The future of the East West Link is in the hands of Victorian voters and the Supreme Court after Labor vowed to dump plans for the project if it fails a court challenge.
Labor has until now indicated it would honour any contract signed before the November 27 election but Opposition Leader Daniel Andrews said the party has changed its position in light of legal advice.
The decision turns the election into a referendum on the controversial road project, the second stage of which would provide an additional major east-west river crossing.
Mr Andrews said the change in position gives Victorians “a clear choice” at the next election.
“This election is a choice: Labor’s plan for better public transport and local roads or Denis Napthine’s $8 billion dud tunnel.”
Western suburbs Liberal MP Andrew Elsbury criticised the stance and accused western suburbs Labor MPs of reversing their earlier support for the western stage of the project.
The reversal follows legal advice prepared by Ray Finkelstein QC, Richard Niall QC, and barrister Siobhan Keating ahead of a court challenge to be heard in December, after the election.
Labor has written to Premier Denis Napthine, the East West Connect consortium and Inner Link Group consortium to inform them of the legal advice.
Mr Andrews said Labor would honour legally binding contracts, but “won’t be held responsible for an unenforceable document that was recklessly devised in haste and in error”.
“Labor does not believe that any contracts for the East West Link Project could be validly entered into while the matter before the Supreme Court remains unresolved, and there can be no certainty that any contracts for the East West Link Project are legally binding.”
The Napthine government considers the second stage of the East West Link, a link between the ports and the Western Ring Road, a key means for removing trucks from inner-west residential streets.
Labor has instead proposed the Western Distributor, involving new truck-specific on and off ramps to the West Gate Freeway. It has vowed work would begin on the ramps within its first term in government.
Mr Andrews said Labor would use the savings from scrapping the East West Link on the Melbourne Metro rail project and removing 50 level crossings.
But Mr Elsbury said the west urgently needs a new cross-city link to take the pressure off the West Gate Bridge.
“This is a purely political decision,” he said.
Mr Elsbury said Labor was running a scare campaign on the project despite backing it when they were in government
“The members of western suburbs Labor less than 18 months ago were collecting signatures on a petition for the western section to be built.
“What are they going to do, are they saying they are never going to build this road?”
Western suburbs Greens MP Colleen Hartland said Labor’s position shows the party can’t be trusted.
“When in government they proposed Westlink and faced huge community backlash. Now in opposition they’ve backflipped and do not support what was their own proposal.”
Ms Hartland said the Greens have stood with the community in opposing the former Westlink and now East-West Link since the beginning.
