A DELEGATION of western suburbs leaders have laid out their wishlists in Canberra with the hope of snaring concrete commitments before the September 14 election.
Boosting their budgets for roads, schools, hospitals and job creation in Melbourne’s west was the aim of the group of mayors and council CEOs, led by peak body LeadWest.
With 172 days until Australians go the polls, key local government representatives from Brimbank, Melton, Wyndham, Moonee Valley and Hobsons Bay made the trip to the capital last week to meet with Maribyrnong MP Bill Shorten, Gorton MP Brendan O’Connor, Gellibrand MP Nicola Roxon and Lalor MP Julia Gillard.
LeadWest chief executive Anton Mayer said the top priority for the west was federal funding to bankroll the proposed east-west link.
Opposition leader Tony Abbott pledged last June to funnel $1.5 billion into the 18-kilometre project, which will link the Eastern Freeway, CityLink and the Western Ring Road, and include a second Maribyrnong River crossing.
Ms Gillard said the meeting had been productive, adding that sustaining Melbourne’s west needed to be a focus of all tiers of government.
The delegation also met with Coalition childcare spokeswoman Sussan Ley, health spokesman Peter Dutton and infrastructure spokesman Warren Truss.
Wyndham mayor Heather Marcus said huge population growth in the west was adding to congestion on roads, overcrowding on public transport and lengthy waiting in hospitals. “This problem is being exacerbated by the lack of substantial federal and state government funding for infrastructure.”
Mr Mayer said two days of meetings were to “make sure the west of Melbourne is on the screen for everybody”, regardless of who wins office.
“We won’t be going home with a $100 million project in our pockets, but we’ve sewn the seeds and reinforced our message.”
