By Faith Macale
Advocacy group LeadWest is calling on the federal government to invest in Melbourne’s west at the upcoming federal election.
On Thursday, January 23, LeadWest announced its advocacy priorities saying that Melbourne’s west has been left behind and had not received its fair share of funding compared to other regions in Australia.
LeadWest chair and Melton councillor Phillip Zada said transport and infrastructure critically needed greater government investment.
“We actually have statistics show that the east side of Victoria, for example, has been getting more funding than the west in terms of large scale infrastructure projects,” he said. “We want us to grow.
“There’s a big push for public housing, and housing in general. We’ve got estates popping up left, right and centre, and we need the infrastructure to support that.
In Melton, Cr Zada said that there are “two and a half big ticket items”.
“First is the Western Highway, we need the road upgraded, we definitely need overpasses and we just need that fix,” he said. “We’ve also got the electrification of the Melton train line. We’re hoping with electrification, that potentially could open the doors to new stations.
“Lastly, fixing the Calder. Even though it’s right on the boundary of Melton and Brimbank, it is still something that we definitely need to look at because it is one of the biggest and most used freeways, and we need that upgraded.”
Cr Zada stressed that Melbourne’s west is one of the more disadvantaged regions in Australia.
“The upcoming election offers an important opportunity to redress the funding imbalance, and to invest in Melbourne’s west, an area critical to help the federal government achieve its target to build 1.2 million new homes by 2029,” he said.
A federal government infrastructure department spokesperson said they are working closely with the state government to deliver a credible and sustainable pipeline of projects that support transport productivity, resilience, sustainability and liveability.
The state and federal governments on Thursday announced that $333.5 million was being invested towards the Werribee Main Road – Princes Freeway Interchange upgrade and the Ballan Road intersection upgrade,” they said.
