A Shorten Labor Government will tackle traffic congestion in Melbourne and lift the capacity of Victoria’s rail freight network and regional roads.
Working in partnership with the Andrews Labor Government, federal Labor’s Melbourne Roads Package and Regional Victoria Transport Package will boost productivity right across the state after three years of Liberal neglect.
Labor’s Melbourne Roads Package will include:

• $262 million for works on roads in growth areas of outer Melbourne, including Thompsons Road, O’Herns Road, Craigieburn Road and Bridge Inn Road.


• $510 million to improve efficiency on the Monash Freeway.


• $356 million to complete the upgrade of the M80 Ringroad.

Our Victorian Regional Transport Package includes $220 million for the Murray Basin Rail project to meet increasing demand for rail freight services as well as a $350 million regional roads package.
Melbourne is growing quickly.
Between 2011 and 2031, its population is expected to grow by 1,700 people a week and the state’s freight carrying task is expected to nearly double in the same period.
We must invest now to provide the infrastructure to meet this projected growth or risk traffic congestion damaging the economy and reducing our capacity to create jobs.
The Abbott-Turnbull Government has courted conflict with Victoria, particularly over the scrapped East-West Link, which would have provided a paltry 45 cents in economic benefit for every dollar invested.
Its failure to deliver major projects is reflected in Australian Bureau of Statistics figures showing that public sector infrastructure investment fell by 20 per cent between the September quarter of 2013 and the September quarter of 2015.
A federal Labor Government will end the needless conflict.
We’ll get on with delivering the railways and roads that Victoria needs to manage its strong growth and drive job creation.
Labor is the party of nation-building. Our investments will help Victoria get its fair share of federal funding for infrastructure.
We will also ensure that all major investments, including those announced today, are subject to proper cost-benefit analysis ticked off by the independent Infrastructure Australia.
The last thing Victoria needs is another planning disaster like the East-West Link, a dud project funded by the Liberals without cost-benefit analysis.
For full details of the Melbourne Roads Package and the Victorian Regional Transport Package, please visit www.100positivepolicies.org.au/melbourne_roads_regional_victoria_transport_packages_fact_sheet