Mr  Pallas  (Tarneit)  — I  rise to  speak on  the matter  of  the  coalition government’s  upcoming community cabinet  event  in my community  of Wyndham, to take place on 7 October this year. The Premier indicated in a media release that this would be a great opportunity  for  residents  to  provide  feedback  on his government’s  performance  in  the  fastest growing  local  government  area  in Victoria. I can foreshadow a  few items that might be brought up — after all, I have  brought them  up with  great regularity  in this  place to  no  avail. For example, the only new road funding this government  has committed  is for a mere two projects to support the 70  000-person  influx  to  the  new  employment and housing developments.

Meanwhile existing needs are ignored and left to deteriorate.

Peak time  trains  are overcrowded, with demand increasing, but there are no new services on the Werribee line. None of the level crossings in Wyndham  is on the government’s list to be fixed, despite being in  the top  20 of the department’s priority  list.  In the  most  recent budget   no  schools  in Wyndham  received much-needed maintenance funding.

This government seems to have scrapped the previous government’s plans for stage 2 building development works at Tarneit  Senior College and Tarneit P-9 College. So  far  the  coalition’s pre-election promise to  complete  Werribee  Secondary College  has  not  been  honoured,  and  since  it was closed  down  under  this government nearly three years ago the Minister for  Education has still not made a decision  about  what to do  with  the site of the  former  Glen Devon Primary School. This has gone beyond farce. None of this should be news to the Premier.

He was recently in Werribee to officially open the  new electorate  office of  a government member in the other place, but I hope this  time he does not take the coward’s option and run out the back door—

See Tim’s speech in Hansard here.