hoddle St, Flemington Rd and Alexandra Pde, which should be suburban boulevards, have become traffic canyons. That’s what they’ve become, they’ve become absolute traffic canyons. And the people who are living in and around these streets, the people who are living in the suburbs surrounding these streets, they deserve to have their suburbs and their parks back and, Madam Speaker, the Leader of the Opposition thinks East West Link is a good idea, or at least he did. He did until he was intimidated by the need for Green preferences into changing his position. And Madam Speaker, one of the many advantages of East West Link Stage 1 is it will also mean that Royal Park is a much better park for the people of inner-city Melbourne to enjoy.